Forty distinctive small hotels from all over Thailand have won the first Thailand Boutique Hotels Awards 2010 organised by the Krungthai Card Public Company Limited (KTC) in collaboration with the Krungthep Turakij newspaper with the support of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and MasterCard.
Designed to highlight the creativity and diversity of new products in the Thai travel and tourism industry, the awards were conferred at a colourful ceremony at the King Power Duty-Free Complex in Bangkok on November 22, 2010.
Congratulating the award winners, TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said, “These awards are an excellent way to give small, independent hotels nationwide the opportunity to gain more recognition among consumers, and boost their business in an era of intense competition.”
More than 100 applications were received for the awards which were open to hotels of between 4 to 50 rooms The judging panel, chaired by former TAT Governor Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn, comprised individuals from different professions, including hoteliers, designers, and architects.
Mr Staporn Sirisinha, Senior Executive Vice President — Travel and Leisure Marketing Department, of Krungthai Card Public Company Limited, said, “All of those who were involved in the project wanted to find ways to reward the tremendous creativity of the many Thai entrepreneurs who have developed such wonderful properties all over Thailand but have a hard time competing with major hotels, especially when recovering from the recent political crisis in Thailand.”
“We were very pleased to have the support of the Krungthep Turakij newspaper (part of the Nation Multimedia Group Public Company Limited), TAT and MasterCard.”
Ms Duangkamol Chotana, Editor, Krungthep Turakij, said “Boutique hotels are an up and coming trend in Thailand. They are consistent with the changing lifestyle of today’s travellers who seek a different experience in their holiday plans. Boutique accommodation offers these travellers the chance to enjoy the unique and creative personality and services they look for.
“Unfortunately, most boutique hotels are small or medium enterprises with limited capital and marketing expertise. It is indeed difficult for them to compete with major operators. That is why we devised this programme to help identify the best boutique hotels in different categories. It will effectively boost the morale of these smaller hotels and introduce them to partners who are capable of fortifying their marketing efforts and promotional campaigns.”
The judges evaluated entries from all five regions of Thailand: Northern, Northeastern, Central, Eastern, and Southern regions, in six categories: 1) Architecture, 2) Renovation and Modification, 3) Nature and Environment, 4) Culture, 5) Total Experience, and, 6) Community Travelling.
There were two Awards — Excellence and Outstanding — for all categories except for Community Travelling for which there was only one Outstanding Award. Additionally, there were five Excellence Awards, one for each region.
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