Tourism in Thailand: Future Challenges and Economic Dimensions

This article explores the future challenges and economic dimensions of tourism in Thailand. It discusses the impact of tourism on the economy, the evolution of demand and growth factors, and the challenges faced by the industry. It also highlights the role of globalisation in driving tourism in Thailand and the future challenges that the industry may face.

Tourism in Thailand
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Table of Content
Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
The economic dimensions: tourism as an economic force, multiplier effect and employment
generation ....................................................................................................................................5
The travel motivations: Evolution of demand and growth factors .............................................8
Globalisation: drivers and outcomes............................................................................................8
Future challenges of Thailand tourism .......................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Thailand is well known for its vibrant heritage and natural beauty that involve several
characteristics such as drama, Thai dance and theatrical arts. The number of foreign tourists has
been increased and according to statistics, the number of tourists is going to increase by 40
million next year (Liu, Li and Parkpian, 2018). The culture and tradition in Thailand is different
from other’s as is unique and create a different perspectives due to change in lifestyles and
thinking of people. Travel and tourism is one of the fastest growing sector. The main aim for this
report is to analyse different future challenges that Thailand tourism ha to face. There is
discussion on evolution of travel and tourism industry throughout last 5 years within Thailand.
This country is located in South-east Asia. It is famous for combination of inspiring temples,
hospitality, natural beauty. It is a popular tourist spot of the world. There are many people who
are attracted towards Thailand tourism. This file includes analysis of economic growth in 5 years
within Thailand tourism.
Main Body
Thailand is one the popular tourism attraction across the world (Ditta-Apichai,
Kattiyapornpong, and Gretzel, 2020). The estimated income because of tourism to economy is
huge. There is political stability within this country and positive atmosphere as Buddhism is
followed. This also attracts people towards this country. People come from different parts of the
world such as Australia, UK, Russia for spending their vacation. In Thailand, Bangkok and
Pattaya are famous destinations which are mostly visited by foreigners. These contribute to
economic revenue of the country. It has a varied combination of rituals as well as Buddhism as
it shapes a modern future and provide a greater influence by rendering several benefits such as
transportation facilities and many more. The display of items and use of visual merchandising as
well as social norms would create a best source of attraction towards their guest and social
interactions and attitude of people by helping each other that promote unity as it creates a
harmonious environment. It is necessary that pride and respect for hierarchy would provide more
valuable to Thai people and thus create a best relationship and also the rise of belief in Buddhism
(Tetiwat, Esichaikul and Esichaikul, 2018). Moreover, it also faces stiff competition from other
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countries like Vietnam, Myanmar that possess a greater challenge for it. By looking the
awareness towards these, Government of Thailand focus on building more airports in a centre
location as the capacity of passengers would enhance till 60 million guest every year. Another
reason for growth in Thailand is it's hotel industry which provides major revenue for the
economy.
In accordance of Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT), the country is well known for value
based economy in terms of several aspects such as technical awareness, innovation capabilities,
creativity and knowledge. Thailand is known for medical hub which provide low cost and high-
quality treatment to their guest as it approximately contributes 4% of GDP as it provides
varieties of several treatments. Along with this, several trade fairs and exhibitions are organised
every year that create a significant image and allow it to focus more on expansion and
diversification across the globe (Mostafanezhad and Promburom, 2018).
The workforce of Thailand is highest paid as they work with zeal and enthusiasm and
tends to achieve desired level of output and maximise the effectiveness and provide several
prospects of growth to a nation. Thailand has various business opportunities such as textiles and
garments, footwear, electronics and other auto mobile components. Ensuring sustainable
development in tourism sectors within the country will be helpful for managing the needs and
demands of tourists. There is need of assistance to stakeholders to enjoy economic and social
benefits to them. The business environment is considered as dynamic so the government
facilitate by bring new and emerging changes so that they could meet the expectations of
stakeholders as it provides maximum contribution and mapping a brightest and sustainable
future.
