Sustainable Tourism in Travel and Tourism Sector

This report discusses the current issues related to the Great Barrier Reef and the development of a campaign to save the coral reefs. It also analyzes the conflicts of interest related to tourism development planning and how they can be resolved. The report further evaluates the implications of balancing supply and demand and the importance of developing campaigns for sustainable tourism.

Running head: SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
Sustainable Tourism in Travel and Tourism Sector
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Assignment 3: Current Issues and Tourism Planning
Introduction
It has been under notice that over the last 30 years, the coral reeves on the world have
been lost worldwide. Although half of the population is unaware of the issue since it is kind of
out of sight, out of heart problem, the social and economic impacts are unimaginable. It is
leading the world towards destruction. According to the environmental science studies, corals
serve the purpose of functioning as the base of marine ecosystem. They serve equal to the
essential work of how the trees work for the forests as well as the cities. They do it for the
oceans. The corals are extremely vital for the entire planet in spite of covering only 1% of the
whole earth’s surface (Abelson et al., 2016). They contribute a good deal to the formation of
oxygen that is taken in. The coral reefs also help to compose millions of animals called polyps.
With the fast destruction of the coral reefs, many animals which are essential part of the marine
life are losing their homes and heading towards extinction.
The climate of the sea is gradually becoming warmer with the passage of time, thereby
making the sea level unsuitable for the coral reefs to sustain. The first global mass-bleaching
happened in the year 1997/98. Again after 12 years happened the same incident. Such mass
bleaching affects the political stability, induce hunger and poverty ratios. Almost 29% of the
corals in the Great Barrier Reef died in a single year (Chavanich et al., 2015). However, the good
aspect is that, even after having the maximum of coral reefs devastated, there is still chance to
recover and protect the existing coral reefs. The present report will elaborate the development of
a campaign to save the coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef with specific focus on the evaluation
of the methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure the future wellbeing of a developing

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tourism destination. It will also analyze the implications of balancing supply and demand. The
report will further evaluate the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism.
Discussion
Current Issues related to the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef water is constantly getting maligned by human activities. It is
quite obvious and there is no wonder that the reefs are heading towards extinction. One such
incident is spilling of more than 7,000 gallons of wastewater in the waters of Great Barrier Reef
by a Carnival Cruise Line ship in August 2018 (Dredge & Jamal, 2015). It is undoubtedly a
catastrophic event that harmed the rest of the Coral Reefs. Studies suggest that over the next
coming few decades, there will be no sign of the existence of the coral reefs or coral islands.
During the last ice age, the sea levels had considerably arisen that helped the coral islands grow
much larger without any hurdles.
The expansion has stretched itself nearly 1,500 miles along the Australian Coast in such a way
that it is visible even from the space (Edgell Sr, 2016). As published by a study in the Nature
Climate Change last year, it has been found that even a little amount of warming which is in the
current situation and will be continuing can finish the complete Great Barrier Reef. The coral
reefs suffer from bleaching at least once or twice a year increasing their damage levels.
However, after evaluating then current scenario, the climate scientists have predicted that there is
still tine before all the corals die completely. The Australian Marine Park Authority tries their
best to change the scenario in the best possible way.
Role and Importance of developing campaigns

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It is known that the coral reefs are most important undersea ecosystems which are also
homes of millions of plants and animal species. The well-being of these beautiful creation is
highly threatened by human interruption which includes pollution, excessive fishing and
subsequently global warming. The biodiversity of the tropical reefs is being distorted by
excessive trade in coral and fishes. There are various fishing techniques that are used in the
modern culture. The destructive method of fishing by bottom trawl nets, cyanide and dynamite
are harming the other creatures under the sea up to greater extent. In order to save the world from
devastation, many marine protecting campaigns can be developed (Gohar & Kondolf, 2016). The
campaigns are important as they spread the awareness among people regarding the importance of
the coral reefs and how to save them for a sustainable future. The campaigns prohibit the trade
of any coral made ornaments at least at the coastal area. The campaigns aim at reducing the use
of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which are the key factors accelerating the end of the oceans.
The trash materials especially the un –dissolving materials such as plastics are strictly prevented
by the campaigns. As a whole. the campaigns help to generate an eco-friendly environment so
that the world sustain in future.
Current conflicts of interest related to tourism development planning
Since the Great Barrier Reef is located in Queensland and stretches 2,300 km along the
coast that covers 348,000 km square, the focus country is inevitably Australia. The country has
high impact regarding the economic, socio-cultural as well as environmental (Karr et al., 2015).
The economic influence of the country is raising the income of the country by the foreign
exchange and also enhancing the employment level. However, there are considerable issues that
are related to aspects such as conflicts between the planner, tour operator, tourists, government,

