Tourism minister visits flood affected area in Chumphon

CHUMPHON, Jan 19 (TNA) -- Minister of Tourism and Sports Ms Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul visited the Phato district of Chumphon province, in a bid to quickly provide assistance to help restore the damages on tourism in the area, noting that the ministry has encouraged tourists to revisit the south. The minister told the press after her visit to flood affected Malin Rafting Service in Phato district of Chumpon province that all of the lodgings and restaurants there have been totally destroyed, all 17 rafts for tourists unusable. She said the ministry has planned to integrate assistance efforts with concerned local agencies to provide assistance to affected businesses in three stages, where funding would be given in the first phase for the repair of the rafts. Ms Kobkarn said, meanwhile, the local entrepreneurs have expressed that they wanted the state to affirm to the people that tourism in affected areas remained the same, stressing that the local communities are doing the best they can to repair the damages wreaked by the recent flooding to bring back tourists to the area. As for the middle-term plan, the ministry would publicise that the tourist destination is still reachable through other routes, as the old routes might have been damaged by the flood, while the long term plan entails the implementation of a community tourism strategy, which would be considered in line with the provincial clusters plan to help push for sustainable local tourism. The minister said the people in Phato has been joining hands to revive the area as quickly as possible, not just sitting around and waiting for help to arrive, which would help tourism in the area to return to normal sooner. (TNA)