Historic Thai resort region launches innovative campaign

Now the area’s premier properties — including nine posh hotels, an award-winning golf club and a singular vineyard — are teaming to take the destination to another level with a publicity campaign called “It’s in Hua Hin.”

Launched today at www.itsinhuahin.com, the initiative is aimed at promoting the world-class accommodations and activities available in and around the hundred-year-old city of Hua Hin and neighboring beach town of Cha Am, less than three hours’ south of Bangkok by car.

“Anyone who’s been to Hua Hin and Cha Am knows this stretch of coastline has a lot to offer,” said Boyd Barker, general manager of Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa, one of the program’s founding members. “But not everyone’s been yet. We want to get the word out about this destination — a destination that’s been the choice of royalty for decades — and we think by banding together, and speaking to the world with one voice, we can do just that.”

Hua Hin became a popular retreat among Thai sovereigns in 1921, when a railway station and hotel were erected to service elite train travelers between Bangkok and Singapore. Today, it’s the full-time residence of the world’s longest serving monarch, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This year, the town celebrates its centennial.

Long one of Thailand’s seafood capitals, the Hua Hin and Cha Am region has increased its overall tourism allure during the past two decades thanks to an influx of high-end hotel brands. In fact, many of its resorts are now mainstays in the awards issues of the most prestigious publications in the world. And celebrities — such as tennis greats Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams, who competed here in an exhibition match earlier this month — have taken notice.


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