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developer, local community, economic, social, and environmental and many others. The detailed
discussion of the issues are as follows:
Conflict between the Planner
Although the tourism industry has rapidly become one of the most expanding industries
of the world, it is a clean and non-polluting industry. The impact of tourism on the social,
environmental world is highly varied (Robinson. & Luck. 2013). On the one hand, it strengthens
the economic stability of the country, supports employment as well as modernizes the destination
countries. On the other hand, there are complaints from the tourist places regarding the un-
fulfillment of the expectations and nit maintaining the environmental beauty come into view. On
the one hand, it creates better opportunities for broader cultural understanding by the help of
spreading awareness among the citizens regarding the historical value or heritage of a place
(Paige,2009) . This has given rise to the demand of a sustainable development in the industry of
tourism.
Conflict between the tour operator
It is suggested that the tourism industry itself can develop the campaigns of a sustainable
tourism. The major issue is the lack of common understanding of the importance of ‘ecotourism’
and the degrading effect of human activities on the environment and the marine ecosystem. Since
the aim of the campaign would be to protect the coral reefs by clearing the trash harming the
coastal areas, it will definitely bring conflicts between the planners. The tourism planners will
focus on their business and at the same time would lead to the traffic in the coastal areas. The
massive influx of the tourists sometimes leaves a huge impact on the sustainability of nature.

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The more the number of tourists will grow, the more it will pollute area disposing waste
materials.
Conflict between the local community
The local inhabitants and the local infrastructure also will be affected. Taken for instance,
almost 85% of the people who visit the Great Barrier Reef concentrate in two particular areas.
These are Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. These two places have their human population of
more than 130, 000 or so. It has been found that in many areas, there are massive tourist
development such as airports, golf courses, resorts, marinas and many others. The most essential
mangrove forests are being removed in order to create beaches. However, the damage is not
finished with the development of tourist facilities. There are evidence of resorts draining their
sewage waste directly into the water and thereby harming the corals and other sensitive
creatures. The recreational works also have a huge impact. The abundance in the number of
tourist people increases the percentage of boating, fishing, snorkeling that damages the coral
reefs in an unexpected way.
The guest-host relationship
With the growth of tourism in such areas, the tendency of the local people to generate
revenues from the tourists. In order to serve the purpose of better commercialization and
employment among the local people, they tend to do overfishing and other sea foods as well as
extract the beautiful corals of different colors and other marine souvenirs and sell them to the
tourists. In this way the marine resources have reached a situation of ‘bottom line’ and heading
to become emptied completely. The Australian government which received a considerable
amount of the revenues that come from the foreign travelers might get disturbed by the

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sustainable campaign because the campaign would inevitably prune the abundance of visitors
every day and limit them and save the reef ultimately.
Conflict with the tourists
The conflict with the tour operators and the tourists is also equally obvious because they
would try their best to make the best out of their tour to the Great Barrier Reef but the activities
and regulations of the campaign would impose limitation on their desires and expectations.
Campaign will measure the carbon emission rates of the travelers who visit the reef every year
and take necessary actions. A sustainable tourism system is required to support the tourism
industry a long continuing field, otherwise it would perish soon since the special attraction of the
place, and the coral reefs will be no more existing. Hence, the implementation of the campaign
will face difficulties after disturbing the legal, operational, governmental factors. One of the most
essential component of tourism planning management is effective collaborative partnership
between the stakeholders or the relationship between the guest and the host. The campaign will
strictly limit the human activities.
The economic and environmental Impact
The limitation imposed on the reef adjacent tourism by the campaign might have a
serious impact on the economic factors of the country especially the local areas such as Cairns
and Whitsunday Inlands. The Great Barrier Reef has been a center place and a strong basis of the
economic development of the country. However, although the country will face a decline in the
number of tourists, the environmental aspect will be kept strong. A healthy environment is
always the basis of a healthy industry. Therefore, the campaign would be helpful for developing

