DMCs praise logistical success

THAILAND'S handling of the recently concluded APEC event has been given top marks by Thai destination management companies (DMCs). Despite some concerns prior to the event, DMCs said Thailand fulfilled its brief and ensured October's two-day summit was a logistical success. It proved that the country was capable of handling large movements of people smoothly and efficiently through the city. But it was not without support at the top level. The Thai government went to great lengths to keep Bangkok's notorious traffic to a minimum during the summit, which included giving public servants leave and calling on stores not to hold sales. "It seems that the public relations campaign run prior to the APEC event was very successful," Destination Asia Thailand managing director Ms Pornthip Samerton said. "Everyone seemed to know about the changes. The people of Bangkok accepted the changes and took ownership of the event. We were always confident that Bangkok would be more than capable of preparing for the summit." Asian Trails group managing director Mr Luzi Matzig said the company did not experience any major logistical problems during the summit. "APEC proved once and for all if Thailand really makes an effort to handle a large movement of people, it can do so most efficiently and in a memorable way, which is hard to beat by any of our neighbours," he said.