Why Tourists & Tourism Ministries Must Look Beyond the Branding

Sustainable Tourism Can be a Key Economic Growth Driver

By Curtis S. Chin

BANGKOK – With the U.S. and European summer travel season well upon us – and winter travel for Australians and others south of the equator – Asian destinations may well be on many a traveler's Top 10 list. That's understandable.

In September 2016, Bangkok was named the top-ranked destination city by international overnight visitor arrivals in the sixth annual Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index. Asian cities, according to the Mastercard ranking, now make up half of the global Top 10 cities – Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul – and seven of the top 10 fastest growing destination cities – Osaka, Chengdu, Colombo, Tokyo, Taipei, Xi’an and Xiamen.

Now, though, is not a time for Asia to rest on its laurels. Ensuring tourism is a sustainable driver of economic growth will require governments and businesses to focus on much more than advertising campaigns. Tourists too must also look beyond glossy brochures and fancy websites to better understand the impact of their travel choices, particularly on local communities and the environment.

All this was underscored to me with the news this year that 40 tons of garbage had been collected in a single day in "Bali's Biggest Beach Cleanup." Some 12,000 volunteers drawn from local and international communities and businesses took part in helping clean up some 55 sites along the coastline of this "Island of the Gods."

Cleaning Up Bali's Beaches Is a Start

While this Indonesian island is well known for sensational surfing, verdant rice fields, vibrant arts and culture, and ages-old Hindu temples, the seasonal monsoon winds, high waves and strong currents that come every year have typically brought wave after wave of garbage on to Bali’s beaches.

An afternoon walk I described a few years back for the Japan Times, taking in some of Bali’s world-famous Seminyak, Legian and Kuta beaches, had me wading through plastic bags and wrappers, discarded yogurt containers and organic debris – not to mention the occasional soccer ball and shoe – all washed ashore, perhaps from elsewhere in Bali or from Java, the next Indonesian island to the west.

Understandably, none of this floating garbage makes it into the imagery of the country’s official “Wonderful Indonesia” travel and tourism campaign. Attention is rightly put on the many stunning attractions of the largest archipelago nation in the world, comprising more than 17,500 islands that stretch as wide a distance as from New York to San Francisco.

Beyond the Catchy Slogans

And therein lies a critical challenge for all of Asia’s tourism authorities. As they seek to creatively brand destinations and capture visitors with catchy slogans – consider “Amazing Thailand,” “Malaysia, Truly Asia,” “Incredible India!” and "Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder" – how to do so when unchecked economic development threatens the long-term sustainability of the pristine beaches, ancient monuments, tropical rainforests and other attractions that bring in travelers. How to ensure in Bhutan that "Happiness is a place" or that indeed it remains true that "It's More Fun in the Philippines", when geopolitics and unrest intervene.

For many Asian nations, tourism is big business, and destinations — both entire countries and individual cities — are battling for their share of the lucrative traveler’s dollar. In Thailand — the “Land of Smiles” — in 2016, the travel and tourism sector contributed $36.7 billion to the Thai economy, equivalent to 9.2 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, a global body bringing together major players in the travel and tourism sector.

Indirectly, the sector’s contribution to Thailand's GDP was even larger, comprising an estimated $82.5 billion, or 20.6 percent of the national total in 2016. Thailand, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, is projected to have the world’s 10th fastest growing tourism sector over the coming decade, averaging annual growth of 6.7%.

Asia's Got Tourists

Understandably, governments across Asia and around the world are investing in travel and tourism, and in "country branding" campaigns. Asia's many destinations fill many a bucket list, and Asian tourists increasingly have the money and time to travel, and spend. The diversity of Asia's travel destinations is on full display in Lonely Planet's latest ranking of Top 10 Asia travel destinations, from China's Gansu Province to Singapore's Keong Saik Road.

All those promotions and publicity seem to be working, with large numbers of international visitors – including growing numbers of Mainland Chinese tourists – drawn to Bangkok and other Asian cities. Selfie-stick and umbrella-wielding travelers are on the move. As measured by the MasterCard’s 2016 Global Destination Cities Index, travelers ranked Bangkok the No. 1 destination, followed by London, Paris, Singapore and New York.

Investors are following. Accor, Hyatt and Marriott are among the many Western hospitality brands competing with Asia-based hotel players such as Okura, Peninsula, Oberoi and the Shangri-la Group in offering up new properties and travel destinations. National and discount carriers such as Air Asia and Cebu Pacific are also increasingly serving intraregional travelers across Asia, making a country’s cities accessible as never before.

