CHIANG MAI THAILAND
“Is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of the tourism industry in this time of crisis”

Whilst the rest of the world was not looking - the city’s inventory of attractions grew exponentially, yet the pricing stayed where it always had been – lower than that of any other comparable destination in SE Asia.

In the city: Luxury and boutique hotels, world class spas, great International and Asian restaurants, innovative special event & team building services, variety in the night life on offer and improved infrastructure to provide access to it all.

Out of the city: New resorts and spas, responsible special interest tours for active seniors, excellent adventure and eco-tourism products, voluntourism, and outdoor education products. There have been some inerestin aditons to the mainstream tourism attractions as well , most noticeable being the Dok Kaew Gardens.

The grace, charm, and easy going nature of the people, the beauty of the La Na culture and the warm welcome extended to its guests did not change at all. Chiang Mai retains its well deserved reputation as the friendliest city in the Kingdoms, and the destination with the greatest diversity of attractions.

It is now without doubt Thailand’s best value for money destination
In this time of global financial crisis, clients fall into either of two categories:
1. Those that need to tighten their belts.
2. Those that don’t need to tighten their belts but will downgrade their choices anyway, so as not to be labeled as too extravagent.

Update – February 2009

MICE, Special Events & Team Building.
The options in terms of the number and standard of hotels and meeting facilities for medium to large groups have increased dramatically with the opening of the Shangri La and the Meridien, as well as the renovation of the facilities in many existing properties.

Many of the 60 plus boutique hotels, in and around the city have small group meeting facilities, and boast excellent service, good internet connectivity and idyllic surroundings. They are perfect for small group meetings.

Track of the Tiger T.R.D., Special Events Management & Team Building Services has a solid reputation and enjoys a special relationship with all its suppliers, developed over more than a decade, and this allows us the advantage of insider knowledge. We know exactly who to go to for the best available deals (price and quality) at any given time. Let us know what you want, and what budget you have available. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what we can come up with.

Our repeat clients include:
HP, Colgate Palmolive, Reuters, GE, Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Siemens, Guerlain, Schlumberger, BP, Prudential, Novartis, Nokia, O2, Bayer Group, TI Automotive, Reed Exhibitions, Dell, Deutsche Bank, Barring Asset Management, Mandarin Oriental Group, US Consulate Chiang Mai, Pulife, Pernod Ricard, Exxon, Degussa, Tetra Pak, Monsanto, Glaxo Smith Kline and others.

Responsible Eco-tourism & Adventure tourism.
Responsible Eco-tourism & Adventure Tourism are being singled identified as a strong growth area by those organizing ITB 2009, Chiang Mai now has such products as canopy walks & zip wire attractions, and The Pang Soong Nature Trails, the SKAL Ecotourism award winner for 2006, on which the Track of the Tiger – Eco-Adventures 2009 programmes are hosted. These programmes have high environmental education content and many of the trails are ideal for the active seniors market. There have been significant improvements in the mountain biking and rock climbing product, and new but top quality kayak based fishing operations are attracting serious attention from the niche market.
Track of the Tiger T.R.D. operates the Pang Soong Lodge, and the Eco-Adventures on the Pang Soong Nature Trail, under an innovative and ground breaking private sector-community owned ecotourism development project.

Voluntourism - as a component of conventional Tour & MICE programmes
An interesting, very low cost and extremely rewarding ‘one full day’ experience that can be inserted into the existing multi day programmes of most mainstream tour operators is a ‘voluntourism’ activity. Voluntourists Without Borders the non-profit arm of Track of the Tiger Track of the Tiger has excellent options for you – (1) Biosand filter construction & installation – clean water alone saves hundreds of lives, (2) English language teaching in rural schools, (3) Nature trail repair, working alongside villagers. All are properly planned and transparently operated on a non-profit basis. Voluntourism - the opportunity to give back whilst on holiday to enjoy a fantastic grassroots experience outside of conventional tourism - even if only for a day, is really catching on.

 

 

The Active Senior Market
With the active seniors market being seen as one of the least impacted by the global financial crisis, and providing us with the long awaited opportunity to promote ‘responsible tourism’ in the north, we have put together some interesting programmes for them. The programmes offer a mix of activity choices such as: nature trail walking, easy rural bike rides, hikes in the cooler cleaner air of the higher altitude Royal Projects and national parks, Elephant mahout training, special interest activities, courses, workshops and lectures as well as a little voluntourism. All the above can be enjoyed from comfortable accommodation, with good food and in the company of likeminded friends. Track of the Tiger T.R.D is happy to show you what we have put together and are certain that you will find it suitable for this market segment.

Outdoor Education with an Environmental Focus
From our Pang Soong Lodge Outdoor Education & Research Centre we are offering an excellent range of outdoor education programmes for International schools, with a strong bias towards the environmental side: biology, ecology etc.

The educational programmes are well supported by our team building, leadership and soft adventure products (biking, rock climbing, kayaking etc.) with cultural components that showcase the north and its attractions. We also have an excellent menu of ‘hands on’ community service options.

The programmes and costing can be modified to suit the needs of Thai & ESL schools, Youth Groups and Universities, many of whose tourism studies faculty’s are keen to study our unique ecotourism development model.

Dining Out
There has been rapid expansion in the Chiang Mai restaurant sector, with many new and high quality International and Thai restaurants opened over the last two years. Most of the world’s best cuisine is now available in Chiang Mai and in keeping with the city’s image, they represent great value for money.

The humble turmeric based noodle dish, Khao Soy, a favourite of all northerners and visitors with local knowledge was taken from ‘from street canteen to haute cuisine’ with the opening of JUST KHAO SOY Restaurant & Gallery on Charoenphratet Road some 4 years ago.

Featured regularly in tourism documentaries, particularly in the Asian world, the restaurant is credited with elevating the meal (a dining experience in itself) to its rightful place as the ‘signature dish of northern Thai cuisine

The clear ‘placemat based’ instructions on how to enjoy the meal, the choice of mild, medium and spicy options, variety of options (chicken, beef, seafood, vegetarian etc.) along with the northern Thai galley décor have made it very popular with tour operators who combine a meal there for their guests with a visit to the nearby night bazaar.
The noodle dish based pricing, ensures that the restaurant is well ahead of the rest in pure low cost value for money terms. Set meals are provided at contract rates to the tour industry.