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a long –term benefit for the tourism industry and subsequently the economic condition of the
country by saving the ‘coral reef ‘.
How the conflicts of interest can be resolved?
In order to solve the conflicts of interest and help the ‘save the coral reef’ campaign
flourish properly, people who are solely related to the coral reef surroundings or the tourism
associates have to be concerned enough. The local government have to be cooperative in
developing strategic plans and projects in the local area. In order to improve the awareness
among the staffs and the local inhabitants, the tourism businesses must be streamlined. The
tourism organizations have to identify new heritage based tourism development opportunities
and examine the sustainable tourism policies are being properly advanced in their areas. The
park managers must develop strong communication links and efficient partnerships with the
interests of tourism.
The other measures that can be used to resolve the conflicts of interest are tourism and
environmental protection an establishing effective partnership with the stakeholders. It is obvious
that the campaign would earn the wrath of many people especially those who are intricately
related with the reefs. Balancing the needs of the visitors and the environment is also necessary
in order to manage the stakeholders’ interest and their preferences. The partnership relationships
can be established by an acknowledgement of all the stakeholders regarding the mutual benefits
of working together to achieve the sustainable outcomes. In the decision making process all the
stakeholders have to be fully engaged. There must be some activities designed to allow the
partnership to participate in the decision making of the campaign. The scope for mutual learning
and information must be enhanced for better management and planning decisions. The legislative

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support and the organizational support has to be built. The flow of information must be
transparent in order to easily implement the campaign.
Before the ‘save the coral reef’ campaign, a zoning plan have to be built for the nature
based tourism activities which are free from the potentially conflicting extractive uses. The key
conservation issues have to be managed as well as the issues of tourism growth in the areas
especially the Cairns and Whitsunday. The nature of the activities have to be governed as well as
the number of permitted vessels on the water. Those areas where anchoring is prohibited have to
be marked with moorings another protecting markers. In this way the balance between the needs
of the visitors and the environment can be maintained and all the issues can also be addressed or
resolved.
Implications of a proper balance of supply and demand:
The Great Barrier Reef is a renowned place for the picture perfect natural scenarios. It is
one of the well-built locations in terms of quantity of the sea creatures. It is also known as one of
the best managed coral reef ecosystems in the world (Liburd, Carlsen & Edwards, 2013). But the
significant decrement in the quality of the water along with the abnormal change in the climate is
posing great amount of threat to the beauty and survival of the coral reef. As it is one of the
major space for the sea creatures for their life span, it is significantly important to create
important strategies for the maintenance of the suitable environment for them (Spalding &
Brown, 2015). It is well-known that the mentioned location has great significance as a tourist
spot and the interest among the people of Australia is increasing in a rapid speed towards the
location due to the natural beauty of the region. On the other hand, the increasing interest of the
people of Australia is a notable sign that the location will be subjected to significant amount of

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threats in terms of losing the original beauty as the excessive amount usage will include notable
impurity to it. Hence, in order to save the location from the mentioned threats, a proper balance
of the supply and demand is much needed.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is in need to make sure that
the supply and the demand for the tourism industry centring the location is managed in such a
manner that the coral reef is able to survive in the desired manner. The appropriate maintenance
in this case will be by the proper scheduling of the entry of the visitors in the coral reef. The
organization, GBRMPA, must focus on putting a barrier on the number of entries at a time to the
coral reef may that be 1000 per hour in order to make sure that the place is not polluted due to
the excessive number of people gathering in that region (Riegl & Tsounis, 2014). The plan will
allow 1000 number of visitors to enter the location at time and the segmentation of the customers
need to be managed in a proper manner in order to reduce any sort of client unrest owing to the
issues of excessive waiting time and along with that, it will also be significant in order to reduce
the stress on the coral reef (Mason, 2015). The organization is in need to make sure that they
have a proper strategy for the management of the customers with the online time allocation for
their customers and it will be significant for the organization as they will be able to manage a
different time for each set of customers. This will allow the organization to properly use the
space. The branding of the strategy is also a concern for the organization where it is
recommended that the organization be able to transfer such a message that will be outlining the
organizations’ best practices for the quality supply. Apart from this a day per week is to allocated
for closure of the location in order to make sure that the cleaning and all other beautification
activities can executed.
Moral and Ethical Issues of Enclave Tourism:

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The moral and ethical issues of the enclave tourism in that location consist of the points
like the environmental degradation, increasing pollution, increasing disruption in the usual life of
the wild and sea animals (Rinkevich, 2014). As mentioned earlier, the tourism opportunities and
the construction of the place as a tourist destination will significantly increase the crowd
gathering in that region, the above mentioned factors will have a high chance to get influenced.
The excessive usage of the location by the customers will be a great concern in terms of
maintaining the quality of water.
This will be a major worry for the managing organization as the underwater creatures will
face considerable amount of difficulty in living due to the introduction of the excessive amount
impurities into the water. The excessive usage of the water by the tourists or the visitors will
make it polluted. Apart from that, the increasing amount of solid wastes will be significant in
polluting the location. The wild life and the sea creatures will be subjected to notable disruption
due to the excessive amount of crowd in that location.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded from the above discussion that the Great Barrier Reef is
one of the biggest tourist places. With the development of tourism in the coastal areas, the waste
materials are also increasing and blocking the coastal area. A campaign has to be designed and
incorporated in order to make a systematic approach to sustainable tourism. The present report
has elaborated the development of a campaign to save the coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef
with specific focus on the evaluation of the methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure
the future wellbeing of a developing tourism destination. It has also analyze the implications of

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balancing supply and demand. The report has further evaluated the moral and ethical issues of
enclave tourism.

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Assignment 4: A Developing Country and an Emerging Destination
1.0 Introduction
Tourism industry is one of the important sectors of the developing countries. It
contributes significantly in the economic growth of the nation. As stated by Ekanayake & Long
(2012), tourism acts a catalyst for the socio-economic and cultural development of a developing
nation. Developing country refers to the nation that has less developed industrial foundation, low
GDP and low per capita incomes (Bresser-Pereira, Oreiro & Marconi, 2014). Thailand is a
developing country in the Asian continent with a GDP growth of 3.9% in 2017. It is considered
as an emerging economy with new industrial development. The tourism sector accounts for
almost 8.6% of the Thai economy (Jones & Pimdee, 2017). The tourism industry in this country
is based upon the rich cultural heritage of the nation. It is the 10th tourist destination of the world,
and 3rd in Asia, after China and Hong Kong. In 2015, almost 30 million international tourists
came to Thailand, which is around 6 million more than the previous year. The maximum number
of tourists, that is, around 900,000 came from Australia (Beirman, 2016). Thus, the economy of
this developing country is highly dependent on the tourism sector.
With the economic growth happening over the years, Thailand is also emerging as a
destination for medical tourism. Hence, the tourism visitation happens not only for its natural
beauty, cultural heritage, history and adventure destinations but also for improved medical
facilities and treatments. This report aims to provide an overview of the tourism issues that
affects the tourism of a developing country and emerging destination, that is, Thailand, and to

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present some recommendations to address the issues. The socio-cultural, economic and
environmental impacts of tourism will be explored in the context of Thailand to find out the
issues and evaluate them.
2.0 Thailand: a developing country and emerging tourist destination for medical tourism
2.1 Tourism in Thailand as a developing country
Thailand is the second major economy in the Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. As per the
rankings based on GDP per capita, Thailand holds the 4th position after Singapore, Brunei, and
Malaysia. Agriculture is the primary sector of Thailand, followed by manufacturing and tourism
(Jones & Pimdee, 2017). Over the past 5 years, tourism sector of Thailand has grown
significantly. It contributed around 9% (1 trillion baht) of the total GDP in 2013, while in 2016,
the contribution increased to 17.7%, that is, around 2.53 trillion baht (Grealis et al., 2017). It is
one of the major sectors of the Thai economy as it provides employment to a large number of
people and helps many supporting businesses. Various types of tourism occurs in Thailand, such
as, cultural tourism, nature and adventure sports, gastronomical tourism, and a new type of
tourism is medical tourism, which is becoming quite popular in the recent past
(tourismthailand.org., 2018). The country is full of natural attraction points and islands that draw
a large number of domestic and international tourists every year. It has some spectacular
beaches, far stretched jungles, exquisite cuisines, ancient temples and inimitable night life. Along
with that, the country has a rich history and cultural background, which also acts as attraction
points for the tourists. Thailand also offers highly diverse and distinct Thai cuisine, which draws
many international customers every year.