Reality Show: Asia's Key Indicators

As might be expected, the tourism campaigns showcase the best of what the region has to offer — Krabi’s beaches in Thailand, Sabah’s rain forests in Malaysia and Hong Kong dining and shopping. But the slogans, and the images of luxurious landscapes and glittering shopping malls that often accompany them are often at odds with the region’s economic realities. According to the Asian Development Bank's Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific, 2016:

• Approximately 1.2 billion people in Asia and the Pacific are below the poverty line of $3.10 (2011 PPP) a day.
• About 1.5 billion lack access to proper sanitation.
• 330 million people still live on less than $1.90 a day.
• And, roughly 300 million people live without safe drinking water.

Migrants to the region’s growing cities, hoping to escape rural poverty and cash in on the “Asian Dream,” may well face a hand-to-mouth existence, in addition to inadequate education opportunities, housing and other urban infrastructure.

The Other Asia: Everyday Growing Inequality

Much of this will be news to many tourists in Asia, with disparities in income typically less visible than trash on a beach, water and power shortages, insufficient sewage systems and once-blue skies filled with smoke or smog. But as poverty in the region has decreased, inequality has often widened.

The jinni of inequality in Asia has long been out of the bottle. Among Asia destinations for which data is available from the CIA World Factbook, the worldwide rankings (out of 149 places ranked) in order of most unequal to least unequal distribution of family income include: Micronesia (4th), Hong Kong (9th), Papua New Guinea (13th), Sri Lanka (20th), Thailand (24th), China (32nd), Malaysia (33rd), the Philippines (36th) and Singapore (39th). The United States is ranked the 43rd most unequal.

Ethnic minorities, local communities and indigenous peoples, in particular, have too often been excluded from the benefits of the region’s dynamism that is showcased in its travel campaigns. Tourism dollars also have not done enough to help those most in need — despite policy principles, described as pro-poor, pro-growth, pro-job and pro-environment.

Three years back, Jose B. Collazo – a friend, colleague and videographer behind the camera of my "Asia Minute with Curtis S. Chin" YouTube series – and I wrote, "Glitzy tourism campaigns gloss over Asia's glaring inequalities." That headline and our recommendations still hold today.

Building in Accountability

While individual cities may well in the short-term move up or down the MasterCard Index and other annual rankings, government and tourism officials in the long-term need to incorporate a healthy dose of accountability into their process as they brand and market their own parts of Asia to the world.

Asia's governments also should not avoid the necessary actions to understand and to address economic conditions, including inequality of opportunity, which can undercut the entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises critical to any nation's tourism industry in the long run.

This should include openly and transparently bidding out development opportunities, putting in place clear land titling and investment rules and regulations, and increasing competition in often-sheltered industry segments such as aviation and hospitality.

Broadening Tourism's Impact

Investment in national or city branding campaigns must also do more to benefit a broader array of communities and citizens than a few local, vested interests or a handful of international hospitality conglomerates. While government and tourism bureaus say such campaigns are a good investment – not just helping fill seats on planes and hotel beds, but also driving much needed employment opportunities – more needs to be done to ensure communities benefit and natural environments are protected and maintained. A place to start is to require tourism campaigns to be research-based, and to have clear goals and baselines.

Such data will help government and industry officials determine if allocated money is being wisely used and decide whether further funding is warranted.

For example, money targeted to market a particular destination could well be linked with that area’s employment statistics or business growth. It is a simple way to monitor return-on-investment, especially if tourism is meant to provide jobs. Additional requests for campaign funding can then be granted or denied based on whether the set employment goals are met.

Another option, according to the UK advocacy group Tourism Concern, is to invest in community-based tourism projects that give local residents a voice into what type of tourism projects are planned for their communities – how they are managed, and how to ensure a fair share of profits go back to the community.

The Best Campaigns: Perception Meets Reality

Campaigns must be more than vanity projects for officials seeking industry dollars from hoteliers and industry members who are unable to say no. Perception must ultimately meet reality in the best travel and tourism campaigns.

When the landmark “Amazing Thailand” campaign launched in 1998, the country was contending with the very real aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, which began 20 years ago, in July 1997, as Thailand was forced to devalue its currency. The economic contagion spread to Indonesia, South Korea and elsewhere.

Now, with those years behind us and as Thailand and much of Asia welcomes more and more visitors, its leaders and policymakers must take steps toward a more sustainable tourism industry and supporting infrastructure. More environmentally friendly economic development is also essential if the investments they hope to attract and the economic growth that tourism dollars are supposed to fuel are to be realized. Tourists must also do their part, becoming "noble travelers" if you will by better understanding the positive and negative economic and environmental impact of their travel dollars spend, and adjusting spending accordingly.

In the end, a “re-think” is needed to see how marketing Asia can both better reflect today’s realities and also be leveraged to tackle the region’s very real inequalities. Whether in Thailand or elsewhere, more work needs to be done in actually pulling off this balancing act – now that would be truly amazing.

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Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC. Follow him on Twitter at @CurtisSChin.