Thailand's upper northern provinces adjust to new breed of tourists

[webfact]

Upper northern provinces adjust to new breed of tourists

LAMPHUN, 6 June 2014 (NNT) – Provinces in the upper North of Thailand are improving their service potentials to cushion needs by the newest kind of foreign tourists.

A seminar held in Lamphun by the Uniserv Chiang Mai University is focusing on a new group of foreign tourists dubbed So – Lo – Mo, shortened for Social , Local and Mobile, which has rapidly increased in number.

This group of tourists bases their decision on travelling information from the internet including places to see, activities to do and food to eat. Most of them do not buy package tours and want to experience daily life of local people on their own.

Therefore, tourism operators in the upper northern cities like Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son are adjusting their service to meet the needs of the new breed of tourists who have different behaviors from traditional visitors.


-- NNT 2014-06-06

[pinkpanther99]

'new breed of tourists'

They really do look at us as some kind of beings from another planet, don't they.

Once and alien, always an alien.

[Thailand]

Yes, they will look at the internet,see what is going on in Thailand and go elsewhere.

[Pib]

SoLoMo foreign tourists?...a.k.a., smartphone zombies. Heck, go after the Thai/domestic SoLoMo tourists...got almost 70 million smartphone zombies right here in Thailand.

[marko kok prong]

I presume they will be putting up sign's around the place"welcome,so-lo mo tourist'

[Minnehaha]

About 12 years ago, I was a consultant with a team of US advisory experts in cooperation with the Thai Govt and one of the projects we did, and which I led was to engage with tourism sector businesses in the north. This was just before all the 5 star hotels were built. At the time, there were none. Only the 4 seasons up in Mae Rim. Any others had lost their star rating. And the tsunami of investment was coming in only couple years.

I could not marshal enough support for much of anything. It was like herding cats. There was not even a Welcome Booth at the airport to give out information for free on how to get into town, what was going on, etc. This kind of independent entity that major players and local govt could agree to support financially was finally set up after a year of wrangling.

I had a tourism consultant arrive from the USA to lead a seminar on eco-tourism products. He walked up to the booth and found the kid behind the desk spoke virtually no English. He understood not a single question.

That is just an anecdote. There are many stories. We tried to get a website up to fairly promote the city and environs. It failed. Look at the stupid night safari. Etc. Etc. The traffic in Chiang Mai is horrendous. Most people I know who live there hate it now.

My first trip there was in 1991 and I stayed a few years. It was pleasant. Fun to ride my motorcycle anywhere and go on week trips up into the mountains to get lost. Pure fun.

Thailand continues with its unregulated, unplanned tourism development and the product is more Pattaya and Phuket (Patong) and so on. Sad.

[daoyai]

so-lo-mo? not me, I am a Lo-so-mo-fo. Dats fo sho.

[retell]

The reason in the rise of those tourists is that they do not want the service from a toyr operator ,,

But that's difficult to understand ,why do they not give us money ???

[draftvader]

Social, Local and Mobile. Doesn't that describe the backpacking tourist perfectly?

1) Social = Stay at hostels and share tips

2) Local = They tend to shy away from the mass tourist attractions and seek out the oddities (see 1)

3) Mobile = Able to instantly change plans for 2 bought to their attention by 1

Nothing has changed, just a more rapid medium.

Hasn't Thailand had the backpacking tourists for nearly 40+ years now? Haven't we just spent the last 5 years trying to scare them away to make room for "quality tourists"?

New type of tourist.....my fat hairy...!!! Desperation and back-peddling morelike!

[Morch]

Is this new breed of the desired "quality tourist " variety or of the looked down upon "backpackers"?

[blowin]

'new breed of tourists'

They really do look at us as some kind of beings from another planet, don't they.

Once and alien, always an alien.

It is funny that my wife was asked by immigration way down south " are you supporting the alien " That was after checking that the alien had

enough money to support himself TIT!!

Edited June 6, 2014 by blowin

[femi fan]

About 12 years ago, I was a consultant with a team of US advisory experts in cooperation with the Thai Govt and one of the projects we did, and which I led was to engage with tourism sector businesses in the north. This was just before all the 5 star hotels were built. At the time, there were none. Only the 4 seasons up in Mae Rim. Any others had lost their star rating. And the tsunami of investment was coming in only couple years.

I could not marshal enough support for much of anything. It was like herding cats. There was not even a Welcome Booth at the airport to give out information for free on how to get into town, what was going on, etc. This kind of independent entity that major players and local govt could agree to support financially was finally set up after a year of wrangling.

I had a tourism consultant arrive from the USA to lead a seminar on eco-tourism products. He walked up to the booth and found the kid behind the desk spoke virtually no English. He understood not a single question.

