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Policy and planning of tourism product

development in Thailand: A proposed model
a
Manat Chaisawat
a
Prince of Songkla University , Phuket, Thailand
Published online: 02 Feb 2007.

To cite this article: Manat Chaisawat (2006) Policy and planning of tourism product development in Thailand:
A proposed model, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 11:1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1080/10941660500500576

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 Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2006

Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development

in Thailand: A Proposed Model

Manat Chaisawat
Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand
Downloaded by [New York University] at 18:41 16 April 2015

This paper describes the growth rate of tourism industry in Thailand, one of the countries
in the Asia-Pacific region that successfully became the top foreign currency earner com-
pared to other industrial sectors in 2002. But revenues received from the industry in
dollar terms were decreasing as opposed to baht terms. Thailand generates less revenue
per tourist than leading competitors and has been unable to increase the revenue per
tourist over time.
The major factors that contributed to the increase of tourist arrivals to Thailand were
aggressive tourism promotions and mass marketing. We did not pay much attention to the
creation of value added tourism products to gain more revenue.
A strategic management approach was adopted as a guideline for tourism planning, and
implementation of tourism products in Thailand. Under the strategic management
concept, examples of external environment factors were indicated as sources of opportu-
nities and threats for Thai tourism policy and planning. Globalization and the develop-
ment of transportation and communications have changed the rules of the game from
comparative advantages in natural resources to tourism product. To create added value
for the customers or tourists, tourism products are associated with ideas, with knowledge,
innovation and the creativity of frontline staff who have direct contact with tourists.
A model of tourism planning and implementation of tourism product in Thailand was
proposed to exhibit demand factors in the middle. Marketing, transportation and com-
munication play a linking role with five groups of supply factors.
A model for strategic implementation of tourism product in Thailand was also pro-
posed by putting the focal point of tourism education and training institutions as a cata-
lyst and co-ordinating roles of all stakeholders in the region or destinations.

Key words: policy and planning, mass marketing, value-added tourism product, strategic
management, demand and supply factors

Introduction industry has become a powerful engine for

economic development and a major foreign
Since international tourism is a rapidly grow- exchange generator, especially in the Asia
ing phenomenon worldwide, the tourism and Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region is

