Location Amalgamations and Visitor Count
Destination profile plays a significant role in terms of attracting tourists from various parts of the world to the certain destination. The tourists can identify or evaluate the value and worth of the place, along with its historic significance of the place. In this report, a destination profile will be developed for Sukhothai, a historic city in the country of Thailand. Location amalgamations, visitors count, as well as the purpose of DMO in terms of enhancing the city as a global tourist destination, will be evaluated in this report. Relevant models will be used in the report, in terms of evaluating the details of the destination, which will be easier to comprehend.
Figure 1: Sukhothai historical Park
(Source: Ditta-Apichai, Kattiyapornpong and Gretzel 2020)
Sukhothai city is located in the North-Central region of Thailand, which was once a Kingdom, led by local Tai ruler in md 13th century. Sukhothai is a valley, situated in the Yom River, and it acquires 427 kilometres of the north Bangkok, and 300 kilometres of the South Chiang Mai city (Ditta-Apichai, Kattiyapornpong and Gretzel 2020). At present, it is a provincial capital, which is also popularly known as Sukhothai Thani by the local as well as international people. The exact address of the Thani is, Mueang Sukhothai District, Sukhothai 64000, Thailand.
Figure 2: Visitor’s count in Thailand
(Source: Manakitsomboon 2022)
Sukhothai is considered one of the most popular destination among the 25 tourist’s spots in Thailand, which attracts a large number of international tourists on a yearly basis. In 2019, the destination witnessed 39.8 million international visitors, which is 1 million higher than the previous year (Manakitsomboon 2022). However, in 2020, due to the global pandemic scenario, the tourism industry faced extreme difficulties, as the government imposed several restriction on the tourism industry in order to prevent the outbreak of the corona virus. It can be observed that, in that year, the destination witnessed a rapid decline in the tourist count and it only amounted around 6.7 million visitors (Guo et al. 2021). Therefore, the hospitality industries such as hotels and restaurants faced a huge financial loss, which also affected the overall GDP of the country.
Figure 3: Sukhothai Local market
(Source: Azam, Alam and Hafeez 2018)
The overall fluctuation in the visitor count has negatively influenced the financial condition of destination. According to the reports, Chinese visitors has the major contribution in the tourism industry of Thailand. It has been anticipated that the number of Chinese visitors are expected to grow by 12 million, prior to the COVID 19 era, as a result, which was not met. In terms of financial contribution, the tourism industry contributes up to 9% in the overall GDP (Azam, Alam and Hafeez 2018). In 2016, it was reported that due to the increased recognition of the place among the tourists, the trade and business values also increased, which resulted in 64,732 TBH. Therefore, it can be considered that the overall financial condition of the local people residing in Sukhothai area are heavily dependent on the tourism industry. In addition, there are several resorts as well as spa centres developed by the local community members, which are also considered as one of the important revenue streams. More than 37,000 people resides in the city, and majority of them are involved in the hospitality business.
Impact of the Tourism Industry on the Financial Condition of Sukhothai
The 4-A’s model will be used in this discussion, in order to mention the amalgamations that Sukhothai offers. The main attractions, amenities, accessibility, and ancillary service offers of the destination will be evaluated in this section.
Figure 4: Khmer Architecture
(Source: Guo et al. 2021)
Sukhothai is a heritage cite, which contains the historical residue of the first Kingdom of Thailand. This place used to be the capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom, which was rich in terms of special architectures. The tourists mainly visits for the fine monuments and the residuals of the historic architects from the mid-13th century. Mahahat Temple also known as Wat Mahathat is the highest most visited place within Sukhothai (Kongbuamai et al. 2020). It is a Buddhist Temple, with a great scenic view, and the cultural importance attracts both local and international tourists on a regular basis. The historic buildings of Sukhothai were built with the help of symbolic shapes, which provides a visual treat to the tourists. In addition, Sukhothai is also famous for the Khmer architecture, which is located at Wat Si Sawai, which has a striking similarity with the Cambodian Temple complex, containing of tower-like spires. The tourists can find several secluded places within the historical park, and these spots can be explored by using bicycles. Another most important attraction, for which many tourists visit the place, is because several Thai Dramas and Movies are filmed in these places, creating a significance for the younger generations. If the tourists wants to develop a knowledge about the Buddhist religion, Sukhothai is considered the most suitable place, because it has more than 15 significant Buddhist temples that highlights the insights of Buddha (Esichaikul and Chansawang 2022).
The old city of Sukhothai has been stated as a heritage cite by the UNESO, which represents the colourful past of the First ever Kingdom of Thailand. In order to, attract the tourists, Government has also implemented free Wi-Fi services for the tourists, which allows them to access the internet instantly and research regarding the historic significance of the place. The temples or the monumental architects has 24-hour open front desk services for the tourists, so that the tourists do not face any issues during their visit (Khlaikaew 2015). In addition, water facilities and other food stalls are also available near the Sukhothai temples and palace, which is also beneficial for the tourists. Many tourists likes to travel by cars; therefore, Sukhothai also has multiple parking area facilities. Therefore, it can be said that the Thai Government have taken several measurements that has the capacity to help the tourists in emergencies, which mainly attract the tourists.
