Slow travel to far away places

Remote areas in Nan, Loei and Mae Hong Son, as well as green hotels targeted at the now retiring "baby boom" generation.

In photo above, a whole community out fishing in the Nan river on a Sunday.

Click button to listen to Slow Travel to download

TOURISM: 'Slow travel' pitched to ageing boomers by Chadamas Chinmaneevong

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will introduce new "slow travel" tourism products designed with the twin phenomena of ageing baby boomers and growing environmental awareness in mind.

Western baby boomers - people born during the demographic post-World War II baby-boom period and who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s - represent a huge market and are considered high-end tourists. 

A TAT study shows this now-ageing group numbers 700 million or 10.1% of the present global population of 6.94 billion. 

From 2006-26, an estimated 77 million Americans will reach retirement age.

"Every day, 8,000 Americans and 8,500 Japanese celebrate their 60th birthdays," said the study

Pattamat Wongpattanasiri, the executive director for product promotion, said this group has much time and money on its hands and prefers quality services including health care.

As well, two-thirds of American and Australian travellers are interested in community-based and green tourism, while up to 90% European tourists choose environmentally conscious hotels and are concerned about sustainable tourism.

The research also found more than 70% of American, Australian and British travellers are willing to pay more for green hotels, products and activities, said Ms Pattamat.

She said these factors have prompted the TAT to promote green destinations more aggressively - Koh Samui in the South; Nan province and Mae Hong Son's Pai district in the North; and Loei's Chiang Khan district in the Northeast.

"These are perfect for trendy travellers, as evidenced by their success among Europeans responding to our popular 'Slow Travel Thailand' campaign," she said.

The four locations are highlighted in this pilot project of the TAT, said Ms Pattamat.

She said Nan is perfect for green, community-based and laid-back tourism, with its strong local spirit and seven national parks.

The strengths of Pai and Chiang Khan include their interesting local ethnic groups and lifestyles.

Koh Samui is changing for the better thanks to cooperation between local residents, hoteliers and tourism operators who are working to turn the island into a green tourism venue, said Ms Pattamat.

"The island has a number of green hotels now," she said.

The TAT has published materials aimed at these green-tourism and older groups and sent them to its foreign offices for officials to use in marketing campaigns.

"Thailand has a variety of products and high-quality services, and that enables us to tailor products to specific markets," said Ms Pattamat

A good example is golf.

Thailand has 240 quality golf courses nationwide, and golfers can play year-round at affordable prices," said Ms Pattamat

(Source: Bangkok Post, TOURISM, 'Slow travel' pitched to ageing boomers, 19/08/2011, Chadamas Chinmaneevong, link)

Travel Marketing Vocabulary

Nan river - a river in Thailand, one of the most important tributaries of the mighty Chao Phraya River แม่น้ำน่าน (See Wikipedia)
tributary - a smaller river that flows into a larger river

willing to pay more - they will spend more money for higher quality products and services

have a lot of time and money on their hands - have a lot of excess time and money (looking for something to do and spend all their excess money on)

slow movement - a social movement that believes in slowing down the pace and speed of life."It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, such as Cittaslow (Slow Cities), Slow living, Slow Travel, and Slow Design." (See Wikipedia)

slow travel - a social movement  that believes in slowing the speed of travel  (See Wikipedia)
slow food - the original "slow movement" (See Wikipedia)

baby-boom period - the many years after World War II when people were having many babies, also called the "Post World War II Baby Boom" (See Wikipedia)
boomers - same as "baby boomer"

baby boomer - a person who was born after World War II during the period when many babies were being born and who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s (See Wikipedia)
ageing boomers - baby boomers who are growing older
demographic - regarding the population of a country or area (See Wikipedia)

pitch X to Y - try to sell idea X to person or group Y

phenomena - something observed to happen and exist
twin phenomena - two things that are happening or exist at the same time

environment - the natural world of land, sea, plants and animals (See Wikipedia)
environmental (adjective)

awareness - the state of knowing about something การรับรู้, การทราบ
environmental awareness - knowing about and being concerned and worried about environmental problems and issues
environmentally (adverb)

conscious - aware; noticing that something exists or is happening and realising that it is important ความสำนึก ความตระหนักถึง
environmentally conscious - thinking about the environment and being concerned about environmental problems and issues 
environmentally conscious hotels - hotels that operate in a way that minimizes their negative impact on the environment (no pollution, low carbon footprint, not disturb the natural plants and animals in an area, etc)
 
high-end tourists - rich tourists who spend more money on higher prices tourism products and services

