Global tourism and community life: Toward a responsible tourism framework
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2008
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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This research assesses the impacts of tourism on those living in the Tha Tien community located in the old royal center of Bangkok, Thailand. By utilizing a place-making concept, the researcher constructs an analytical framework that explains how external forces reshape a place and provides a better understanding of the interaction and confrontation between tourism and the community. As defined in this research, four key attributes of place-based communities include the physical environment, place image and identity, community connections, and political capability.
To minimize the above impacts and establish responsible tourism in the Tha Tien community, the study provides a set of policy recommendations based on four key principles: tourism planning, heritage marketing, place-based development, and participation. The main objective of tourism planners is to balance between the destabilizing forces of tourism and the enhancement of the sense of place. Planners need to encourage institutions, local people, and the tourism industry to create a social fabric that not only serves commercial purposes but also reinforces mutual respect, beneficial relationships, and social identities. The results from the case study analysis demonstrate that small-scale, locally-owned tourism development tends to benefit the community as it leads to the revitalization of the local economy, the improvement of the physical environment, and the preservation of historic buildings. On the other hand, large-scale market-led tourism development engenders the potential degradation of place attributes in various ways. While the local people's perceived image of their community is quite positive, the public and private place marketers view the area as degraded, unsafe, and unattractive. As a result, the public and institutional sectors have initiated controversial plans to conceal the area, remove structures deemed to interfere with the streamlined heritage concept, and has even proposed to uproot the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the private sector has developed tourism-marketing activities that bypass the community and its local culture. Conflicts over tourism benefits have undermined the close connections among residents. Most importantly, centralized tourism development has led to the weakening of local political capabilities and the exclusion of locals from tourism decision-making.
To minimize the above impacts and establish responsible tourism in the Tha Tien community, the study provides a set of policy recommendations based on four key principles: tourism planning, heritage marketing, place-based development, and participation. The main objective of tourism planners is to balance between the destabilizing forces of tourism and the enhancement of the sense of place. Planners need to encourage institutions, local people, and the tourism industry to create a social fabric that not only serves commercial purposes but also reinforces mutual respect, beneficial relationships, and social identities. The results from the case study analysis demonstrate that small-scale, locally-owned tourism development tends to benefit the community as it leads to the revitalization of the local economy, the improvement of the physical environment, and the preservation of historic buildings. On the other hand, large-scale market-led tourism development engenders the potential degradation of place attributes in various ways. While the local people's perceived image of their community is quite positive, the public and private place marketers view the area as degraded, unsafe, and unattractive. As a result, the public and institutional sectors have initiated controversial plans to conceal the area, remove structures deemed to interfere with the streamlined heritage concept, and has even proposed to uproot the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the private sector has developed tourism-marketing activities that bypass the community and its local culture. Conflicts over tourism benefits have undermined the close connections among residents. Most importantly, centralized tourism development has led to the weakening of local political capabilities and the exclusion of locals from tourism decision-making.
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Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Urban and Regional Planning; no. 5075
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