Speaking at a forum entitled “Stability, Prosperity, and Sustainability: Community-Based Tourism as a Global Trend” held by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), CBT experts said Thailand must offer tourists more experiences while they are staying in the Kingdom as well as push more domestic tourism by offering chances to learn about the people and culture in the provinces, instead of only visiting major cities.

“Thai tourism is already big, as the Kingdom has been offering many attractions. More foreign tourists are still coming, but it is challenged to develop CBT,” said Peter Richards, the tourism expert at Thailand’s Community Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I) located in Chiang Mai.

The Thai government last week announced plans to boost domestic tourism by asking every sub-district to promote their attractions.

TAT began emphasising Thainess as a new product in the global markets through its national campaign.

According to CBT-I, community-based tourism has been popular since 1980 in Western countries and later spread to many other countries including Kenya, Mongolia, Indonesia and Laos.

“CBT travellers are active senior persons, couples with no kids, and individual tourists. This will be the new trend for the next decade,” Richards added.

To initiate and promote a new product in each community, he suggested that key stakeholders like local people, government, and perhaps non-government organisations work together in a systematic way to build business and prepare activities for tourists.

They need to create marketing efforts to sell products and design communication to draw in customers living outside.

For example, visitors could explore a nature trail with an expert woodsman, cast a net with traditional fishers, or learn a local art, sport or recipe. Sometimes, community works in partnership with a tour operator to develop a more ambitious programme, like a community lodge or a multi-day trekking programme.

In addition to being a great cultural experience, CBT is designed to support social and environmental work, build local skills and distribute benefits.

CBT-I currently is providing training to local people in Myanmar in order to help open new CBT attractions.

Robert Basiuk, who lives in Sarawak, Malaysia, as a tourism and environmental management specialist said CBT had become a part of the service industry.

He said tourist behaviour had changed. They no longer just sit or sleep in a coach, but seek experiences rather than more than photo opportunities.

“With CBT, everybody will be employed. It can bring huge opportunities for women to work at home instead of going to work in city,”

Local communities often need support to work with government officers, responsible tour operators and hoteliers, and other partners to develop CBT services, prices, booking systems and other elements of a successful tour.

But, he was concerned about how to ensure that benefits would reach the community and how to encourage players to commit long-term. “It is not easy to work at the community level to develop tourism,” he said.

According to CBT-I, each community may aim CBT in different ways. Some common benefits of the CBT in Thailand have included improved knowledge and skills, including planning, management, hospitality skills, communication, negotiation, teamwork and hygienic villages.