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2.2 Medical tourism in Thailand
Medical tourism is a very recent section of the Thai tourism, in which people from the
surrounding countries visit Thailand for better healthcare treatments. Thailand received the Joint
Commission International (JCI) accreditation in 2002 as the first Asian country and by 2014, it
has 35 hospitals accredited by JCI. These hospitals have the latest healthcare technology and
highly trained medical professionals and offer these high quality healthcare services at a price
lower than developed countries in the West (Noree, Hanefeld & Smith, 2016). Bangkok, Hua
Hin, Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Phuket and Pattaya are some of the primary medical tourism
destinations in Thailand (Connell, 2013), and some of the top hospitals for the international
patients are Bumrungrad International, Bangkok Hospitals Group and Samitivej Hospitals. These
regions were already famous for their natural attraction points, and along with that, they are now
emerging as medical tourist destinations. The most common treatments availed by the foreign
patients are cosmetic surgeries, dental, orthopedic surgeries, infertility treatment, cardiac,
bariatric surgery, and Ophtamology and eye surgeries (health-tourism.com, 2018).
3.0 Issues that need to be addressed
Although Thailand is booming with domestic and international tourists each year, yet
there are some issues that need attention. There are some environmental issues, sustainability
issues, socio-cultural issues and economic issues for both types of tourism in Thailand, that is,
overall tourism and medical tourism. Those are illustrated below.

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3.1 Socio-cultural issues
3.1.1 Socio-cultural issues in Thailand as a developing nation
Increase in tourism has severe impact on the socio-cultural aspects of Thailand. With the
increasing footfalls of the international tourists, there has been integration and interaction
between multiple cultures, which is affecting the native people. For example, the local Thai
people and poor migrants or refugees are often made scapegoats for the crime and increased
unemployment rate. The Kayan tribes of Thailand were the refugees from Myanmar. There
were not given Thai citizenship. Their basic human rights were curbed and they are often
exploited in the sex industry and they also become subject of trafficking (Valenta, 2017).
In addition, human trafficking and sex tourism are a matter of concern for the tourists
as well as for the government of Thailand. The country has earned bad reputation for their sex
industry and sex tourism, which contributes in the crime rates. There is a steady inflow of
migrant workers in Thailand from the neighboring countries and a significant number of migrant
men, women and children are channeled into the sex industry (Bernstein & Shih, 2014). This
also poses threats to the foreign tourists who are quite vulnerable in that country and can be
tricked into that industry. On the other hand, this industry also provides a large amount of
revenue from the foreign tourists. As international tourism contributes huge amount of revenue
in the economy, the government of Thailand has not been taking any strict action against it.
Too much of tourists visitation is affecting the rich culture of the country. There is too
much commercialization of the art and culture to meet the demand of the tourists. The
souvenirs, arts and cultural objects are often modified to suit the tastes of the tourists. This also
contributes in the commoditization of the arts and cultural heritage of the nation. The traditional

