On 17 April 2023, Ms. Acharapan Yavaprapas, Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata welcomed participants to Dusit Hotels and Resorts India Showcase 2023 held at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata. The event was hosted by Mr. Nichlas John Maratos, Vice President – Commercial, Dusit Hotels and Resorts together with representatives of 7 Dusit properties and attended by more than 50 local travel agents for networking and business matching.

Consul-General conveyed her new year greetings on the occasions of Songkran or Thai traditional new year and Bengali New Year which coincide on April 15^th and demonstrate deep cultural ties between Thailand and India. She also noted that Songkran festival was included in UNESCO’s Tentative List of Intangible Cultural Heritages for consideration of inscription in December 2023. She underscored the importance of Indian market for Thailand’s tourism as Thailand has recently revised target of Indian tourist arrivals in 2023 from 1.4 million up to 2 million or same level as pre-COVID-19. Thailand seeks to create meaningful experience for tourists by promoting 5F Soft Power attractions; namely, Food, Film, Fashion, Fight (or Fit & Firm) and Festivals. Moreover, she briefly introduced Dusit Hotels and Resorts as a well-loved long-established hotel brand that preserved gracious Thai hospitality in its various hotel properties in Thailand and abroad.

At present, Dusit Hotels and Resorts comprises of more than 50 properties in 13 countries, and plans to open new 2 hotels in Kolkata and Shimla soon. It is highly regarded at the international level. For example, Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi was awarded the Best Luxury Hotel in the Middle East in 2017 and Dusit Thani Maldives was awarded the Best Family Resort in 2022. At this event, Dusit Hotels and Resorts introduced 7 properties; namely, Dusit Princess Srinakarin Bangkok, Dusit Thani Pattaya, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Dusit Thani Maldives, Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi, and Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort Dhulikhel Nepal to cater to diverse needs of Indian tourist market.