Thailand is experiencing an upsurge in high-net-worth travellers seeking bespoke experiences with a focus on sustainability and wellness.
Speaking with LATTE while in Sydney last week, Karuna Amarnath from Four Seasons Resorts Thailand said the luxury hotel group has seen an “upward trend” in Australian business over the last two to three years.
“Australians travel to Bali and to Vietnam a lot, especially in the mid-scale and budget segments. I believe Thailand was maybe somewhere in the middle of all that mix , and not the most popular destination of the three. But now it turns out in the last two years, especially in the luxury segment, we’ve seen a huge interest to travel,” Amarnath explained.
She cited Thailand positioning itself for sustainability and wellness for the renewed interest: “These are elements that the Australian audience is very keen on.”
Amarnath, who is the Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Thailand collection, said the Thai Government and tourist board were actively supporting the focuses.
Four Seasons Resorts Thailand operates three properties in the country: Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.
“In all our properties we are focused on how we can help our guests give back, in a sense. Feel good, do good.”
Amarnath said sustainability is no longer a trend: “It’s something that everyone has to adopt. For us, the easy things like taking plastics out of the rooms, using biodegradable products in our packaging material was already in practice. But beyond that, for instance in Chiang Mai, we work very closely with the local farmers.”
Four Seasons works closely with the ‘Royal Project’ which is funded by Thailand’s Royal Family. The Royal Project is a collective of local farmers who work independently to produce meat, fish, vegetables and grains, and is subsidised the Royal Family.
“Northern Thailand is really the boundary of culture and tradition and local farmers still. We work very closely with the Royal Project, which is supported by the Royal Family. It is essentially a collective of local farmers who work independently to produce all sorts of meat, fish, vegetables, grains, etc. and it is subsidised by the Royal family, which makes it very easy to market and produce and to share,” said Amarnath.
Four Seasons has been in Thailand for over 25 years and has worked with many projects from a grassroots level, and also supports local farmers. In Chiang Mai, the property has a working rice field and employs some of those farmers’ families.
In Koh Samui, one of the major sustainability projects centres around coral. Working in partnership with the Thai Government, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui is leading the charge to rejuvenate damaged coral reefs. Guests are no longer permitted to swim off the resort’s beach due to the initiative. Over the past 18 months, the resort’s staff have educated guests and local fisheries about the need to regrow coral, and an on-site underwater nursery has seen 16,000 fragments replanted so far. The resort is targeting 20,000 fragments by the year’s end.
“We are seeing more and more guests getting involved,” Amarnath said.
And at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, set near the border of Myanmar and Laos, guests are involved in the rehabilitation of elephants that have been rescued from the streets.
The luxury camp features just 15 tents and one two-bedroom lodge. Prices start at US$3,000 per night, with a two-night minimum requirement. Here, a percentage of the nightly rates goes to efforts being made by The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation. Guests can feed the elephants, assist with their bathing rituals and walk with them during the day time.
For more information, see fourseasons.com/thailand