Recently Sukhothai initiated to take feedbacks from the tourists, though online platforms, in order to improve the experiences of the tourists. In addition, the local government of Sukhothai has also launched Guide 2022, which helps the tourists to understand the appropriate tour timings. The temples remains closed in often times, which might disappoints he tourists, especially the international tourists. Therefore, the Guide 2022 helps the tourist to understand the timings of the temples, palace, museums and the monument near or inside the Historical Park. In order to visit the temple, or the palace, the tourists have to pay certain entry fee, which differs from domestic to international tourists.
Attractions and Amenities in Sukhothai
The Thai Government provides Universal coverage Health cards to the citizens. The citizens that possess the card, are eligible for taking free treatment anywhere within the country on the other hand, the hospital charges are higher than usual. Therefore, the domestic tourists can get free treatment if any emergencies occurs (Sujjakulvanich 2021). In addition, the Sukhothai historical park members follows the health and safety rules of the Government because the ancient architect residuals can break down at any point causing accidents. Therefore, there are safety areas marked within the Sukhothai Park, which prevents the employees from getting into any restricted monuments or buildings.
Figure 5: Making merits with Monk (rituals of Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Thailand)
(Source: Kongbuamai et al. 2020)
In order to understand the Kingdom rules as well as the significance of the Khmer Empire of ancient Cambodia, tourists needs to visit the modern city of Sukhothai. Apart from the cultural significance, the city is also reach in terms of wealthy architectures, monasteries, palaces and Temples (Pokharatsiri and Santad 2017). It is still mystery among several architects regarding the construction patterns of the Sukhothai temples as well as the Khmer architects. In terms of extraordinary offers, cultural programs, cultural festivals and Buddhists rituals are some of the additional experiences provided to the tourists.
Figure 6: DMO of Thailand
(Source: Mostafanezhad 2021)
The destination management organisations in Thailand are mostly responsible for promoting the main tourists destinations within the countries. One of the major role that the DMO plays is to promote the sustainable tourism among the tourism stakeholders. According to the latest reports, the sustainability practices has increased by 5% within the tourism industry. In addition, the 83% of the global tourists finds it important to maintain a sustainable travel, which is also beneficial for reducing the carbon footprint level that the tourism industry generally produce (Lock 2021). Some of the major DMO within Thailand are ASIA DMC, Arlymear Travel, EXO Travel Thailand, Destination Asia, and many more. These DMOs are responsible in terms of collecting sponsors, who are able to invest for the maintenance of Sukhothai tourist spots. As the historical monuments are dated back to mid-13th century, it is extremely important to maintain them, as there is a high chance for the buildings or the architectures to collapse. It can be observed, that between both the domestic as well as international tourists, the Southern Thailand gains more popularity because of the modern lifestyles. Northern part of the Thailand, in which Sukhothai is located, gains lower visitors count in comparison with the Southern Region (Mostafanezhad 2021). Therefore, DMO has taken the responsibility to organise incentive tours that increases recognition among the tourists regarding the destinations that has lower visitors counts. One of the beneficial factor of the DMO in Thailand is that, it reduces the complex procedures of booking a tour package for the tourists, and offers additional discounts to the tourists, in order to increase their interests.
One of the major issues that the tourism industry of Thailand faced is the limited number of on-arrival vaccinations or COVID 19 tests. This led the government to take strict actions in terms of banning the arrival flights, and restrict the international tourists from entering the country, or in addition visit the Sukhothai tourists spot. The tourism industry faced a major decline in the overall GDP, as the hospitality industries were temporarily closed down. Several tourists were stuck in Thailand, when the government announced lockdown in the country. The government also failed to provide emergency facilities to the tourists, which hampered the reputation of the entire tourism in the country. Therefore, it has become important to increase the reputation of the country, among the international tourists or it will become difficult for the DMO to engage the international tourists, which is important for increasing the overall revenue.
The 4-A’s Model: Assessing Sukhothai’s Accessibility, Amenities, Attractions and Ancillary Service Offers
In terms of revamping the situation of the Thai tourism industry, the theory of planned behaviour can be applied in this situation. In this situation, the behaviours of the tourist are analysed, from which the DMO can predict, whether the tourist have interest in returning to the selected destination or not. It has been previously discussed that the DMO present in the Sukhothai district has started collecting feedbacks from the tourists, through online platforms in order to understand about their views regarding the destination (Kerdpol 2016). In this way, it will also be easier to understand the tourists experiences, based on which the DMO can develop strategies that enhances the tourist’s motivation in terms of returning back to the destination. One of the most important factor is that, the government needs to take initiatives in terms of increasing the vaccination and COVID 19 testing kits facilities, which will ensure that the health and safety of the tourists during their visit in Sukhothai.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the overall discussion that Sukhothai has a huge potential in terms of increasing the visitor count, which is beneficial for increasing the financial condition of the entire tourism industry, especially after the global pandemic. Sustainable tourism has become one of the main targets of the DMOs within Thailand, in order to spike the interests of the international customers, in terms of visiting Sukhothai district. The cultural and historical significance of the place, as well as the mysterious architecture mostly attracts the domestic and international tourists from all around the world.
References
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