Local community play a greater role in case of stakeholders that help in maximising
revenue and emphasise on taking active participation in decision making which ensure more
prospects of success and help in economic development of the country (Suntikul, 2017). There
are several stakeholders like government, private sector, local communities and many more that
contribute a lot in tourism development and facilitate proper decisions and emphasise on
accomplishment of goals in a respective time period. The active participation of stakeholders and
their promotion of new and innovative ideas would help in forming an appropriate strategy and
plan which ensure proper coordination and cooperation and thus maximise the welfare of local
communities. In case of Thailand, the main role of stakeholders is presented below:
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Local people: These include local residents of Thailand. They contribute to the tourism
growth by providing attractive and religious services and facilities to tourists who are visiting
this country. There is huge impact of local people on the decision making of tourists as it affects
consumer's behaviour towards the country's tourism.
Employees: Tourism sector has various opportunities for people to get employment. In
context of Thailand, there are various business opportunities that this country is providing to
people. There are different businesses in which employees are benefited such as local shops
selling cultural articles and items. The Thailand tourism employees are gaining rapid growth.
There are millions of jobs provided to people within the tourism sector.
Government: Thailand government provides various tourism regulations and rules in
order to smoothen functioning of all tourism activities. There are various rules provided to the
state as well as central government in order to facilitate tourism services. Government is also
involved in different work related to infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports which
ensure safety and security of tourists and passengers.
Tourist: Tourists are playing an important role in increasing the economic growth and
development. Revenue is generated by Thailand tourism by contribution of fare and price
incurred while travelling and visiting various tourist destinations at Thailand.
They are also emphasised on moral values and sentiments and focus more on religious icons that
create a greater influence towards ethics of society and ensure a significant growth and help in
achieving sustainable development in a long run.
The economic dimensions: tourism as an economic force, multiplier effect and employment
generation
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It is clearly concluded from this graph that there is economic growth in Thailand due to
travel and tourism industry. This sector of business industry has increased at a fast rate. The
contribution of travel and tourism within any country is known to be the fastest as well as largest
sector involved in increasing economic growth. There are various factors which provide effective
role within the increase of economic growth and development of Thailand. Some of these are
increase in income levels, lifestyle change, regulatory support, policy of government, etc. There
are few countries which are facing challenges like health and safety of tourists, improper
tourism infrastructure, road tax structure, etc. But this is not the scenario within Thailand. This
country has welcomed foreign tourists since many years to have pleasurable stay. State as well as
central government of Thailand put several efforts for organising plans and programs for
improving tourism infrastructure. This will help in increasing the number of tourists. Gradually,
this will lead to increase in growth of country's economy. The travel and tourism business of
Thailand has increased to a great level. There are different functions such as lodging operation,
food and beverage, activities, transportation service, retail stores, etc. These are services are
improvised in order to provide better facilities and services to people.
 Lodging operations – These includes motels, hotels, resorts, B&B, condominiums,
casinos and conference events. This is one of the major element that attracts tourists
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Illustration 1: Contribution to GDP due to tourism, 2020

towards a country. In context of Thailand, they are focusing upon improvising lodging
services since years so that quality services are provided to tourists.
 Transportation services – These includes different services including railway, metro,
airplanes, Bikes, etc. There are better services within Thailand for transportation and
tourists are benefited by these kind of facilities.
 Food and beverage - This includes presence of high quality restaurants, street food,
catering, cruise ships, bars, snack bars, banquets, which are present within Thailand that
attracts tourists.
 Retail stores – There are plenty of gift shops, souvenir shops, art shops, markets, etc.
 Activities - Thailand has several opportunities including recreation, business, study trips,
ethnic festivals, sporting events, etc.
A lot of investment is incurred by foreign investors which provide improvement in travel
and tourism sector and is most appropriate in case of labour market and also it create a vast job
aspect for people which drive a force towards the growth and ensure success in future. It reduces
poverty and promote socio economic development that is rich in heritage and culture which
generate maximum income and aids in economic development of a country.