That is just an anecdote. There are many stories. We tried to get a website up to fairly promote the city and environs. It failed. Look at the stupid night safari. Etc. Etc. The traffic in Chiang Mai is horrendous. Most people I know who live there hate it now.

My first trip there was in 1991 and I stayed a few years. It was pleasant. Fun to ride my motorcycle anywhere and go on week trips up into the mountains to get lost. Pure fun.

Thailand continues with its unregulated, unplanned tourism development and the product is more Pattaya and Phuket (Patong) and so on. Sad.

Well, if you were partly responsible for all the five star hotels cropping up here in chiang mai now, then you helped destroy the fun you talk of having in 1991.

There's a well-worn path in 'tourism'… travellers explore and visit places like thailand, spending their money in ways that benefit the locals at the local level. Then residents from the capital city hear about all this foreign money and visitors, and start hitting the likes of chiang mai and investing all their money in higher end hotels. Then they adverstise and the tourists start coming, and they spend their money that mostly ends up in the pockets of the rich bangkok investors.

Travellers easily deal with lack of english being spoken, it's tourists who can't deal with this.

"Most people who live there hate it now". Absolute nonsense.

Emotional rhetoric, and apparent double-standards. Perhaps the new kind of visitor is less damaging to thailand than you seem to have been.

[keestha]

New breed of tourists? They're just talking about tourists travelling around independently, using the public transport. They have been around ever since Thailand started to be a tourism destination. Not only youngsters (?backpackers) doing this, but also families and middle aged/elderly couples.

[SamMunich]

New breed? That's BS! The attitude of tourists do change over the years, in accordance to the changes back home. Twenty years ago nobody gave a sh*t about environmental issues, and so was the traveller then. Nowadays these things have changed. Homestay has come up as well, but the most money is to be made with high-price tourists,- if they come. Not different from e.g. fashion business or restaurants.

What we see right now is a flury of activity to show or prove, that everything possible is being done to lure back the tourists... of any income bracket. What will bring back tourists and even more is to treat them as tourists and not as idiots, that can be taken for a ride. But that is an attitude problem as well, here, among the local "entrepreneurs". T.S. has shown them, that you can become rich quick, if you are ruthless enough, so they try it on their own turf. The Phuket taxi drivers or the seaside speedboat operators are classical examples of that.

If Thais would be friendly and humble and offer service at a fair price, the tourists will love to come back.

[NoThainess4U]

new breed = doesn't fall for old bullcrap

doesnt get ripped off by cabs and tuk tuks,

doesnt go to places that over charge the white face

that would be the real white face, not the bleached and chemically burned one

[WhizBang]

Social, Local and Mobile. Doesn't that describe the backpacking tourist perfectly?

1) Social = Stay at hostels and share tips

2) Local = They tend to shy away from the mass tourist attractions and seek out the oddities (see 1)

3) Mobile = Able to instantly change plans for 2 bought to their attention by 1

Nothing has changed, just a more rapid medium.

Hasn't Thailand had the backpacking tourists for nearly 40+ years now? Haven't we just spent the last 5 years trying to scare them away to make room for "quality tourists"?

New type of tourist.....my fat hairy...!!! Desperation and back-peddling morelike!

But, but, but... What about all the quality tourists TAT and Yingy were always going on about?

[wirat69]

Hmmm, if the mobile was an iPhone, would that be SoLoMio?

[NoThainess4U]

the army announced a great new plan for tourists, but it is only for 2-3 days.

can they be more out of touch?

[ratcatcher]

Is this new breed of the desired "quality tourist " variety or of the looked down upon "backpackers"?

I expect it's a blend of old backpacker and new, except the new BPs come with Apps, Pads and Pods, Blackberries and Apples, Double Latte'd and Cappucinoed. Most are smarter than their phones.

[DannyApneaMartens]

"New breed" who came up with this title?
Someone who just crawled from under a rock that dropped on him in the time when the sun was being developed in space?

This "new breed", is actually the kind of travellers that came in the first place to Thailand and other places that now got basically raped by mass tourism.

The "new breed" has actually even been looked at as being those weirdos who went off the beaten track in search for the real and true spirit of countries, and now suddenly some "highly educated" halfwit comes up with "a new breed"???

Give that one a medal for inventing warm water...

[Minnehaha]

About 12 years ago, I was a consultant with a team of US advisory experts in cooperation with the Thai Govt and one of the projects we did, and which I led was to engage with tourism sector businesses in the north. This was just before all the 5 star hotels were built. At the time, there were none. Only the 4 seasons up in Mae Rim. Any others had lost their star rating. And the tsunami of investment was coming in only couple years.

I could not marshal enough support for much of anything. It was like herding cats. There was not even a Welcome Booth at the airport to give out information for free on how to get into town, what was going on, etc. This kind of independent entity that major players and local govt could agree to support financially was finally set up after a year of wrangling.