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rituals and festivals are reduced and the objects are more emphasized to attract the tourists. The
interaction between the local people and international tourists leads to cultural clashes due to
language barriers, traditions, religion, social values and economic inequality and this also affects
the societies (Swanson & Timothy, 2012).
3.1.2 Socio-cultural issues in Thailand as an emerging destination
Regarding the newly developing medical tourism in Thailand, there are also socio-
cultural impacts of the tourism. On one hand, the growth of the medical tourism has increased
the employment opportunities in the nation, however, on the other hand, the cultural
differences, such as, language, religion, traditions differ, which sometimes generate negative
experience for the foreign tourists, as their expectations are not met (Coren & Gray, 2012).
Medical tourism creates provision of social services. It is meant for not only the
international patients, but also for the local residents. However, it has been found that there is
lack of primary healthcare system. As the professionals have degree for specialized treatment,
the basic medical needs have not been emphasized. Moreover, there is problem of part time
availability of the specialized doctors (health-tourism.com, 2018). Thus, the purpose of social
services is sometimes hampered.
Sometimes, the medical professionals display discriminatory attitude towards the
local people. For example, the foreign patients are sometimes given better treatment than the
local people as the revenue generation is higher from the foreign patients (Connell, 2013).
Hence, the moral value regarding serving those in distress is also violated for earning money.

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3.2 Environmental issues
3.2.1 Environmental issues in Thailand as a developing nation
Tourism activities have negative impact on the environment. Thailand is endowed with
many natural attraction points. It has exquisite beaches, spectacular islands, magnificent jungles
and diverse wildlife. Increasing tourism activities are affecting these environmental resources.
For example, the country is famous for its elephant sanctuaries and parks with exotic animals.
However, too much pressure of tourism is affecting the wild life of the country. The Tiger
Temple in western Kanchanaburi province had 137 tigers in 2016 and used to earn around USD
15,000 per day on an average from the tourists who flocked there to take snaps with the tamed
adult tigers and tiger cubs (Valenta, 2017). Elephant rides are more popular in Chiang Mai. Most
of these animals were obtained through smuggling and kept chained for tourism activities. These
activities are creating impact on the wild lives and environment through disturbance of the
ecology and biodiversity.
Increasing level of tourism activities affects the infrastructure of the remote regions.
The natural resources are depleted due to tourism. As the number of domestic and international
tourists is increasing over the years, there is need for more accommodation, sewerage, food and
transport facilities. To meet these needs, there is rapid urbanization, resulting in deforestation.
There is pressure on the finite fossil fuel and energy resources and more air, water and soil
pollution (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). Thus, sustainability is hampered. Although, the
government and the tourism department of Thailand have been taking initiatives to conserve and
protect the natural resources, such as, it has built some national parks for protecting nature and
wild life, yet, the booming tourism activities are resulting in more pollution, and damaging the
environment.

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3.2.2 Environmental issues in Thailand as an emerging destination
According to the health tourism department of Thailand, the issues in the medical tourism
include lack of emergency transport facilities (health-tourism.com, 2018). This affects the
overall tourism also. The limitation of transport infrastructure is a major challenge in Thailand,
while, increasing number of tourists is damaging the existing infrastructure all the more due to
lack of maintenance. There is heavy traffic in the major cities of the country, which is also
caused by increased number of tourists as well as the inflow of patients. The airport needs to be
upgraded to accommodate growing number of tourists, but that would require much time.
Sustainability is sometimes hampered in medical tourism also. Improved hospitals and
accommodation facilities are being made at the cost of the agricultural lands and forests (Wong
& Musa, 2012). This is affecting the natural balance, ecology and biodiversity.
The solid and toxic medical wastes, chemicals and sewage litters from the hospitals and
health centers affect the water resources nearby, which causes environmental degradation
(Mowforth & Munt, 2015). Thus, healthcare services are also affecting the environment.
3.3 Economic issues
3.3.1 Economic issues in Thailand as a developing nation
There are quite a few economic impacts of the tourism in a developing country like
Thailand. It generates employment, creates opportunity for earning foreign exchange, and
develops different sectors. Tourism sector contributes significantly in the growth of the
economy. Apart from generating employment, tourism helps in developing various supporting
industries, such as, handicrafts as souvenir items, restaurants, transport, adventure sports, spa and
healthcare (Ghimire, 2013). The remote locations are developed with improved infrastructures.