ISSN 1094-1665 print/ISSN 1741-6507 online/06/010001 –16 # 2006 Asia Pacific Tourism Association
DOI: 10.1080/10941660500500576
 2 Manat Chaisawat
the world’s fastest growing tourism area in
terms of visitor arrivals. Thailand is one of
the countries in the Asia-Pacific region that
has experienced tourism growth since the
first Thai tourism plan was set up in 1976.
Even in the year after the financial crisis in
1997, the number of international tourist
arrivals increased from 7.221 million in
1997 to 7.764 million in 1998 and up to
10.799 million in 2002. In 2002, the
tourism industry became the top foreign cur-
rency earner compared to other industrial
sectors such as computers and parts, elec-
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tronic components and textiles (Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT), 2002). As
Porter (2003) highlights, the growth rate of
tourist arrivals keeps building even after
the regional and world crises such as the
US terrorist attack of 9/11, the bombing
in Bali and the SARS epidemic. But revenues
received from the industry in dollar terms
were decreasing as opposed to baht terms.
Thailand generates less revenue per tourist
than leading competitors, for example Indo-
nesia, and Thailand has not been able to
increase the revenue per tourist over time.
Even after the 1997 devaluation, revenues
in terms of Thai baht only remained
stable, while tourists reduced their spending
in terms of the US dollar.
We might say that in the past we put our
efforts to market our tourism products to
gain only the number of tourist arrivals at
a low price, or what we did in the past
was only to create or stimulate demand of
the tourism system and not pay much atten-
tion to the development of value added
tourism products that tourists are willing to
pay more in exchange for the benefits they
received. This paper proposes a new model
of Thai tourism planning and implemen-
tation in terms of tourism product
development.
A Model for Tourism Policy and Planning
of Tourism Products in Thailand
We start a model for policy and planning of
tourism product in Thailand by briefly
describing the evolution of tourism policy,
then by selecting the approach for tourism
planning.
Tourism Policy
Goeldner & Ritchie (2003) give a good defi-
nition of tourism policy as “A set of regulations,
rules, guidelines, directives, and development/
promotion objectives and strategies that
provide a framework within which the collec-
tive and individual decisions directly affecting
long-term tourism development and the daily
activities within a destination are taken.”
The purpose of tourism policy is twofold: to
provide maximum benefits to the stakeholders
of a town, region or nation, while minimizing
negative impacts.
Becherel (2001) distinguishes four different
stages in tourism policy formulation. In the
first stage, tourism policy is “promotion”
oriented, the pattern being that tourism auth-
orities publicize attractions. Once tourism
starts to become established as a significant
economic sector, national, regional and local
authorities endeavor to maximize the pro-
ductive potential of a sector by investing
in infrastructure and supplying marketing
services that the private sector cannot afford
or is not yet willing to provide. Thirdly,
tourism policy becomes “promotion and
product” oriented. As competition increases
and tourism activity intensifies, tourism
policy focuses on improving competitiveness
by creating a statutory framework to
monitor, control and enhance quality and effi-
ciency in the industry and to protect resources.
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
But in today’s globalized marketplace, strat-
egy and strategic planning are becoming key
elements of tourism policy. In this fourth
stage destinations must think strategically;
policy must be designed to position the desti-
nation to attract identified markets, create
value through innovation, encourage partner-
ships between stakeholders and co-ordinate
actions and initiatives.
The tourism industry is a global business.
Chris Cooper & Eduarda Fayos (WTO,
2001) indicated that tourism is in a situation
that Kuhn (1962) would clearly define as a
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paradigm shift, and which is not far from the
globalization process of economy and society
in general. The traditional tourism resources,
the comparative advantages (climate, land-
scape, culture, etc.) are becoming less and
less important compared to other factors in
tourism competitiveness. Information (or
rather the strategic management of infor-
mation), intelligence (innovative capacity in
teams within an organization) and knowledge
(know-how, or a combination of technological
skills and technology, and organizational
structure – humanology) now constitute new
resources and are key factors in the competi-
tiveness of tourism organizations (enterprises,
institutions and destinations). Globalization
is changing the competitive landscape of
tourism, driving enterprises, communities,
nations and governments to rethink their
strategies and structures to allow them to
operate successfully in a boundary-less
world. Globalization, and the increased com-
petition in tourism markets after the 1980s,
has required a continuous improvement in
the price/product –characteristics ratio; that
is to say, a constant striving towards quality
and efficiency.
From the above development of tourism
policy and planning, strategic management
was already applied to tourism policy and
3
planning. The basic definition of strategic
management given by Wheelen & Hunger
(2002) is that set of managerial decisions and
actions that determines a long-run perform-
ance of a corporation. It includes environ-
mental scanning (both external and internal),
strategy formulation (strategic or long-range
planning), strategy implementation, and
evaluation and control. The strategic manage-
ment emphasizes the monitoring and evaluat-
ing of external opportunities and threats in
the light of a corporation’s strengths and
weaknesses. Strategic management typically
is more oriented to rapidly changing future
situations and how to cope with changes orga-
nizationally. It is more action-orientated and
concerned with handling unexpected events.
Therefore this concept is the best fit to
tourism policy and planning.
The proposed model, the focus of policy and
planning of tourism product development, is
to satisfy the needs and wants of the demand
factors, international and domestic tourists
and local people.
According to the strategic management
process, to form policy and planning of
Thai tourism product development, external
environmental scanning is the first step of the
process. We have to bear in mind that
the external environment keeps changing, so
the environmental scanning for the model is
only an example of the model at the time the
paper was written. We will briefly review
the key determinant factors of the external
environment (Figure 1) which influence both
demand and tourism products as follows.
Political/Legal Factors
The political and legal factors can be explained
briefly by national plan. The main principles
ofthe tourism policy were established by the
 4 Manat Chaisawat
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Figure 1 Model for Tourism Policy and Planning for Thailand.
Ministry of Tourism and Sports during
2003–2006 (Brickshawana, 2003):
1. Develop as well as promote sustainable
tourism with the least environmental,
natural, social and cultural impact, so as
to preserve the existing national resources
