SKAL International Phuket & South Thailand - Tourism & Travel Industry Association SKAL Phuket & South Thailand. Skal International is a professional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry. The aim of the club is to promote global tourism and friendship. Skål is the only international organization which brings together all sectors of the travel and tourism industry. Representing the industry's managers and executives, Skål members meet at local, national and international level in an environment of friendship to discuss subjects of common interest. The club's dinner meetings, usually held on the third Thursday of each month, offer members a venue for networking and discussion. Most meetings feature a presentation by a notable speaker or member of the business community. Check out the event page: http: //www. skalphuket. org/events. html The first Club was founded in Paris in 1932 by travel trade managers who had been on an educational tour of Scandinavia and so the idea of professionals in travel and tourism working closely together in a spirit of friendship was born. The idea of professionalism and international friendship became immediately so popular that in l934, Skål achieved international status with the formation of the Association Internationale des Skål Clubs (A. I. S. C. ), on the initiative of the first President of the Paris Skål Club and the man considered the "Father of Skål", Florimond Volckaert. The Association is now known worldwide as "Skål International". From that modest beginning, Skål now numbers almost 25, 000 members in over 500 Clubs spread throughout more than 80 countries. As in other associations of professionals most Skål activities take place locally, but the movement also features National and Area Committees under the umbrella of Skål International, which has its permanent General Secretariat in Torremolinos, Spain. Skål International is governed by an Executive Committee of seven members, elected by member delegates to the General Assembly, which is held in conjunction with the World Congress. The General Secretariat is the management body. This five-day Congress is hosted by a different country each year, thus offering members and their companions the opportunity of observing, at first hand, the travel and tourism industry potential of other countries.