Free Fruit for Arriving Foreign Tourists

[Richard Barrow]

FRUITFUL’ VISITORS’ WELCOME CAMPAIGN AT SUVARNABHUMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The Kingdom of Thailand will be launching its ‘Fruitful’ Visitors’ Welcome Campaign at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on May 28, 2009. During the campaign period from now through to 6 June, the Thai kingdom warmly welcomes visitors to Thailand with a special gift of Thai fruit. Incoming visitors will each be presented with one kilogramme of Thai lychees.

Designed to promote Thai fruits to foreign visitors, this ten-day campaign is being jointly organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd. (AOT), the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS), Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA).

“The campaign’s thrust is to clearly demonstrate to visitors that Thailand is to be reputed not only for its wonderful attractions, but also for its fine and greatly varied fresh fruits. Thailand’s fruits are like its attractions — amazingly and impressively diverse,” explained H.E. Mr Chumphol Silapa-archa, Minister of Tourism and Sports.

Throughout Thailand, a vast selection of fresh fruits is available all year round. However, for a taste of the very best of Thai fruits, the height of summer, from May to June, is the peak season. At this time of year, a delightful assortment of exotic fruits comes into season. The fragrant and succulent lychee was chosen because it ranks among the world’s favourite exotic fruits and is one of the top quality fruits grown in Thailand for export.

The promotion will be inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Chumphol Silapa-archa, Minister of Tourism and Sports and H.E. Mr. Theera Wongsamut, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, who will also give a press conference and preside as chairman to kick off the campaign. This event will be held at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Passengers from Shanghai, China; Busan, South Korea; Cairo, Egypt; and Singapore will be presented with bags of lychees.

As passengers disembark from a cramped aircraft and are welcomed with such a delicious fresh appetizer, the Royal Thai Government hopes that visitors will be pleasantly surprised by this friendly gesture. In addition to benefitting Thai farmers (50 tons of lychees will be distributed during the ten-day campaign), the campaign is designed to raise the awareness of, and encourage visitors to explore Thailand’s many agricultural and agro-tourism offerings.

The lychees will be packed in attractive plastic bags featuring the logos of TAT, AOT, MOAC, MOTS, THA, and ATTA. This is the first time that such a campaign has been put in place, and each day, five tons of the fruit will be distributed to incoming passengers at Arrival Hall Gates B and C.

According to the Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police, in April 2009, each day approximately 24,300 foreigners from all over the world came into the Kingdom via Suvarnabhumi International Airport. All in all, the Fruitful Welcomes Campaign will reach approximately 5,000 visitors per day.

Besides handing out lychees, the campaign will also support other similar promotions to boost the country’s fruit exports; such as, kiosks selling local fruits at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, as well as Thai fruit road shows abroad in the future.

Recommend Short Trips for Fruit Festivals:

1. Durian Festival, Chanthaburi
May 23-31, 2009

2. Wang Chan Fruity Road Fair, Rayong
May 23-31, 2009

3. Klaeng Fruit and OTOP Fair, Rayong
May 23-31, 2009

4. Prachin Buri Agricultural Fair
May 29 – June 7, 2009

5. Khao Chamao Fruit Festival, Rayong
May 30 – June 6, 2009

6. Funky Fruit Festival, Rayong
June 19 – 21, 2009

For more information about destinations and festivals around Thailand, please call the TAT Call Center 1672.

[Betti]

1 kg of lychee? I love lychee. but I can never eat a kilo. especially not if I cannot keep it in the fridge. imagine people dragging a suitcase and a plastic bag full of messy lychee.
how about a visa-free 3-month tourist entry stamp, like the one you get in Malaysia, for promoting tourism?

[Richard Barrow]

Yes, I was thinking much the same. I have seen this kind of generosity before which quite often is not that practical. Gifts which are messy/sticky or heavy are not always welcome for people on the road. A bottle of water or even an apple would be more welcome but I guess not very Thai. These are pictures that I took the other day at the airport.

[Sved]

A bottle of fresh juice would be best I think.

[paul_au]

A bottle of fresh juice would be best I think.

From my experiences staying in the colder climates like England, tropical fruits are either expensive, do not exist or are of poor quality due to long distance transportation, so people are forced to drink a juice with chemicals added. I on the other hand prefer the real thing, fresh unspoiled fruit, no preservatives and artificial flavors added. Good on you Thailand, a great promotion and very appreciated, hope this promotes people into buying more Thai fruit instead of that rubbish processed variety fruit juice.

[InterestedGuy08]

What a wonderful thing to do.

Whenever I fly back to the U.S., all I get are grumpy customs officials.

[Clashfan]

Didnt see it when I was there on the 4th June...hmm....