for the benefit of later generations.
2. Enhance the quantitative expansion of
the tourism industry through the develop-
ment as well as management of potential
tourism resources in a manner that generates
benefits.
3. Standardize tourism products in order to
attract quality tourists.
4. Use Thai uniqueness as the country’s selling
point while establishing a brand image for
each region and push them to be developed
accordingly.
5. Present the products from different points
of view in order to meet tourists’ demands
due to fact that 51 percent of tourist visi-
tors to Thailand are repeaters.
6. Promote international sports events as a
major tourist activity.
7. Develop an integrated management of
information, public relations and customer
relations through the use of information
technology. The topmost target set by the
government is that Thailand will become
the tourism capital of Asia within three
years starting from 2004 to 2006.
From the review of Thai Tourism Planning
and Policy under the Ministry of Tourism
and Sports during 2003 –2006, it is quite
clear that the plan and policy is addressed
specifically in terms of product development
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
in the direction of sustainable tourism devel-
opment as well as trying to assume Thailand
to be the central network of tourism develop-
ment among the neighboring countries. But
some policies and strategies are not clearly
defined consistently enough for the proper
implementation by the stakeholders involved.
Some conflicting concepts of the plan are:
. It stresses both sustainable tourism and
quantitative expansion to enhance target
marketing side by side with mass marketing.
These are conflicting policies. One type of
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developing forms of tourism should be
“market-led” or “product-led” forms. The
meaning of market-led forms of tourism
development is to attract a broad market
regardless of the impact of the development,
but product-led is to develop forms of
tourism that are most compatible with the
environment and society, and targeting
only those markets that are consistent with
the product even though this may result in
fewer economic benefits (WTO, 1995).
Government policy is to try to balance
these two approaches, but the divergence
of these two policies needs to clarify
clearly to which areas or provinces they
must be applied.
. The Ministry policy poses a contrary
meaning between standardized tourism pro-
ducts and to attract quality tourists. The
marketing concept holds that consumer
needs vary and that marketing programs
will be more effective when they are tailored
to each target group (Kotler, 2003). But
standardized tourism products means to
offer the same products to all market seg-
ments. Quality tourists always look for
quality tourism. Therefore, much emphasis
is now given to development of quality
tourism as indicated in the eighth tourism
plan as a continuing improvement of quality
5
tourism. This concept implies protecting the
environment, maintaining cultural identity
and integrity and achieving a high level
of tourist satisfaction, while still generating
substantial economic benefits (WTO, 1995).
. The Ministry policy addresses to present the
products from different points of view in
order to meet the tourists’ demands due to
fact that 51 percent of tourist visitors to
Thailand are repeaters (TAT Statistical
Report, 2002, saying Revisit was 49.16
percent). This policy has more implications
than only to offer varieties of products to
meet the requirements of repeater tourists
because it relates directly to a concept of
tourist satisfaction. In general, satisfaction
is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disap-
pointment resulting from comparing a pro-
duct’s perceived performance (or outcome)
in relation to his or her expectations. If the
performance falls short of expectations, the
customer is dissatisfied. If the performance
matches the expectations, the customer is
satisfied. If the performance exceeds expec-
tations, the customer is highly satisfied or
delighted (Kotler, 2003). The concept of cus-
tomer satisfaction implies that a highly satis-
fied tourist stays loyal longer, visits more in
the future, and talks favorably about the des-
tination. To talk favorably of the destination
is a word-of-mouth source that is the best
promotion method in tourism. To keep tour-
ists satisfied with our destinations means
that we have to continually improve our
tourism products up to higher expectations
of our repeating visitors.
. Division of Role and Responsibility, the
newly established Ministry of Tourism and
Sports deals with the development of
tourism products which used to be under
the responsibility of the Tourism Authority
of Thailand, now taking charge entirely of
tourism marketing. This policy might have
 6 Manat Chaisawat
some problems as an integrated system of
tourism product development.
World/Regional Associations and
Forums in Tourism
In the tourism industry, international organiz-
ations at world and regional levels have influ-
ences in any country. Some of those are:
1. World Tourism Organization (WTO). The
WTO is an international organization in
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the field of travel and tourism. It is vested
by the United Nations with a central and
decisive role in promoting the development
of responsible, sustainable and universally
accessible tourism, with the aim of contri-
bution to economic development, inter-
national standing, peace, prosperity and
universal respect for, and observance of,
human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In pursuing this aim, the organization
pays particular attention to the interests
of developing countries in the field of
tourism. Acting as an umbrella organi-
zation for world tourism, WTO plays a cat-
alytic role in promoting technological
transfers and international cooperation, in
stimulating and developing public – private
sector partnerships and in encouraging the
implementation of the Global Code of
Ethics for Tourism, with a view to ensure
that member countries, tourist destinations
and businesses maximize the positive econ-
omic, social and cultural effects of tourism
and fully reap its benefits, while at the same
time they minimize its negative social and
environmental impacts. Through tourism,
1
The Planning Office was based at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). See ,www.visit-mekong.com..
2
For more information see ,www.pata.org..
WTO aims at stimulating economic
growth and job creation, providing incen-
tives for protecting the environment and
cultural heritage, and promoting peace,
prosperity and respect for human rights.
In 2003 its members reached 141 countries,
seven territories and some 350 Affiliate
Members representing the private sector,
educational institutions, tourist associ-
ations and local tourism authorities.
2. APEC Tourism Working Group. The
Tourism Working Group (TWG) was
formed in 1991 when it was recognized
that the tourism industry had growing
importance in promoting economic growth
and social development in the Asia-Pacific
region. The TWG continues to bring
together tourism administrators to share
information, exchange views and develop
areas of co-operation on trade and policies.
3. The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)
Tourism Working Group.1 GMS member
countries are: China, Laos, Mynmar, Thai-
land, Combodia and Vietnam. Thailand
has always played a major role in the admin-
istration of this group. It can serve both a
marketing as well as a planning policy func-
