“The coronavirus crisis definitely gives Southeast Asia a chance, but will governments and businesses take it?” GSTC General Manager Roi Ariel questioned.
But Ariel is seeing a glimmer of hope among destination marketing organizations, which, unlike the private sector, are less threatened by dwindling cashflow amid the coronavirus crunch and are more likely able to “take this opportunity to think ahead and plan for the new normal with sustainability part of it”.
According to Ariel, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, for instance has expressed its desire to use the crisis as an opportunity to turn its tourism path towards a sustainable one. In a recent interview with the Bangkok Post, the authority’s governor Yuthasak Supasorn said, “This could be an opportunity within a crisis – to make sure we improve, so that in the future any revenue from tourism will be more sustainable, and wealth will spread to smaller communities.”
Read the full article: New Calm Created by Coronavirus Offers Southeast Asia Chance to Redo Sustainable Tourism by Xinyi Liang-Pholsena on Skift (April 29, 2020)
