P. Sanchez St. corner Pat Antonio, Sta.

Mesa Manila

“Maya Bay – Set 5”

Presented by the Tertiary Students of
STI College Sta.Mesa

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the subject of

Quality Service Management

By:
Alyssa Velasco
Kristine Gualberto
Carmela Tangbaoan
Rhea Capon
Daniel Macapagal
Gerlyn Moralde
Mary Gabryele Gimena
 MAYA BAY

Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay that's

sheltered by 100-meter high cliffs on three sides.
Inside the bay there are several beaches, most are
small and some only exist at low tide. The main one
is around 200 meters long with silky soft white
sand, underwater colourful coral, and exotic fish in
exceptionally clear water; the whole bay is one big
reef. Maya Bay has become the main tourist
attraction of Phi Phi since The Beach was filmed
here in 1999. It was always very popular before the
film but now people around the world who haven't
even heard of Phi Phi have certainly heard of Maya Bay. You can only visit Maya Bay from
November to April, as large waves make the entrance dangerous for boats during the other
months of the year. The bad news; as it's so beautiful and so well known many boats are
required to ferry all the visitors in and out. On any given day at any time, there will be 30 +
speedboats and longtail boats on the beach, with large ferry boats carrying hundreds of
snorkelers and sightseers moored in deeper water. Beautiful it is secluded it isn't – thousands of
people visit each day. Try to visit early in the morning or after 17:00 and you'll avoid the
crowds.

The facility in Maya Bay is a small shack a little back from the beach that sells drinks and snacks.
Further back from the beach are toilets but you'd only want to use them if you're desperate.
There is no food available here; those who camp must bring their own food. Fires are not
allowed but there is a permanent barbeque stand for cooking.

Also, there are so many activities that you can

do in Maya Bay. Snorkeling is excellent
throughout the bay, large underwater boulders
are encrusted with coral and brightly colored
fish are numerous. Visibility is excellent. Many
tour companies bring visitors here to snorkel
from Phuket, Krabi and Phi Phi Don.
Sea kayaking is also popular. Kayaking tour boats
come into the bay and moor while letting clients
explore.Tour shops in Phi Phi Don have begun to
advertise organised camping on 'The Beach',
drinking is usually part of the fun. Currently
camping is only permitted on alternate nights
 Maya Bay, Thailand Closed Indefinitely
In June 2018, the government of Thailand announced that one of its best tourist
destinations, Maya Bay, will be closed for four (4) months due to the effects of the high influx
of tourists. The closure of Maya Bay was intended to help the destination rehabilitate from
the effects of overcrowding. It was reported that the bay was “littered with trash, while
visitors continue to flock the area on overcrowded snorkel boats.” However, according to the
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) of Thailand, the bay
needed more time to recover.
Maya Bay was made famous by the movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio when it
was used as the setting for the film. Due to its popularity, the data released by the DNP
suggested that tourist arrivals in Maya Bay by 2018 will hit 2.5 million visitors and in the
succeeding years, the number will increase by half a million. Daily, Maya Bay receives as
many as 4,000 tourists and 200 boats a day in which ecologists agree that it is more than
what the bay can accommodate.
After the initial phase of its closure from June to October, the DNP said that the ecosystems
and physical structure of Maya Bay need more time to recover and the closure will be
extended from October onwards. Upon checking the situation, it was discovered that the
beach forest has been degraded and tree roots are exposed due to excessive strolling, the
beach is overcrowded, and the coral reefs are damaged which is the most concern.
A survey conducted by the DNP suggested that the coral reef flats in certain parts of the bay
have been degraded and seriously damaged, and broken coral and fragments are also visible
on the seafloor. Tourist boats and their anchors are said to be one of the major reasons for
the degradation and destruction.
The first task to help the recovery of the bay was coral propagation where branches of
broken corals are attached to rocks so that they can grow on them. It is expected that 2,000
coral tips will grow in Maya’s waters. DNP also intends to study the recovery of the bay’s
ecosystems and how it will be able to handle the impacts of tourism.
They also aim to change the management approach for the bay as they hire universities to
study the number of tourists and boats the bay can accommodate which is roughly
calculated at 2,000 tourists and 100 boats per day. Access to the bay will be shifted at the
back of the island, and tourist numbers and transport boats will be limited depending on the
results of the study in terms of the bay’s capacity.
Some are against the said closure because it will affect the livelihoods of locals who make
their living from the 4,000 tourists visiting daily. They also argued that the indefinite closure
will affect the tourists who already made their bookings before the announcement of the
bay’s rehabilitation. It was suggested that the closure should take effect after the peak
season months.
Management Objectives

Number of Visitors
It wasn't too long ago that I would see international tourists walking the streets of Bangkok,
even if it feels like a distant memory to me now. There were times when I was sure that tourist
volumes were growing and, indeed, in 2019, Thailand experienced its biggest year of tourism in
history with approximately 40 million international guests flocking to the country. It's a figure
well over half of Thailand's population and was projected to increase by a further 2.5 percent
this year, until COVID-19 dismantled future projections. To put 40 million into further
perspective, it represents an almost 50,000 percent increase in guests compared to 1960 and is
more than double the number of 2011 visitors. Sustainable growth? Likely not, and parts of the
country were certainly feeling the impact. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh island, which was
famously depicted in Hollywood films Blue Lagoon and The Beach, in 2018 sadly announced its
closure until 2021, after the 5,000 visitors it was accepting per day began proving too much for
the natural environment. Additionally, the entire island of Koh Tachai has remained closed since
2016 to allow for the rehabilitation of the natural ecosystem. It's easy to understand the
international intrigue. Thailand's tropical beaches, ancient ruins, food culture and hospitality
make the country a truly unique package, something that we should be thankful for and proud
of. For locals, however, until now the boom in travel has meant rapid changes to the Thailand
they once knew, with infrastructure updates simply not able to meet demand and
overcrowding becoming a very real issue. As a result, many have travelled abroad to distance
themselves from the international tourists that packed their local landscape, to experience a
new place that was nowhere near home.