tion and there have been a number of discus-
sions regarding the various initiatives. The
initiatives are based on the plan that was
developed for the region and funded by
Asian Development Bank (ADB).
4. The Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA),2 founded in 1951, is recognized
as an authority on Asia-Pacific travel and
tourism. PATA provides leadership to the
collective efforts of nearly 100 government,
state and city tourism bodies, over 55
airlines and cruise lines, and hundreds of
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
travel industry companies. In addition,
thousands of travel professionals belong
to 70-plus PATA Chapter worldwide.
PATA’s mission is to enhance the growth
value and quality of Pacific Asia travel
and tourism for the benefit of its member-
ship and has long been an advocate of
balancing growth with responsible conser-
vation measures. (www.pata.org)
5. United Nations Economic and Social Com-
mission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP). The Tourism unit under the
Division of Transportation, Communi-
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cations, Tourism & Infrastructure Develop-
ment of ESCAP carries out a number of
activities in the region. In April 1999,
ESCAP launched the plan of Action for Sus-
tainable Tourism Development in the Asian
and Pacific Region (PASTA, 1999–2005).
The Plan of Action provides members and
associate members of ESCAP with a struc-
tured framework for the implementation of
regional and national actions in the field of
tourism development. It sets forth proposals
for action in the following six theme areas:
(a) human resources development in the
tourism sector;
(b) economic impact of tourism;
(c) environmental management of tourism;
(d) infrastructure development and
investment;
(e) facilitation of travel;
(f) regional and subregional cooperation
in tourism development.
Human resources development is one of the
thrust areas in the Plan of Action and ESCAP
has been promoting co-operation in tourism
education and training through the Network
of Asia-Pacific Education and Training Insti-
tutes in Tourism (APETIT) established by
ESCAP in 1997. The objectives of the network
7
are to promote co-operation among tourism
education, training and research institutes,
national tourism organizations, and tourism
trade organizations, in human resources devel-
opment in the tourism sector. The activities of
the network are organized under five general
activity groups: information management,
communication links, training and advisory
services, sharing experiences, and research and
development. Members of APETIT in August
2003 were 163 institutes/organizations from
37 countries/economic regions.
At a regional level, the Thaksin government
initiated many agreements and forums relating
to tourism development, such as:
. ASEAN Tourism Agreement—signed by
the Heads of Government/State of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) at Panom Penh, Kingdom of Cam-
bodia on 4 November 2002 to recognize the
strategic importance of the tourism industry
for sustainable socio-economic growth of
the ASEAN Member States and the diversity
in cultures, economy and the complemen-
tary advantages across the region, which
would benefit the tourism development of
ASEAN in the pursuit of improved regional
quality of life, peace, and prosperity. The
objectives of the agreement are: (1) to co-
operate in facilitating travel into and
within ASEAN; (2) to enhance co-operation
in the tourism industry among ASEAN
Member States in order to improve its
efficiency and competitiveness; (3) to sub-
stantially reduce restrictions to trade in
tourism and travel services among ASEAN
Member States; (4) to establish an inte-
grated network of tourism and travel ser-
vices in order to maximize the
complementary nature of the region’s
tourist attractions; (5) to enhance the devel-
opment and promotion of ASEAN as a
 8 Manat Chaisawat
single tourism destination with world-class
standards, facilities and attractions; (6) to
enhance mutual assistance in human
resource development and strengthen
co-operation to develop, upgrade and
expand tourism and travel facilities and ser-
vices in ASEAN; and (7) to create favorable
conditions for the public and private sectors
to engage more deeply in tourism develop-
ment, intra-ASEAN travel and investment
in tourism services and facilities.
. Asia Co-operation Dialogue (ACD) Tourism
Business Forum—the idea of an Asia Co-
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operation Dialogue was initiated by Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Dr Thaksin
Shinawatra addressed at the first ACD Min-
isterial Meeting during 18 –19 June 2002 in
Cha-Am, Thailand, that he has the vision
to see Asian countries coming together and
combining their inner strengths and
resources to create a synergy of a win – win
state of affairs for the betterment of Asia
and Asian peoples. Thailand and Cambodia
have proposed to be prime movers of co-
operation in the tourism area. The ACD
Tourism Business Forum was developed to
build a high level of co-operation and collab-
oration among its countries including
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia,
China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR,
Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines,
Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam
and Thailand. Asian countries recognize
the importance of tourism as a major social
and economic development tool for increas-
ing foreign exchange earnings, creating jobs
and encouraging cultural and social
exchanges and understanding. The objec-
tives of the ACD Tourism Business Forum
include: (1) to allow member countries to
jointly promote their tourism products; (2)
to establish a network between ACD public
and private sectors; (3) to meet policy and
strategic planning gaps in regional tourism
development.
The ACD Tourism Business Forum was held
for the first time in Phuket during 22 – 24 May
2003. In its first forum in Phuket, under the
current situation in Asia the ACD Tourism
Business Forum identified four major issues to
be discussed: (1) intra-regional promotion
initiatives; (2) safety and security; (3) human
resource development; (4) small and medium-
sized tourism enterprises.
. Economic Co-operation Strategy (ECS): The
Bagan Declaration, the brainchild of the Econ-
omic Cooperation Strategy or ECS which was
initiated by Thai Prime Minister Pol. Lt-Col.
Thaksin Shinnawatra, was signed on 12
November 2003, in Bagan, Union of
Myanmar. The four signatories, Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, agreed to
promote cooperation in five areas: trade and
investment, agriculture and industry, trans-
portation, tourism, and human resource
development. Under tourism co-operation,
Thailand is now promoting the idea of “four
countries, one destination”, encouraging tour-
ists who come to Thailand to also visit Cam-
bodia, Laos, and Myanmar. A new project,
CLMT Tourism Co-operation Bicycle Tour,
was initiated by Thailand’s Ministry of
Tourism and Sports to promote the concept.
From the review of the above organizations,
associations and forums, Thailand as a major
player in these organizations has some oppor-
tunities and threats in policy setting and
planning for tourism product development.
Social and Cultural Factors
From the review of the tourism models
we found that social and cultural factors
have the strongest effect on demand factors.
Demand for tourism system can be explained
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand 9

