Thailand tourism to draw tourism for local communities and not big biz
Thailand’s tourism architects have been told to concentrate on six development zones to promote sustainable income distribution to communities rather than corporate entities.
At a meeting chaired last week by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, a plan was unveiled to concentrate on six zones focusing on sustainable balance and income distribution, according to the ministry’s permanent secretary, Pongpanu Svetarundra.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand will be commissioned to promote and market the zones based on content and developments curated by various ministries including the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports cooperated with Thammasat University to study and identify the zones that were narrowed down to a list of six priority areas.
The six new areas will join eight existing areas giving the project a total of 14 districts .
The project starts with in depth studies on the tourism content of the areas and then explores ways to draw tourism and ensure the local communities benefit.
By identifying the areas and creating a broad awareness of tourism potential, the ministry’s permanent secretary said it would make it "easier for tourists to recognise the image and identity of each area and also help to conserve and restore of tourism resources."
The programme kicks off with the tourism ministry and Thammasat University jointly studying and surveying travel content in the six tourism zones in four regions.
In the northern area the tourism message will be "lifestyle, community and ethnic identity".
In the northeast region the focus will be on heritage and prehistory, while two areas in east Thailand will have themes of "wilderness adventure and two southern areas "lifestyle."
The Songkhla Lake basin district and the southern frontier cultural zone complete the list.
"We are announcing the development zones, today, as we are confident that it will lead to sustainable tourism development solutions, and that tourism revenue will be distributed to a wider section of the local community than it is today," the permanent secretary said.
Valere Tjolle
@ValereTjolle
Valere
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