Essay Sample on Tourism and Sustainable Development in Thailand

Introduction

Tourism is among the fastest growing economic sectors globally, and it is progressively renowned as an essential contributor to the creation of job opportunities and wealth, growth of the economy, ecological fortification and lessening of poverty. The prosperity of tourism depends majorly on management; hence good management of tourism ensures the preservation of the natural and racial heritage properties, empowerment of the host societies, the creation of employment opportunities and nurturing harmony and intercultural understanding. Despite the many benefits of tourism, it also comes with some challenges that include greenhouse gas production, economic leakages, and resource organization. The alleviation of these adverse effects of tourism requires dire partnership from the stakeholders (Urosevic et al., 2017).

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Thailand is among the countries that are currently thriving development-wise due to tourism activities. Sightseeing is a chief financial donor to the Thai Kingdom with estimations of travel proceeds backing to the Thai economy ranging from 9% in 2013 to 17.7% in 2016. The Thai government has a Tourism Authority whose slogan is "Amazing Thailand" that it uses to advertise the Thailand tourism industry globally. The authority, in 2015, decided to supplement the slogan with a "Discover Thainess" promotion.

Thailand has had a significant history concerning its tourism industry. In the 1960s, the increment in tourism activities in the Thai kingdom was due to a steady governmental environment and the development of Bangkok as a crossway of transnational air conveyance. Because of the increased demand from tourists, the inn industry and the retail sector equally developed speedily. This was enhanced by the coming of the US soldiers for the rest and recuperation in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. At this period, intercontinental sightseeing remained increasing tremendously, and the standards of living improved world-wide and traveling were quicker and more reliable due to the technological advancement in the air transport industry.

The number of visiting tourists increased from 336,000 foreigners and 54,000 GIs on Rest and Recuperation in 1967 to 32.59 million foreigners in 2016. The Tourism Authority for Thailand says that the tourism sector collected US$71.4 billion in 2016. This showed an increment of 11% from the previous year. TAT officers assert that the revenue estimations for both the foreign and domestic visitors from 2016 surpass their earlier predictions of US$78.5 billion. 6.7 million people from ASEAN states arrived in 2015, and the number was projected to increase to 8.3 million in 2016. The most significant amount of Western tourists came from Russia with an estimation of 6.5%, followed by the United Kingdom with 3.7%, Australia came third with 3.4% and then the US with 3.1%. Close to 60% of those visiting Thailand were returning guests and the peak period was between December and February.

4.6 million Chinese guests arrived in Thailand in 2014 (Julie, 2013). The next years experienced a growth in the visiting Chinese with their number being projected to be 7.9 million in 2015, and 8.7 million in 2016 of all the foreign tourists. From these estimations, Thailand depends more on Chinese visitors to obtain their tourism income target. The Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that the number of Chinese visitors grew by 93% in the first quarter of 2013. This growth was accredited to the approval of "Lost in Thailand," a Chinese film that was videoed in Chiang Mai. The Thai government also received Japanese tourists close to 1.43 million in 2015, a number that was forecast to increase to 1.7 million in 2016. To ensure that foreign guests are accommodated, the Thailand administration established a discrete travel forces with centers in the main tourist zones and a principal backup phone number.

Thailand used to enjoy the domination of tourism in Southeast Asia, but due to the opening of the Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the dawn 1900s, the rivalry swelled. Termini such as Angor Wat, Luang Prabang, and Halong Bay currently compete Thailand's previous control in the Indochina area. Thailand has shifted its focus on forte markets like golf holidays, trips combined with healthcare management and holidays to the military installation to counter the piled competition. Additionally, Thailand is scheduling to become the center of Buddhist tourism in the area.

Thailand enjoys the privilege of being ranked among the top visited areas in the world. In a report from the U.S. News' 2017 Best Countries, Thailand was tired as the fourth universally for escapade value and seventh for ethnic heritage (Hedrick-Wong & Choong, 2014). In 2015, Thailand was graded 35 out of 141 countries in a report titled "The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report" issued by the World Economic Forum. Basing on the metrics that were used to calculate this score, Thailand scored excellently in natural assets and tourism service infrastructure. Conversely, Thailand scored poorly in environmental sustainability and safety and security. By 2013, Thailand ranked tenth in the global tourism standings with a projected 26.5 million global entrances.

During the political discontent between 2013-2015 in which martial law was implemented in the country, Thailand tourism industry suffered greatly. The shutting down of the Bangkok's government offices by the anti-government protesters on 13th January 2014 made several tourists shun visiting the country. This political unrest caused the tourists' arrivals in the country to drop. Subsequently, tourism revenue fell immensely. In April 2015, Thailand terminated martial law and predicted the increase of tourists from Europe and the US.