by psychological factors and consumer They’re staying close to home for now, but
behavior. The following examples highlight it is only a matter of time before they fan
some indicators of consumer behavior: out across the globe, reshaping the tourist
landscape. In 2003, Indians spent $9.2
. Tastes are set to change; many developed- billion on domestic travel – $3 billion
world tourists, now that they can use the more than in 2002.
Internet to create much more individual
vacations – three days at Machu Picchu fol-
Economic Factors
lowed by four days’ golfing in Ixtapa. Demo-
graphics will play a part in putting more
This refers to the purchasing power of the
travelers on the road. The graying popu-
tourists for the destinations. Classical econ-
lation will be healthier and more active
omic theory states that the quantity of goods
than their predecessors, spending less and
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or services demanded is a function of its

less of their retirement at home. Third-
price, the income of the consumer, the price
agers will be more adventurous than ever,
of related goods, and personal preferences of
holidaying in the likes of Brazil and flying
consumer tastes. This statement suggests that
to the Mediterranean at short notice for a
income and price-related factors are likely to
break. . .At the same time, a new hyperbusy
play a central role in determining the
class of parents may be looking for a new
demand for international tourism (Crouch,
form of “soft holiday”, combining work
1994). The general economic environments of
with leisure, with Mom and Dad taking
the original country of tourists such as GDP
turns on the state-of-the art computer pro-
trends, interest rates, money supply, inflation
vided in their family suite (Underhill, 2004).
rates, unemployment levels, wage/price con-
. Internet travel: many holidaymakers are
trols, devaluation/revaluation, energy avail-
already accustomed to arranging their trips
ability and cost, disposable and discretionary
on-line. Now they are using the Web to
income will determine the potential market
connect with residents at their final desti-
tourism industry of the country.
nations who provide everything from res-
taurant recommendations to a bed for the
night (Beith, 2004). Technological Factors
. The World Tourism Organization recently
announced that cultural education makes Technological forces have had the greatest
up the fastest-growing segment of the impact on the growth of the tourism industry
tourism trade. To answer the demand, worldwide, specifically transportation and
museums, universities and wildlife organiz- communications:
ations are offering programs to study every-
thing from paleontology in Mongolia and . Aircraft makers like Boeing and Airbus are
valcanology in Hawaii to bullfighting in building new planes designed to increase
Spain and marine life in the Mediterranean comfort and service in all classes. For
(Butler, 2004). example, on its next generation 7E7
. Wehrfritz (2004) mentioned about first- Dreamliner planes, which begin shipping
time journeys: Newly rich and mobile trave- in 2008, Boeing is swapping aluminum for
lers are pouring out of China and India. lighter composite materials, which allow it
 10 Manat Chaisawat
to build a wider cabin. On its new 555-seat
A380, which begins shipping in 2006, air-
lines would have the option to offer
onboard conference and business centers,
as well as bigger seats and separate armrests
in every chair. Airbus is calling the plane,
the world’s largest jet, the “Eighth Wonder
of the World” (Foroohar, 2004).
. Mobile phones in Japan have now gone
beyond just verbal communication. They
can take pictures like digital cameras and
gather information with IP connections.
The transition to third-generation capabili-
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ties such as the GPS function, and the
high-speed data transfer ability, will have
an immeasurable impact on the tourism
industry with its massive information and
functionality. With the addition of functions
such as replacing the wallet, the ID card,
house keys, and coin lockers, it will
become a tool that will make our lives
more convenient. In Japan in the near
future, there may be people who go on sight-
seeing trips with only their mobile phones
(Muqbill, 2004a).
. 727 million people worldwide have access to
the Internet and are increasingly using this
medium for booking travel (Muqbill, 2004a).
. Low-cost flights are generating new poten-
tial for individual destination in the price-
sensitive end of the market (Muqbill,
2004a). In Europe, the rise of low-cost
carriers like Ryanair and JetBlue has put
even more pressure on the beleaguered
industry. Experts say that since 2001,
major airlines’ revenues have fallen around
10 percent (Foroohar, 2004).
Figure 1 demonstrates the model for Thai
policy and planning of tourism products as
proposed in this paper. It shows demand
factors in the middle, with marketing,
transportation and communications playing
a linking role with five groups of supply
factors. We put demand factors in the middle
of the model because the ultimate goal of
tourism development is sustainability to
satisfy the needs and wants of local people, as
well as local tourists and international tourists.
The importance of demand factors was recog-
nized by many parties, as indicated in their
visions: to improve regional quality of life,
peace and prosperity (ASEAN Tourism Agree-
ment); for the betterment of Asia and Asian
peoples (ACD); contribution to economic
development, international standing, peace,
prosperity, and universal respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms (WTO).
For the purposes of tourism product
development, we need to separate demand