global - all over the world, including the whole world, throughout the world ทั่วโลก,  ทั้งโลก 
population - all the people who live in one country, area or place ที่อาศัยอยู่ในบริเวณหนึ่ง

retirement - the period of time later in life when you stop working after many years of work and relax เกษียรอายุ

celebrate - so something enjoyable for a special occasion or day
celebrate their 60th birthdays - having their 60th birthday (on which they will probably do something special, like have a birthday party, or take a vacation in Thailand)

executive - the highest level managers in a company
executive direct for product promotion - the high level manager in the organization who oversees activities in "product promotion"

services - บริการต่างๆ things produced in service industries, not a physical good that can be bought, a waitress and a cook in a restaurant provide a service, technically: a sequence of activities that does not result in ownership of the outcome (See Wikipedia on services and the goods and services continuum)

green - concerned about protecting the environment
green tourism - tourism that is concerned about protecting the environment

carbon footprint - the direct effect of a person's actions and lifestyle have on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, usually estimated by using a Carbon Calculator, each activity a person does such as take a plane trip, drive your car, use a particular product or service adds to your carbon footprint (See Wikipedia)

footprint - 1. the impact or trace of something that remains after an event happens, 2. the pattern your foot makes when you walk in the sand

community - local people, all the people who live in a local area or place ชุมชน
Community-Based Tourism (CBT) - tourism in local areas, managed by the local people themselves, for the benefit of the local people rather than large corporations located far away (See manuals and Wikipedia and read previous article)

sustainable - able to be successfully continued for a long time ยั่งยืน, ถาวร แบบยั่งยืน ที่ดำเนินต่อไป
sustainable tourism.- tourism activities that can continue for long periods of time into the future (if a tourism activity destroys the forest or coral reef that the tourists are going to see, this is not "sustainable" or unsustainable) (See Wikipedia and Mekong.org )

concerned - worried about something มีความกังวล
concerned about sustainable tourism - worried that some tourism activities may not be sustainable (therefore willing to spend a little more on "sustainable tourism")

factors - the different things that affect the outcome of a situation, event, or decision ปัจจัย
X prompted Y to do Z - event or situation caused person Y to do action Z

aggressively - done with great energy and intensity
promote green destinations more aggressively - use more energy, enthusiasm, intensity in letting customers know about tourism products

trendy travellers - travellers who like to do the newest and latest travel activities (like what is now popular)  
X as evidenced by Y - X is the situation and Y shows this (and provides "evidence") 

campaign - a planned group of especially political, business or military activities which are intended to achieve a particular aim การรณรงค์
marketing campaigns - a series of activities and ads to let customers know about a product or service (so they will buy it)
responding to market campaign - meaning: the campaign was successful, customers sought more information about the product or service, and perhaps bought it

highlighted - emphasized, made more noticeable ที่เน้นย้ำ

pilot - a small test of a new idea or product or idea before introducing it everywhere
pilot project - a small project to test an idea (before starting a bigger more "ambitious" project)
laid-back - relaxed

local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
spirit - the liveliness and energy that people show in what the activities they do (such as farming, for example)
local spirit - the liveliness and energy that local people show

national park - a large park run by the national government of a country (people can travel there and experience the natural beauty which has been preserved)

ethnic group - a group with the same language, culture, history, race, etc (example: Akha hilltribes), usually refers to a smaller group living in a country
lifestyles - the different kinds of ways that people lead their day-to-day lives: typical activities, habits, living conditions (See Wikipedia)

cooperation - working together to achieve a result that will benefit all sides, working together to achieve shared goals ความร่วมมือ, การทำงานร่วมกัน

local residents - people who live in a certain local area
residents - people who live in a certain place or area ชาวบ้านในบริเวณ ผู้อาศัยในบริเวณ

hoteliers - the owner or manager of a hotel

operators - businesses doing this business
tourism operators - companies doing tourism-related businesses

venue - the place where an activity or event happens สถานที่ที่จัดงาน
green tourism venue - a place where some "green tourism" activity or event happens (takes place, is staged)

published materials - printed books, brochures and leaflets (not just on the internet)

aim - goal
X aimed at Y - X was made for group Y or to achieve goal Y 

variety - many different types of things or people ความหลากหลาย
variety of products  - many different kinds of products

tailor - make something special for one person or a small group (example: every moment of the tour was hand tailored to their individual needs and interests)
tailor products to specific markets -

golf courses - a large amount of land with lots of grass, lakes and trees with 9 or 18 "holes" to play the game of golf on (See Wikipedia)

nationwide - throughout the whole country ทั่วทั้งประเทศ
affordable - not expensive, does not cost too much, so many people have enough money to buy it ไม่แพง