To grow the number of tourists visiting Thailand, Thailand's Tourism Authority decided to start a campaign "Discover Thainess" in 2015. This promotion was aimed to advertise the assets that attracted visitors to the country. Among the sightseers' attraction in Thailand is its compassionate climate (Turner, 2015). Thailand primarily enjoys a tropical wet and dry or savannah climate whereas the south, and the eastern slant of the east have a tropical monsoon climate. Thailand experiences several seasons that include cool and dry season between November to February, hot and dry season between March to May and the rainy season between May to October. Thailand is also renowned for her rich ethnic heritage and natural attractiveness. The Thai culture features several arts including drama, Thai dance and theatrical arts. Cultural shows such as "Siam Niramit" are also known to attract the majority of the tourists in Thailand every year. Another great tourist attraction in Thailand is Thai cuisine. In 2016, gastronomy was among the leading revenue source in Thailand's tourism industry.

Additionally, elephant slogging is among the oldest tourist attraction in Thailand. Since the prescription of logging was done in Thailand, elephants were taken to camps to be ridden by tourists and to be put to shows, with the Asian elephant being the main species in the fields. Another attraction for tourists in Thailand is the Muay Thai which is the national sport of Thailand and a tour to an arena to see the "science of the eight limbs" is a chief part of many travelers' experience. Muay Thai is a major sports activity thus campaigning for it would increase the country's revenue. Alternatively, sex tourism is recorded as one of the things that attracted tourists to Thailand. Among the 26.74 million visitors received in Thailand in 2013, 11.23 million were men who were suspected by a non-governmental organization to have visited Thailand for prostitution. Despite the efforts to stop it, sex tourism has remained to be a niche market in Thailand that many travelers are prompted to use.

Like many developing countries, Thailand still experiences many challenges concerning its developmental phase. One of the significant problem that Thailand faces is environmental preservation and catastrophe management. The rapid suburbanization in Thailand has piled pressure on natural resources such as water resources. Inadequate misadventure deterrence promptness in the case of intermittent famines and deluges necessitates a noteworthy budget (Kuy, 2014). Due to such challenges, methods to alleviate and acclimate to environment change sufficiently are needed to equal the established universal obligations and lessen financial and communal losses.

Another problem that is faced by the Thailand nation is its aging populace and ubiquitous labor unpretentiousness which make better provisioning and financing of societal fortification indispensable. The scrappy societal safekeeping system does not sufficiently safeguard the outsized informal and perilously hired employees, and hence the elderly are at risk of being poor. Whereas public funds are currently growing, gradual revenue upsurges will be required to finance the swelling pension and medical care expenditures ascending from a hurriedly aging population and deteriorating employees. Encouraging a sizeable formal workforce marketplace contribution will be a chief factor to escalating social safeguard and improving duty income.

Additionally, the other more significant challenge that is facing Thailand is the availability of skilled and semi-skilled labor. Majority of the employees in Thailand lack specialized training and hence lower the efficiency of production. Thailand has inadequate teachers at its higher education levels to take the population through the expertise required to handle particular operations. This challenge has led to the occurrence of regional imbalances in the country. To curb this problem, the operational transformation is needed to generate other eminence occupations and overwhelm area inequalities. Such policies include addressing the substructure logjams, encourage novelty and augment competition. This can be upgraded by improving education and lifetime expertise training.

Subsequently, Thailand's justifiable and comprehensive improvement suffers from poor governance and ineffective communal service conveyance. Decent management is significant to facilitate markets to deliver products efficiently, with negligible alteration of assets to minor prolific usages. Problems in the civic segment like the gap amid preparation and execution, and inadequate inter-ministerial co-ordination and community partaking should be overtaken for the management's ambition to the high earning country. The poor governance leads to such cases as political instability which has negative implications to the tourism industries.

Moreover, corruption is yet another major challenge that is affecting Thailand. The practice of favoritism, delinquency, and subornment does not give room to effective use of possessions. A significant sum of corporate financing is utilized for enormous announcements, and these are essential to winning a poll. Those elected foci more on their initiatives rather than safeguarding their people from calamities and improving their living standards (Asada & Koen, 2018).

Conclusion

Despite the significant challenges that are experienced by Thailand in fostering development, tourism seems to be offering a good chance for sustainable development. Tourism is a vibrant sector in many countries, and it is proving to be one of the highest paid industry. Thailand is a country full of tourists' attraction attributed to its wealthier cultural heritage and natural beauty. Majority of Thailand's tourists' attractions depend on the maintenance of the natural resources to continue to offer unique experiences for sightseers. Such include the clean white sandy beaches, exotic plant and animal species. Touris...