factors into two groups, international and
domestic tourists in one group and local
people in other group. The reasons for the
first group are:
1. The old dichotomy between domestic and
international travel has blurred in favor of
a new concept called “total tourism”. It
lumps all travel into one global category
in which borders are increasingly irrele-
vant. Today’s domestic tourist, goes the
logic, will become tomorrow’s globe-
trotter, who will return with more
worldly tastes and create pressure to trans-
form and modernize the travel industry
back home (Wehrfritz, 2004).
2. For the needs and wants of local people, we
have to look more closely at this group of
demand. The Sustainable Tourism – Elim-
inating Poverty (ST –EP) is one approach to
satisfy needs of local people. This approach
is particularly potent in economic terms in
respect of: job creation, investment attrac-
tion and foreign exchange earnings and
in social terms in respect of: youth
employment, community enrichment,
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
gender equality and cultural preservation.
The ST – EP logo represents both the
linkage of Sustainable Tourism with
Poverty Elimination and the concept of
raising living standards through expansion
of the sector (WTO, 2004).
The following rights, benefits and code of
conducts that are included in the Global
Code of Ethics for Tourism (WTO, 1999)
are examples of ultimate goals for stake-
holders’ demands:
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1. Family, youth, student and senior tourism
and tourism for people with disabilities
should be encouraged and facilitated.
2. The host communities, on one hand, and
local professionals on the other, should
acquaint themselves with and respect the
tourists who visit them and find out about
their lifestyles, tastes and expectations;
the education and training imparted to pro-
fessionals contribute to a hospitable
welcome.
3. It is the task of the public authorities to
provide protection for tourists and visitors
and their belongings; they must pay particu-
lar attention to the safety of foreign tourists
owning to the particular vulnerability they
may have; they should facilitate the intro-
duction of specific means of information,
prevention, security, insurance and assist-
ance consistent with their needs; any
attacks, assaults, kidnappings or threats
against tourists or workers in the tourism
industry, as well as the wilful destruction
of tourist facilities or of elements of
cultural or natural heritage should be
severely condemned and punished in accord-
ance with their respective national laws.
4. When traveling, tourists and visitors should
not commit any criminal act or any act
considered criminal by the laws of the
11
country visited and abstain from any
conduct felt to be offensive or injurious
by the local populations, or likely to cause
damage to the local environment; they
should refrain from all trafficking in illicit
drugs, arms, antiques, protected species
and products and substances that are
dangerous or prohibited by national regu-
lations.
5. The exploitation of human beings in any
form, particularly sexual, especially when
applied to children, conflicts with the funda-
mental aims of tourism and is the negation
of tourism; as such, in accordance with inter-
national law, it should be energetically com-
bated with the co-operation of all states
concerned and penalized without concession
by the national legislation of both the coun-
ties visited and the origin country of the
perpetrators even when such acts are
carried out abroad.
6. Local populations should be associated with
tourism activities and share equitably in
economic, social and cultural benefits they
generate, particularly in the creation of
direct and indirect jobs resulting from them.
7. Tourism policies should be applied in such
a way as to help to raise the standard of
living of the populations of the regions
visited and meet their needs; the planning
and architectural approach to and oper-
ation of tourist resorts and accommodation
should aim to integrate them, to the extent
possible, in the local economic and social
fabric; where skills are equal, priority
should be given to local man power.
The intermediary roles of marketing, trans-
portation and communications between
demand and supply factors play two roles,
both as a physical link and an influence on
destination choice.
 12 Manat Chaisawat
. Marketing: TAT is now taking charge
entirely of tourism marketing. In the
model it recommends TAT to play only
the role of national tourism marketing to
do marketing intelligence, data disseminat-
ing and forecasting, as well as providing
business opportunities between demand
and supply sides. Its duties should include
coordinating marketing activities with
neighboring countries. To market specific
product for specific target market should
be the responsibility of each destination
with the collaboration of TAT.
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. Transportation and communications play
two key roles, one to take tourists to and
from the destinations in the country. The
second role might have many indirect
influences on the tourism system in terms of
transportation and communications,
especially in major new markets, namely,
China, India, Eastern Europe, the Arab
countries and Latin America.
The Adopted Strategies to Achieve a
Sustainable Tourism Development
How to achieve the aforementioned objectives
are the strategies we have to develop. Chaisa-
wat (2003) proposes a scenario of tourism
planning and policies in Asian countries
acknowledging the fact that globalization
has changed the rules of the game from com-
parative advantages in natural resources to
tourism products. Tourism policy and plan-