I had a tourism consultant arrive from the USA to lead a seminar on eco-tourism products. He walked up to the booth and found the kid behind the desk spoke virtually no English. He understood not a single question.

That is just an anecdote. There are many stories. We tried to get a website up to fairly promote the city and environs. It failed. Look at the stupid night safari. Etc. Etc. The traffic in Chiang Mai is horrendous. Most people I know who live there hate it now.

My first trip there was in 1991 and I stayed a few years. It was pleasant. Fun to ride my motorcycle anywhere and go on week trips up into the mountains to get lost. Pure fun.

Thailand continues with its unregulated, unplanned tourism development and the product is more Pattaya and Phuket (Patong) and so on. Sad.

Well, if you were partly responsible for all the five star hotels cropping up here in chiang mai now, then you helped destroy the fun you talk of having in 1991.

There's a well-worn path in 'tourism'… travellers explore and visit places like thailand, spending their money in ways that benefit the locals at the local level. Then residents from the capital city hear about all this foreign money and visitors, and start hitting the likes of chiang mai and investing all their money in higher end hotels. Then they adverstise and the tourists start coming, and they spend their money that mostly ends up in the pockets of the rich bangkok investors.

Travellers easily deal with lack of english being spoken, it's tourists who can't deal with this.

"Most people who live there hate it now". Absolute nonsense.

Emotional rhetoric, and apparent double-standards. Perhaps the new kind of visitor is less damaging to thailand than you seem to have been.

I was not part of the investment team, we were trying to work with local public and private companies to help them prepare and develop to be ready for the increase expected. Very different work.

Yes, that money goes to the hands of the BKK investors is part of what we were trying to get them to compete against. I guess you did not get that point either.

You either don't know CNX well - have limited time there. And it seems you do not know any long term residents or you would know what people think of the changes over last 10 years in particular. The rest of your post is not worth addressing.

[Artisi]

New breed, that's what I was doing over 20 years ago - so what's new?

[NoThainess4U]

New breed, that's what I was doing over 20 years ago - so what's new?

what's new?

I dont get you guys,

did you forget, this is Thailand we are talking about

competence gets the promotion here right? not, bribes and nepotism?

they are just waking up to what hit them 15 years ago,

just back pedal your brain, think like a Thai, and voila, it's new thinking

[wabothai]

University of Chang Mai could you be more specific about the difference between the regular and the new tourist? With the best will of the world i don't see any. how are you catering to this "new breed tourists" ? I am anxious to hear your answer.

[12DrinkMore]

'new breed of tourists'

They really do look at us as some kind of beings from another planet, don't they.

Once and alien, always an alien.

It is funny that my wife was asked by immigration way down south " are you supporting the alien " That was after checking that the alien had

enough money to support himself TIT!!

And the message is,

"Go home, ET"

[BadBouy]

Hmmm, if the mobile was an iPhone, would that be SoLoMio?

That would make an Italian with an iPhone "OhSoLoMio"

[ggold]

Ar So Lo Mio, surely the name of a song!

[moe666]

About 12 years ago, I was a consultant with a team of US advisory experts in cooperation with the Thai Govt and one of the projects we did, and which I led was to engage with tourism sector businesses in the north. This was just before all the 5 star hotels were built. At the time, there were none. Only the 4 seasons up in Mae Rim. Any others had lost their star rating. And the tsunami of investment was coming in only couple years.

I could not marshal enough support for much of anything. It was like herding cats. There was not even a Welcome Booth at the airport to give out information for free on how to get into town, what was going on, etc. This kind of independent entity that major players and local govt could agree to support financially was finally set up after a year of wrangling.

I had a tourism consultant arrive from the USA to lead a seminar on eco-tourism products. He walked up to the booth and found the kid behind the desk spoke virtually no English. He understood not a single question.

That is just an anecdote. There are many stories. We tried to get a website up to fairly promote the city and environs. It failed. Look at the stupid night safari. Etc. Etc. The traffic in Chiang Mai is horrendous. Most people I know who live there hate it now.

My first trip there was in 1991 and I stayed a few years. It was pleasant. Fun to ride my motorcycle anywhere and go on week trips up into the mountains to get lost. Pure fun.

Thailand continues with its unregulated, unplanned tourism development and the product is more Pattaya and Phuket (Patong) and so on. Sad.

Nothing much has changed I live in Chiang Mai and still love it, I get on my motorcycle and go for a ride in the mountains go on week trips all over Thailand, there are always people who want to be critical. Yes there is traffic in Chiang Mai as in most cities any more but people deal with it. What have you to offer as a positive as the post was all negative

[rotary]

New breed of tourist or tourist who want to breed?

[Tokay]

More nonsense. It is amazing what is news these days.