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There is scope for earning foreign exchange from the international tourists, and it also provides
multiplier effect on the balance of payments. In other words, tourism not only improves the
tertiary sector of the nation, but also helps in the improvement of the primary and secondary
sectors (Sharpley & Telfer, 2013). Hence, payments are done and received for numerous
transactions in all the sectors due to tourism.
However, there are some issues also. For example, not all the regions with attraction
points are accessible or have the facilities to develop infrastructure. In those remote regions,
employment generation becomes difficult. Often the native people are not educated enough to be
recruited in a hotel or restaurant dealing with international tourists. Hence, community
development is not possible in those regions (Kontogeorgopoulos, Churyen & Duangsaeng,
2014).
In many cases, sufficient or adequate amount of funds is not available for developing
the infrastructures necessary for attracting tourists (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). As it requires a
large amount of expenses for an overall development, it is seen that often adequate funds are not
available. Both the government and the private sector need to come forward for the
developmental activities, which would not only benefit the tourism industry, but also all the
industries and communities. Moreover, various cultural events must be organized to attract the
global tourists and this also requires funding for the tourism department.
Foreign investment, that is, ownership and management of the tourism projects or
ventures by the foreign companies also have economic implications in the tourism industry of
Thailand. Various foreign companies have invested in Thailand for developing its infrastructure,
such as, roads, ports, airports, flyovers, bridges etc. and in some tourism projects, such as,

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preserving the national parks (Othman, Salleh & Sarmidi, 2012). This is beneficial to create
international standard infrastructure, which would help not only the tourists but also the citizens
of Thailand.
3.3.2 Economic issues in Thailand as an emerging destination
Economic inequality is present in the medical tourism in Thailand. It is observed that
often the local citizens cannot afford the highest quality standard of healthcare services due to
high expenses. As professionals with highest qualifications serve in those hospitals and they
provide highest quality of infrastructure, the cost of treatment is very high in these hospitals
(Bochaton, 2013). Being a developing country, the per capita income in Thailand is quite low.
Hence, the local residents cannot afford the high cost healthcare services and hence, they are not
benefitted from the growth of medical tourism.
Creation of hospitals create many job opportunities for the locals, however, due to lack of
education and proper training, the local residents usually get the opportunities in the lower
positions, such as, housekeeping, security etc. (Kontogeorgopoulos, Churyen & Duangsaeng,
2014) They cannot get promotions to the higher positions and thus, their wage is low compared
to the other professionals. Thus, economic development of the local or native community does
not happen.
There is economic leakage also. In other words, when in the circular flow of income and
expenses, non-consuming expenses are generated, such as, taxes, imports, savings etc., economic
leakages are generated (Chirenje et al., 2013). In the context of medical tourism, there are many
sources for savings of revenues and those generate the economic leakage. Thailand’s healthcare
department earns a huge amount of foreign exchange every year for their services and a certain

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portion of this revenue is given to the government as taxes. Due to the difference in the exchange
rate, the valuation of the saved foreign currency in terms of the domestic currency is quite much,
which cannot be utilized for further development of the medical sector in Thailand. Hence, the
intensity of economic leakage is quite higher in Thailand’s health sector.
4.0 Comparison of the issues
While comparing the issues of Thailand as a tourist destination and as a particular
emerging destination for the medical tourism, it can be noted that not all the tourist destinations
in the nation works as a medical tourism destination. Only the big cities, such as, Bangkok,
Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Phuket, and Pattaya, have developed its infrastructure and healthcare
facilities to cater to the international patients. These cities are also a part of the tourism sector of
the country, which includes various other attraction points, while medical tourism is happening
only in the above mentioned cities. Hence, while some of the issues are common for both the
cases, some are different.
Firstly, the improvement in the healthcare facilities are meant to provide high quality
medical services to the citizens and the foreign patients, while overall development of the
tourism sector does not contribute in the development of the healthcare sector. These two sectors
are entirely different and hence, the infrastructures and type of services are also different. Thus,
development in one sector does not ensure the development of the other.
Secondly, increase in tourism results in the generation of employment for people
belonging to all the sectors of the society. This creates employment opportunities for the local
people through the development of accommodation facilities, transport, restaurants, adventure
sports etc. while in the medical sector, the employment opportunities are segmented and the

22SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
lower class or less educated people of the society do not get opportunities to earn higher wage
due to their lower job position. Hence, although medical tourism helps the tertiary sector of
Thailand, yet, it contributes less for the impoverished section of the society.
Thirdly, the level of environmental degradation is much more in case of the overall
tourism development in a developing country like Thailand, than for the development of the
health sector. As the scope of the tourism sector in general is much wider, people access the
natural attractions and other areas and leave more impact on the environment. The wild life s
also more affected in case of tourism. Hence, the disturbance of the ecology is more in case of
the natural tourism. On the other hand, the health sector also contributes in the environmental
degradation through solid and toxic wastes, however, being in the public services, the health
sector also contributes in the improving the health of the community and creating a healthy
generation for the future. However, there is less focus on providing highest standard health
services to the less privileged sections of the society.
Fourthly, the medical sector of the nation receives more funding for infrastructural
development than the other destinations. The level of foreign investments is also more for the
healthcare services than for the other destinations. Healthcare sector gets the aid from the
national government, private organizations and foreign companies or government, while in the
other destinations, usually the government provides and domestic private organizations provide
investments or aids. Thus, the healthcare sector has more improved infrastructures than the all
other types of tourist destinations.

23SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
5.0 Recommendations and conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be noted that there are some specific issues in Thailand,
both as a developing country and as an emerging destination for medical tourism. Those issues
can be addressed for a better outcome for the country. Total 5 issues have been prioritized,
among which 3 belong to Thailand as a developing country and 2 from the issues that emerge in
Thailand as an emerging destination for medical tourism. Those are as follows along with
recommendations to mitigate their negative impacts.
1. As a developing country, Thailand must focus on creating more employment
opportunities in the tertiary sector, so that there can be increase in the per capita income
of the nation. More attraction points should be discovered or created or festivals should
be organized to attract more international visitors. More jobs in this sector should be
made permanent (Holloway & Humphreys, 2016).
2. Thailand should provide more funding and take initiatives for the development of
transport. Heavy traffic is a big issue in the bigger cities of the country. That has a
negative impact on not only on the tourist destinations, but also on the patients who come
to avail the medical services. Hence, the country should allocate more funds and take
actions for infrastructural developments, such as, building bridges and flyovers, and new
roads (Cooper, 2012).
3. Overall development of the communities depends on education. As Thailand is a
developing nation, the quality of general education is not much developed. The barrier of
language is also an important factor in providing the best quality services to the
international visitors and attracting them. Hence, the government should take measures to
provide education to all the sections of the society. This would benefit the people to opt

24SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
for a better position in the job and earn a better wage and they could also attract more
international visitors. Hence, the overall economy will be benefitted from this move.
Regarding the improvements in the medical sector and Thailand as an emerging destination, the
following two issues should be addressed.
1. Economic leakage should be reduced in the healthcare sector. The taxes should be
reduced on the medical sector with a condition of reinvesting the revenue for its
development. Some cheaper facilities or provisions should be introduced so that the local
citizens can afford the high quality healthcare services at a lower cost. That would serve
the purpose of community development.
2. Thailand should also try to implement sustainability measures in medical tourism.
Sustainability is a big issue in the modern world. Similar to other tourist destinations, the
medical destinations should also implement sustainable measures. The disposal
techniques of the wastes should be environment friendly. The equipment and other
resources must be eco-friendly to reduce the negative impact on the environment (Liburd,
Carlsen & Edwards, 2013).
It can be concluded from the above discussion that, Thailand is not only a major tourist
attractions for its natural resources, such as, beaches, islands, wildlife, and other attractions, such
as, adventure sports, nightlife and the famous spa industry, but it is also an emerging destination
for medical tourism. Being a developing nation, Thailand has lower per capita income, less
developed infrastructure, less developed communities and less job opportunities. In the past few
years, the healthcare services have improved quite well compared to other sectors of the nation.
Thus, to afford highest quality healthcare at a relatively cheaper cost than in the West, the

25SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
international tourists are visiting Thailand. This is contributing in the revenue of the nation.
However, there are major issues in the country that affects the tourism as well as medical tourism
in Thailand. The country should focus on providing education and affordable healthcare to all the
sections of the community, which would help it to improve its economic condition in the tourism
industry.

26SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR
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