ning requires strategic thinking by differen-
tiated tourism products and the
improvement of quality tourism products
and the efficiency of the tourism operation in
order to compete with other regions. In
terms of the diversity in cultures, economy
and natural resources of the nations in the
Asian region, we must take advantage of
these diversities to create complementary
advantages across the region. This leads to
the positioning of its tourism destinations
according to the diversity of each nation. In
terms of competition among nations in the
region, each nation has to compete in the
light of competitive differentiation, service
quality and productivity.
In order to form the strategies for
Thailand, there are two major issues to be
considered. The first is the involvement of
local people. According to the Constitution
of the Kingdom of Thailand (BE 2540,
1997, Chapter III, Rights and Liberties of
the Thai People, Section 56), the right of a
people to give the State and communities par-
ticipation in the preservation and exploita-
tion of natural resources and biological
diversity and in the protection, promotion
and preservation of the quality of the
environment for usual and consistent survival
in the environment which is not hazardous to
his or her health and sanitary condition,
welfare or quality of life, shall be protected,
as provided by law. Planning is for the
benefit of the people, and they should be
involved in the planning and development
of tourism in their areas.
The second issue is human resources devel-
opment, because the success of any tourism
development strategy will be determined to a
large extent by human resources, which can
deliver efficient, high-quality services. As a
consequence of Thai rapid growth in
tourism, the need to develop the required
human resources in various segments of the
industry has become imperative.
Because of the importance of human
resources development in the process of stra-
tegic implementation of Thai tourism
product policy and planning, we proposed
the model by putting human resources as the
focal point of the implementation. In her
keynote speech at the 53rd Annual Conference
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
of the PATA in Jeju Island, South Korea
(Muqbill, 2004b), Anna Pollock mentioned
that there is an implicit understanding that
“command and control” structures cannot
cope with the new realities. In this world,
top-down planning is replaced by simulation
and experimentation. In a loosely coupled
world of distributed intelligence, infrastruc-
ture is almost more important than a market-
ing plan. Success depends upon ensuring that
those front-line individuals in daily contact
with your guests are able to share what they
are learning about them with the rest of the
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“body corporate” as the learning occurs.
Your success depends on enabling each of
those front-line sensors to adapt and respond
in real time. Modern commerce and econ-
omics are based on an assumption that is
now proving false – that the value is created
from things and that things are scarce and
that we must compete for a share of those
limit resources to survive. But we live now at
a time when value is associated with ideas,
with knowledge, innovation and creativity of
which there is no shortage. The scarcity prin-
ciple that underlines all economics is replaced
with an abundance principle that requires us
to share, and to collaborate rather than with-
hold and compete.
It is clear that to compete and survive in
the current global environment, we must
understand the rules and scope of competition,
and the competitors involved. To improve the
competitiveness of the Thai tourism industry,
we have to identify specific target markets
we want to serve and to create more value-
added products and services to satisfy our
customers. Market segmentation, target
market and product positioning, quality and
efficiency, and human resources development
are the key strategies for competition within
the Asian region. The proposed strategies are
prioritized as follows.
13
Strategy 1
Position Thailand to be a center for hospitality
and tourism studies and training, locating at
major tourism destinations. Human resources
development is especially important in
tourism because service activity depends in
large part for its success on the quality of per-
sonnel working in tourism. Persons working in
the many aspects of tourism must be properly
trained. The general public and people living
in tourism areas must be educated about
tourism. Even the tourists themselves must
be informed about their destination – its
geography, history, cultural patterns and
society – and encouraged to respect it. In
terms of strategic implementation of tourism
product development, tourism education and
training institutions should play the catalyst
and co-ordinating roles with all stakeholders
in each region or destinations.
Strategy 2
By adopting product-led type of tourism devel-
opment, we set our target markets at higher
quality or special interest markets by position-
ing Thailand as a quality destination. The
promotion efforts will aim directly at those
target markets and make use of the word-of
mouth of repeat visitors for the campaign. In
terms of competitive strategy we have to
compete in the light of competitive differen-
tiation, service quality, and productivity to
delight the tourists, as discussed earlier.
Strategy 3
Setting up preventive measures and assistance
facilities for the safety, security and sanitation
of tourists is highly important, as tourists may
 14 Manat Chaisawat
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Figure 2 The Strategic Implementation of Planning and Policy for Thai Tourism Product Model.

