Responding to Crises in Thailand: A Governance Analysis 99
network of offi ces are available online on a real-time basis, serving as an early detection and early warning mechanism that alerts TAT to potential problems which TAT and the Thai tourism industry need to address jointly and resolve. In the turbulent conditions of 2008–2009, TAT’s network of offi ces worldwide con-ducted surveys which revealed that the downturn in tourism resulted from a number of factors: the impact of the global economic slowdown, the political instability leading up to the airport closure and the subsequent protests in April 2009, and H1N1 A. TAT noted that:
The sensitivity varies from market to market. The survey fi ndings revealed that 6 out of 21 key source markets for visitor arrivals to Thailand – or 28 per cent – considered Infl uenza A (H1N1) to be the key factor in the decision not to travel to Thailand. While 17 out of the 21 markets – or 81 per cent – indicated that the political unrest and political instability that subsequently led to the airport closure and Songkran protest in April 2009 was the most important contributor to the decline in outbound travel to Thailand.
(Svetasreni, 2009)
Comparison of Responses to the Tsunami and the Airport
100 K. Campiranon et al.
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an overview of several crises which have impacted severely on Thailand’s tourism sector and has analysed the Thai government’s responses to two of them, the tsunami and the airport closure. The analysis has demonstrated the need for governments to take an increasingly proactive and structured stance towards any future crisis events. Safety in a destination, and the perception that the destination is safe to visit, is a prerequisite for a successful tourism industry. But, this chapter has also shown that the problems resulting from the scale, intensity and rapidity of events such as the tsunami and the airport closure are too severe and widespread for the tourism industry to resolve on its own. Instead, it must rely on the resources and skill of the government and its various agencies, for which tourism is seldom a priority during a crisis. This indicates that only a government has the power resources, skill and command ability to deal effectively with the immediate problems and to restructure devastated areas and infrastructure following a major crisis such as the tsunami.
As discussed in the introduction to this chapter, governance refers to the processes by which decisions are made (Graham et al., 2003) and, therefore, the ways in which decision-making power is organized and used in crises such as those discussed here. What emerges from this discussion of the differences between the tsunami and the airport closure cases is a clear difference in stake-holder cohesion due to political confl ict, with consequent impacts. In the airport crisis, the tourism sector became a point of leverage ‘used’ to further the ends of political opponents. The approach of targeting tourism directly to achieve politi-cal ambitions (as distinct from politipoliti-cal crises having an indirect effect) has been seen in other countries (Richter and Waugh, 1986; Aziz, 1995).
Thus, while in the tsunami crisis there was exercise of power by key tourism actors for the benefi t of the tourism sector, in the airport case, the non-tourism actors were exercising their power to the detriment of non-tourism. Crucially, tourism stakeholders were able to exercise little power, as the scale of both crises was too large and complex for the tourism industry to resolve.
Further research is required to understand the ways in which government policy and action by key actors can determine the success or even the survival of a tourism sector following the disruption resulting from a major crisis. In particu-lar, the linkages between political organizations, government agencies and central and regional or sector organizations merit more study. Irrespective of the reasons for civil unrest, potential tourists and tourism industry investors seek a stable political environment and this is beyond the capability of the tourism sector to guarantee.
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Introduction
The destination of concern in this chapter is Vava’u, Tonga (South Pacifi c), and it is its controversial ‘swim with humpback whale’ tourism industry which has attracted international attention from conservation and management agencies.
Tonga is a recognized breeding and birthing location for these whales. It is also the only destination in the world that offi cially allows tourists to actually swim in the wild with humpback whales and their newborn young, and consequently tourists specifi cally seek it as a holiday destination (IFAW, 2009). In other tourist destinations, the focus is on whale watching and the practice is governed typi-cally by stringent no-swimming and no-interference regulations in order to pro-tect the replenishing population. Signifi cantly, the Tongan activities involve tourist interaction in-water (i.e. swimming) with these whales and, most impor-tantly, with their newborn young during a critical period in their lives when ade-quate suckling is essential if they are to survive the long migration south to Antarctic waters, their summer feeding grounds. Thus, international wildlife con-servation agencies have concerns about the conduct of the practice and support various guidelines for the practice. The challenge for the sustainability of tourist activities in this setting is the confl ict of values with regard to whale conservation and tourism governance that exists between the various stakeholders, including the local residents, who typically make up the bulk of the guides, the tour opera-tion owners, who typically are expatriates, the conservaopera-tion agencies and the international aid donors to the country as a whole. This destination offers an opportunity to explore issues of the implementation of tourism governance systems in contested cross-cultural settings.
The chapter fi rstly will describe the controversial nature of the setting and then review briefl y the issues that have been identifi ed with governance and tourism development in cross-cultural settings, before describing a values-based sustainable tourism framework which offers a mechanism for responding to these