Steps to manage overcrowding might enhance the visitor experience
Thailand can embrace steps to manage overcrowding by global travelers and much better handle supply and need, states Siam Commercial Bank’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC).
International arrivals to Thailand grew by 10.3% usually throughout 2008-17, surpassing the 4.1% typical worldwide development in the very same duration, the EIC stated.
The increase of inexpensive airline companies and subsequent cost competitors have actually caused decreased flight expenses, with ticket costs dropping 15-20% throughout the 2013-17 duration. The development of social networks and online travel bureau has likewise driven global tourist in Thailand.
However global travelers are focused in a number of locations, leading to overcrowding and straining facilities, natural deposits, regional culture and the nation’s general tourist image.
Regardless of the short-term financial advantage of financial development, the unfavorable effects might impact the quality of the tourist experience, stated EIC expert Pullawat Pitigraisorn.
Subsequently, the tourist sector will be not able to support long-lasting financial development in a sustainable way, he stated.
Mr Pullawat stated a number of cities abroad that have actually ended up being overcrowded with travelers have actually presented steps to handle traveler numbers.
These steps can be categorized into 2 classifications: demand-side steps to handle tourist (showing the desire to take a trip to a location) and supply-side steps.
A a great deal of Chinese travelers are seen at Pattaya Beach. International travelers are focused in a number of locations.( Picture by Chaiyos Phupattanapong)
For demand-side steps, defining a minimum income rate for traveler visa applications is amongst them, Mr Pullawat stated, pointing out how the Japanese federal government presented this step in early 2015, where a minimum yearly earnings for Chinese travelers making an application for a multiple-entry visa was set at 100,000 yuan annually.
” This step is utilized to manage numbers and filter the quality of travelers getting in the nation,” he stated.
Presenting a traveler quota system for a particular period is another demand-side step, Mr Pullawat stated.
Such a step was embraced in Dubrovnik, Croatia in January 2017 to restrict travelers to 8,000 each day, in accordance with the Unesco’s suggestions, he stated, including that this quota was set since of concerns that the World Heritage Website might be deteriorated.
For supply-side steps, promoting tourist in less-visited locations is a possible technique to fight extreme visitor numbers, Mr Pullawat stated.
Iceland, for instance, compensates airline companies flying to Akureyri in the nation’s north, which includes waterfalls and warm springs however is not as popular amongst travelers as the capital Reykjavik.
Establishing brand-new tourist paths is another supply-side step, Mr Pullawat stated, offering the example of Japan’s Dragon Path.
Established in 2012, the path involved enhancing transportation facilities, clustering and establishing existing tourist attractions through the public-private collaboration technique, and enabling the economic sector to end up being associated with financial investment in tourism-related organizations such as hotels, onsens, dining establishments and memento stores.
Mr Pullawat stated some cities have actually even embraced huge information innovation and expert system (AI) to get control of traveler numbers.
” That holds true in Amsterdam, where radio frequency recognition chips were set up in visitor cards that permit travelers to get in tourist attractions and utilize public transportation free of charge to gather huge information,” he stated. “The details is then processed utilizing AI, enabling the management group to keep an eye on travelers’ behaviour throughout their check outs.
” This system can likewise be utilized to decrease traveler density at websites by notifying them of hectic durations. This permits travelers to check out other tourist attractions that are less crowded.”
Thailand needs to likewise present a tourist management system to guarantee constant and sustainable development in tourist earnings, Mr Pullawat stated.
” Beginning with gathering, keeping and exchanging tourist details in between pertinent firms, consisting of hotels, airline companies, lodging appointment platforms, ranking and evaluating sites, representatives and federal government bodies, such cooperation can likewise be encompassed consisted of smart phone operators to gather huge information from phone signals to study tourist behaviour, as allowed by law,” he stated.