base the decision to travel to a destination on tourism development is environmentally

these factors. The measures should cover the appropriate, and meets tourists’ and residents’
accessibility of tourists to countries’ diplo- expectations.
matic and consular representatives as well as
repatriation of tourists.
Strategy 5

Empower the local administration organiz-

Strategy 4
ation in managing tourism products, such as
environmental protection, reducing adverse
Setting up Standard Procedure of Operation
social impacts, and conservation of the cul-
(SOP) for service providers in the hospitality
tural heritage of people in their areas.
businesses such as tourist guides, hotel per-
sonnel, transportation, immigration officers,
local administrators, administrators, souvenir Strategy 6
vendors and so on. Development stan-
dards and design guidelines for tourist Set up a collaboration organization for
facilities should be applied to ensure that tourism development, according to national
 Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Thailand
policy, to decentralize more of economic
policy to the regional level and a cluster of
provinces. It is important to set up an auton-
omous co-ordinating organization to handle
all activities relating to strategic management
of tourism in the provinces. Marketing and
tourist information units should be established
in this organization too.
Policy Guidelines for the
Implementation of Proposed Strategies
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Policies provide broad guidelines for the
implementation of the strategies proposed in
this article. These policies include:
. Work closely with ASEAN member states,
TWG, ACD and ECS, in human resource
development. In some cases give scholar-
ships to neighboring countries to study hos-
pitality and tourism education in Thailand
at Bachelor and Master degree levels for
the benefit of the country.
. Set up an international program in hospital-
ity and tourism education at the major
tourism destinations. Funding required for
hospitality and tourism education must be
financed partly by tourism tax such as a
hotel and restaurant expenditure tax and
the rest by an annual budget from the gov-
ernment and local administration organiz-
ation.
. Value-added tourism products must fit the
terms of authenticity and harmony with
local heritage of each cluster destination.
Those products must have higher potential
for linkage with other national economic
sectors that provide more economic
benefits to reduce the poverty of local
residents.
. Setting preventive measures for safety,
security and sanitation in terms of providing
15
information on tourism safety, health, and
emergency medical assistance.
. All stakeholders in the tourism industry
must follow an operational philosophy of
committing to customer satisfaction and
continuous improvement of tourism
products and services.
. Allow local residents and local government
administration to participate in the process
of tourism planning, implementation, and
the monitoring of tourism activities in
their own destinations.
. Adopt “a collaborative process involving gov-
ernment at multiple levels, companies,
teaching and research institutions and insti-
tutions for collaboration” as a model for
setting up a cluster tourism organization to
manage tourism development for each
tourism cluster.
. Provide information to tourists before and
after they arrive at their destinations.
Various types of information should be
available: the general geographical, histori-
cal and cultural background of the area;
the attractions facilities and services (and
their costs) that are available; transpor-
tation schedules; location of shopping,
medical and postal facilities, consulates,
embassies and religious institutions; and
other specific information. The press,
and particularly the specialized travel press
and other media, including modern means
of electronic communication, should issue
honest and balanced information on events
and situations that could influence the flow
of tourists. They should also provide
accurate and reliable information to the
consumers of tourism services; the new
communication and electronic commerce
technologies should also be developed and
used for this purpose; as is the case for the
media, they should not in any way
promote sex tourism (WTO, 1999).
 16 Manat Chaisawat
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