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SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT GOALS FOR ROCK CLIMBING BUSINESSES IN KRABI PROVINCE, THAILAND By CRAIGH MURRAY HYSLOP Applied Bachelors of Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership, Mount Royal College, 2003 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION Dr. Richard Rollins, Thesis Supervisor Tourism and Recreation Management Malaspina University-College Dr. Richard Kool, EEC Program Head School of Environment and Sustainability Dr. Anthony Boydell, Director School of Environment and Sustainability ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY February, 2008 © Craigh Murray Hyslop, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-46756-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-46756-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •*• Canada ii Abstract The growth of tourism in Thailand has resulted in an increased use of Thailand's National Marine Parks. In conjunction with National Marine Park Policy that promotes environmental conservation, sustainable management and education, which are all components of ecotourism, this study investigates rock climbing within the Hat Nopparat Thara-Mu Kho Phi Phi National Marine Park found on the Phra Nang Peninsula in Krabi Province, Thailand. This research focuses on two user groups (1) rock climbing operators and (2) visiting climbers. Climbing guides perform well in their instrumental and social roles to provide a safe experience for visitors. They do not perform well in their interactionary, communicative, motivator, or environmental interpreter roles necessary to promote messages of ecotourism to visitors, who would like an ecotourism experience that is not being provided. The purpose of this research is to investigate the climbing experience and to put it in perspective of an ecotourism viewpoint. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Rick Rollins for being patient and for being available. You are a wealth of knowledge and energy for which I am truly grateful. Without your wisdom and personal dedication this thesis would not have come together. I would also like to thank Rick Kool, the academic lead for the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University. Without your dedication to the program and its students I would not have been able to follow my dream and write this thesis. I would like to thank Kathie Sammons, School Manager for the School of Environment and Sustainability. Kathie you have contributed more than you know to my education. You have always answered my questions, given me direction, and encouraged me. For that I am forever grateful. I would like to acknowledge Elin Kelsey who spent the time with me in the early thesis stage helping me form my topic and really understanding my intention. Elin you have been a constant source of joy in my life, hopefully I can give the same for you. I would like to acknowledge several friends who have encouraged me and who have taken me away from it all to help me think. First of all I would like to thank Tobias and Julie Heinrichs for constantly discussing my project and allowing me the time to work, even when we were on trips together. Justin Leblanc and Jason Fedwick, you two always supported my goal and made what seemed to be a daunting process that much more enjoyable. I thank you all. Finally I would like to thank my family. Mom and Dad I know this seems like it is a long time coming but I made it. Thank you for your emotional and financial support. I am not sure I could have achieved this without your help and encouragement. Ric and iv Ling Sebastian I do not think a better father and mother in law exist. Ling, your cultural heritage started this whole project. I am forever indebted to you for your kindness and your wonderful Thai cooking. Ric you edited my thesis and encouraged my traveling habits. Your endless knowledge of Thailand was a constant source of inspiration. You both have given me more than I know. What more can I say but thank you. The biggest thank you goes to my wife Leila Hyslop. You literally had to live through this, enduring hundreds of hours of writing, procrastinating, and being away. You have kept me organized, and on task, not to mention you married me in the middle. I could not imagine anyone else who has lent more support. You have made this intense process easier to bear. Let's go skiing! V Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Research Questions 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review 6 Introduction 6 Mass Tourism 6 Alternative Tourism and Related Concepts 8 Sustainable tourism development 11 Sustainable tourism 13 Nature tourism 17 Adventure tourism 17 Ecotourism 18 Role of the tour guide 23 Overview of Rock Climbing 29 Overview of Tourism Policy 35 Development of tourism policy 36 Implementation of tourism policy 38 Summary of Literature Review 39 vi Chapter 3: Methodology 43 Introduction 43 Study Site 44 Survey Methods 47 Questionnaire Design 49 Section 1: Location Used for Rock Climbing (Ql) 50 Section 2: Evaluation of Rock Climbing Experience (Q2, Q3) 50 Section 3: Background in Climbing (Q4, Q5, Q6) 50 Section 4: Activities Participated in Besides Climbing (Q7) 51 Section 5: Perceptions (Satisfaction) with Climbing Guides (Q8) 51 Section 6: Traveling Style: Ecotourism scale (Q10) 51 Section 7: Views on Tourism Development (Ql 1) 53 Section 8: Other Comments about Post Tsunami Rebuilding (Q12) 53 Section 9: Visitor Characteristics (Q13, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q17) 53 Section 10: Description of Visit (Q18, Q19) 54 Sampling Strategy 54 Data Entry and Analysis 57 Challenges and Limitations 57 Validity and Reliability 58 Chapter 4: Results 61 Introduction 61 Climber Characteristics 61 Assessment of Climbing Experience 67 Assessment of Climbing Guide 73 vii Perceptions of Ecotourism 83 Semi-structured Interviews with other Stakeholders 95 Summary of Chapter 99 Chapter 5: Conclusion 102 Introduction 102 Summary of Major Findings 102 Recommendations 108 Possibilities for future studies 112 References 114 Appendix 120 Appendix 1 Questionnaire 120 Appendix 2 Questions for semi-structured interviews 125 Chapter 1: Introduction Tourism, one of the world's fastest growing industries (Baddeley, 2004; Campbell, 1999; Kontogeorgopoulos, 2005; Rattanasuwongchai, 1998; Robinson & Twynam, 1996) is an important economic resource for many developing countries (World Tourism Organization, 2004). Unfortunately the impacts of mass tourism, such as compromising "the ecological sustainability of key tourism destinations" (Kontogeorgopoulos, 1999, p. 316), loss of cultural integrity in host communities (Manyara & Jones, 2007), and economic ruin from dependence on an unsustainable industry (Claver-Cortes, Molina-Azorin, & Pereira-Moliner, 2007) threaten the development of the nations it purports to help. As a result of some of the negative impacts of mass tourism, especially in developing countries, the concept of sustainable tourism has been developed. Sustainable tourism in its simplest definition is "tourism which is economically viable but does not destroy the resources on which the future of tourism will depend, notably the physical environment and the social fabric of the host community" (Swarbrooke, 2005, p. 13). Presently, tourism accounts for 6% of Thailand's Gross Domestic Product (Rattanasuwongchai, 1998). Tourism in Thailand has soared, according to Pleumarom (2002), from one million in the early 1980's to 10 405 502 million visitors over a nine month period from January to September 2007 (ASEAN National Tourism Organization, 2008). With the rapid growth of tourism Thailand has had economic benefit however, researchers have found significant erosion of the natural environment in some areas has resulted (Kontogeorgopoulos, 1999; Pleumarom, 2002; Rice & Haynes, 2005), along with a lack of infrastructure to meet tourists' needs. In Phuket for example, tourism 2 growth has increased at a rate of 18% per year reaching a total of 2.7 million visitors by the year 2001 (Kontogeorgopoulos, 2005). This increase has led to jobs, a healthy economy and an increase in infrastructure for Phuket, all benefits of the tourism industry. However several unfavorable impacts were also noted as a result of the unchecked growth such as crowding, pollution and water shortages (Kontogeorgopoulos, 2005).

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