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Sustainable Tourism: A New Era of Travel Prioritizing Sustainability

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely hurt the tourism and hotel industry but there is hope the pandemic will end soon following mass vaccination programs. However, structural, deeper, and possibly permanent, changes in global megatrends and travel habits will challenge the industry to transform to meet the demands of travelers from different age groups. The tourism sector will be influenced by increasingly individualized travel needs, greater application of new technology in business models and processes, and higher profile for health and hygiene. Against this changing landscape and travel preferences, businesses need to adjust their operations if they want to sustain profit margins. The repertoire of strategies deployed in response to these changes will extend to seeking new business opportunities related to tourism and building new business relations with other players in the tourism supply chain, including those at the local community level.

Recent news reports suggest COVID-19 may be transitioning from a regional public health crisis to a global pandemic

COVID-19 crisis has hurt tourism industry disrupted supply chains, caused negative income effects

The longer the trade war lasts, the more it harms the global economy. In Thailand, tourism sector remains weak this year.

Geopolitical tensions increase global economic risks. Thailand’s tourism sets for gradual recovery, while inflation remains subdued.

Manufacturing and exports in core economies face more pressure in 2H25 amid tariff hikes. Thailand’s tourism sector shows continued weakness

The road transport industry can expect to see average annual growth of 2.0-3.0% over 2024 to 2026. Demand for transport services will be boosted by the gradual improvement in the outlook for investment, manufacturing and trade, as well as ongoing growth in the tourism sector.

The ongoing recovery in the tourism sector and consumption are expected to lift the Thai economy through 2024, leading to a more positive outlook for the petrochemical industry. However, weakness in domestic manufacturing and exports may suppress a rise in prices and spreads.

Following weak operations in 2020, hoteliers will continue to see depressed conditions through 2021. The first shoots of recovery will start to break through from the end of this year and throughout 2022 and 2023, but it could take at least 4 years for foreign tourist arrivals to return to pre-COVID level. Against this backdrop, domestic tourism will recover faster, partly thanks to ongoing policy efforts by the government to stimulate demand. By the latter half of 2021, the worldwide rollout of vaccination programs will start to translate into an uptick in foreign tourist arrivals, helped by a recovering global economy and long-term growth potential in the Thai tourism industry. However, in the post-pandemic environment, players in the tourism and hotel industries will need to move rapidly to overhaul their operations onto a more sustainable footing by accelerating the adoption of modern technology, placing greater emphasis on public health and hygiene, and developing their understanding of varied and diverse consumer needs and using this knowledge to offer customized travel experiences.