Intense heatwaves will deplete Thailand’s tourism income: TDRI
With global boiling replacing global warming, efforts must to made to find alternative measures if tourism is to succeed
A research fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) warned yesterday that intense heatwaves resulting from so-called “global boiling” will almost certainly reduce the country’s revenue from tourism.
Nopparuj Chindasombatcharoen gave the warning during the TDRI annual public conference for 2024 at Samyan Mitr Town Hall on Wednesday.
Nopparuj said Thailand was at risk of topping the 48 countries projected to lose tourism revenue due to intense heatwaves and rising temperatures caused by this weather phenomenon.
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has used the term “global boiling” to describe the increasingly intense and severe effects of climate change.He has emphasised the urgency of the situation and the rapid escalation of global temperatures.
In a press conference on July 27, 2023, Guterres stated: “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable. And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.”
Nopparuj warned that rising temperatures would cause the degradation of marine and coastal resources and the areas of beaches and coral reefs would be greatly reduced, thus limiting the number of viable tourist destinations.
He said the tourism sector would have to adapt to survive by taking two major measures:
- Changing tourism high time from day to night to avoid extremely hot temperatures.
- Adapting tourism activities: The sector must develop new tourist destinations that will not depend on seasons. The potential of creative economies of communities should be used to attract tourists from MICE markets, or those travelling in groups and with organisations.
