Thailand can adopt measures to control overcrowding by international tourists and better manage supply and demand, says Siam Commercial Bank's Economic Intelligence Center (EIC).
International arrivals to Thailand grew by 10.3% on average during 2008-17, outpacing the 4.1% average global growth in the same period, the EIC said.
The rise of low-cost airlines and subsequent price competition have led to reduced air travel costs, with ticket prices dropping 15-20% during the 2013-17 period. The emergence of social media and online travel agencies has also driven international tourism in Thailand.
But international tourists are concentrated in several destinations, resulting in overcrowding and straining infrastructure, natural resources, local culture and the country's overall tourism image.
Despite the short-term economic benefit of economic growth, the negative consequences may affect the quality of the tourism experience, said EIC analyst Pullawat Pitigraisorn.
Consequently, the tourism sector will be unable to support long-term economic growth in a sustainable manner, he said.
Mr Pullawat said several cities abroad that have become overcrowded with tourists have introduced measures to manage tourist numbers.
These measures can be classified into two categories: demand-side measures to manage tourism (reflecting the desire to travel to a destination) and supply-side measures.
A large number of Chinese tourists are seen at Pattaya Beach. International tourists are concentrated in several destinations. (Photo by Chaiyos Phupattanapong)
For demand-side measures, specifying a minimum salary rate for tourist visa applications is among them, Mr Pullawat said, citing how the Japanese government introduced this measure in early 2015, whereby a minimum annual income for Chinese tourists applying for a multiple-entry visa was set at 100,000 yuan per year.
"This measure is used to control numbers and filter the quality of tourists entering the country," he said.
Introducing a tourist quota system for a specific time period is another demand-side measure, Mr Pullawat said.
Such a measure was adopted in Dubrovnik, Croatia in January 2017 to limit tourists to 8,000 per day, in accordance with the Unesco's recommendations, he said, adding that this quota was set because of worries that the World Heritage Site could be degraded.
For supply-side measures, promoting tourism in less-visited areas is a possible approach to combat excessive visitor numbers, Mr Pullawat said.
Iceland, for example, compensates airlines flying to Akureyri in the country's north, which features waterfalls and hot springs but is not as popular among tourists as the capital Reykjavik.
Developing new tourism routes is another supply-side measure, Mr Pullawat said, giving the example of Japan's Dragon Route.
Developed in 2012, the route entailed improving transport infrastructure, clustering and developing existing attractions through the public-private partnership method, and allowing the private sector to become involved in investment in tourism-related businesses such as hotels, onsens, restaurants and souvenir shops.
Mr Pullawat said some cities have even adopted big data technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to gain control of tourist numbers.
"That is the case in Amsterdam, where radio frequency identification chips were installed in visitor cards that allow tourists to enter attractions and use public transport for free to collect big data," he said. "The information is then processed using AI, allowing the management team to monitor tourists' behaviour during their visits.
"This system can also be used to lessen tourist density at sites by alerting them of busy periods. This allows tourists to visit other attractions that are less crowded."
Thailand should also introduce a tourism management system to ensure continuous and sustainable growth in tourism income, Mr Pullawat said.
"Starting from collecting, storing and exchanging tourism information between relevant agencies, including hotels, airlines, accommodation reservation platforms, ranking and reviewing websites, agents and government bodies, such cooperation can also be extended to included mobile phone operators to collect big data from phone signals to study tourism behaviour, as permitted by law," he said.