The Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) held its annual seminar at the Srinakarin Hall of Thailand’s Dusit Thani College from 30th November to 3rd December.

This year’s seminar focused on the theme Tourism and Travel: Sustainable Transformations in the Asia Pacific.

Dusit Thani College rector Atthawet Prougestaporn formally opened the event, pointing out how the tourism sector has been Thailand’s main source of income since 1987.

Prougestaporn explained: “During that time, there were about 2.4 million tourists visiting Thailand per year. However, according to data from 202, there were about 2.4 million tourists visiting Thailand per month and there will be around 35 million tourists in total for the year 2024. These data reflect how much the tourism industry is growing. However, growth comes with deprivation, especially in terms of the environment, way of living of local communities, and culture. We hope that this seminar can be a space where the theories in the research can be put into practice, as well as a platform for the exchange of ideas for our industry.” 

TTRA Asia-Pacific chapter president Aaron Tham likewise emphasised that sustainability is a topic that every industry around the world places an importance on, and the TTRA is ready to extend its assistance in order to achieve this goal.