GDP in tourism is around 17.7% and government expect that it would be 30% in 2030 as
it renders millions of job prospects among the people. Also, the number of tourists has grown
approximately to 32 million as it one of the mostly visited place by foreigners which ensure
maximum satisfaction and provide greater growth in revenue. One important aspect that provide
growth to tourism sector is infrastructure facilities that render a reasonable growth in Thailand
and natural environment which ensure prosperity of success. Also, several ancient temples are
built in Thai as it has an excellent architectural design that create a fascination among the people
to visit such places.
Various other festivals such as Thailand Lantern festivals that rejuvenate the experience
of people as during these lotus shaped baskets are placed over the river which create a better
experience among the guest. There are several luxurious accommodation facilities in Thai as
they are priced different and provided to them in accordance of their comfort.
It has several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and its proper usage of natural
resources would create a better attraction towards people and also several water games and sports
plus scuba driving and easy booking facilities would help people to enjoy their trip which in turn
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generates maximum contribution towards revenue. People prefer to visit such places due to
several reasons like food which is of excellent quality and is less expensive and beautiful
beaches that has clear water that provide a better experience among the people and also its
excellent climatic and weather conditions would help people to rejuvenate towards the nature.
The travel motivations: Evolution of demand and growth factors
There are various travel motivations for Thailand tourism. Some of the reasons include
engaging tourism, leisure, visiting relatives and friends, business and professional engagements,
health treatments, undertaking religious and pilgrimages, some other personal motives. There are
more international tourism arrival in Thailand than other nations. The supply of tourism in
Thailand has various tourism products that consists of various components which includes
transport, hospitality, lodging facilities, etc. There are different forms of accommodation
provided by Thailand tourism. Tourism includes various type of food services, entertainment
and leisure activities. Other factors which motivate demand of tourists include food service
industry, drinking places, coffee shops, food outlets, accommodation sector, etc.
Globalisation: drivers and outcomes
The major driver for increase in globalisation and tourism is due to the recreational
holiday and leisure activities which is available for tourists. There are a number of such activities
including watching different sports such as football, volleyball and also sepak takraw which is an
athletic skill. The bars and clubbing provide great fun to people, there are a number of palaces to
visit, elephant trekking, massages, snorkelling etc. all of these activities together increase the
leisure for tourists visiting Thailand.
Other than this another driver for globalisation in Thailand is the medical care which is
present in the country. The medical facilities in Thailand are are very affordable. When
comparing to western countries they are way cheaper. There are great places for recovery after
heavy surgeries. There are experienced and international doctors to serve in Thailand who do
have much waiting time even for extensive surgeries. All these lead to heavy foot fall in country
due to medical development.
Buddhism is official religion in Thailand which is followed by 95% of population. The
Buddhist temples are another driver for monks and people following Buddhism from overall the
world to come visits Thailand. This is another cause and driver of globalisation in the country.
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Future challenges of Thailand tourism
Thailand tourism will have to face a number of problems in future due to Coronavirus
pandemic. Tourism in Thailand contributes 18% of total GDP and the following year the number
of tourists expected is already 65% less than earlier years. Also there have been various doubts
regarding the ability of Thailand to sustain such huge number of tourists each year. There are a
number of problems with the infrastructure of transport in Thailand. The major challenge is to
increase the capacity of airport present there. It is necessary to enhance the airports specially the
one in Phuket as they are always overcrowded with tourists. Another problem is heavy traffic on
roads of the country. They need to work on construction of highways which can efficiently
support the traffic. They also need to take measures to preserve the ocean life as these creatures
are the major attraction in the country. There are necessary measures to be taken for preserving
beaches from various sand erosion that is caused. Due to erosion of all these beaches the tourism
activity in Thailand can deplete in future. Along with these there are a number of other outdoor
tourist attractions which are to be balanced in a way that no effect is seen on the environment.
CONCLUSION
From the above information, it can be summarised that Thailand is engaged in natural
heritage and diversified culture and several moral principles and standards are practices in this
country which provide a better experience among the people. It has various ancient temples,
resorts and islands and wildlife sanctuaries and low-cost accommodation greatly attracts the
people from across the worldwide.
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REFERENCES
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