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Innovation in Sustainable and Responsible Practices through Creative Tourism in Asst.Prof.PichetSaiphan, Ph.D.1 Ornuma Teparakul2 Col. Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, Ph.D.3 Sitisak Pathomwaree4

ABSTRACT

In response to a global ongoing trend in sustainable and responsible tourism, Thailand is seeking out the best tourism practices through the innovation of "Creative Tourism Thailand" project, launched by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization) or DASTA. Creative Tourism is seen as a powerful tool in creating sustainable and responsible community tourism. The concept has underlined the idea that tourists cangain authentic experiences through participation in various activities provided by the local communities they visit in order to feel connected to history, culture and way of life. Conceptualizing this idea, researchers have conducted the research which included several site visits and travel demonstration to find out the model of creative tourism activities in Thailand. Successful model can be seen as the bright future in tourism and hospitality in Asia and worldwide. This paper will present creative tourism activities and highlight uniqueness of each tourist place using materials from field studies. Case studies demonstrate how local people create tourist activities from natural and cultural heritage available in the community resulting in the sustainability of the community itself. Examples of creative tourism activities in Thailand from 6 Designated Areas include Koh Chang Islands and related areas, City and related areas, Sukhothai – Si Satchanalai – Kamphaeng Phet Historical Parks, Loei province, Nan old city, and U-Thong ancient city. Each area is differently characterized by its nature, history, local culture, local art and people's way of living. One of them, remarkably, Sukhothai was said to be the first national capital of Thailand and was designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.

Creative tourism is seen and proposed as a means to promote sustainable tourism.

1 Assistant Professor at Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology. Thammasat University 2 Lecturer at Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University 3 Director of Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization) 4 Managing Director of Designated Area 4, Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization) Our research also points out that sustainable tourism is actually generated from local people and communities. Whenever people realize and appreciate their local history and culture, they will be eager to share these unique experiences to tourists. This can be seen in such creative tourism activities as fishing with local fishermen in Pattaya city, cotton quilt making in Loei province, tung workshop in Nan province and ceramic making in . These examples show innovation originated from local communities trying to design the suitable program for visitors to feel the spirit of place. We also found that the process to sustainability needs cooperation from both tourists and local communities. This paper concludes that the very fundamentally important factor of sustainable tourism can be practiced through the innovation of creative tourism activities.

1. INTRODUCTION Creative tourism was first termed in 2000 by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards, as ‘tourism which offers visitors the opportunities to develop their creative potential through active participation in courses and learning experiences which are characteristic of the holiday destination where they are undertaken’ (Richards and Raymond, 2000: 18). At Santa Fe International Conference on Creative Tourism in 2008, this tourism concept has been defined as ‘a tourism directed toward an engaged and authentic experience, with participative learning in the arts, heritage or special character of a place’ (Wurzburger, Rebecca, 2010). Creative tourism highlights the development of tourists’ inspiration by involving them in distinctive activities offered at a travel destination, and thus leading to impression, remembrance, appreciation, and bond between hosts and guests.With emphasis on development of tourists’ creativity, creative tourism is quite different from cultural tourism. Instead of just being witnesses, tourists will have hands-on experiences in unique and authentic activities offered in their chosen travel destination. As a result, they will gain profound insight into history, culture and way of life of the locals. At the same time, creative tourism also helps to preserve local traditions and cultural heritage. Creative tourism also adds values to the destination with least investment because it employs originally available local heritage, both tangible and intangible, for example local traditions. Creative tourism brings about sustainable cultural preservation as well since local people are proud to present their history and culture to visitors. However, management of service facilities for tourism purpose is an essential element in order to achieve creative tourism.

It is shown that creative tourism is a new paradigm and new direction in current tourism nowadays. This type of tourism is in some way cultural tourism that focuses on sustainability by stressing the process of participation and communication between visitors and local people, and thus creating attachment between the two groups. Both visitors, or guests, and hosts will have a chance to exchange authentic experiences or real practice learned at the destination to achieve desired goals of engagement, impression and remembrance. Creative tourism paradigm also associates and corresponds with the interest of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in order to support cultural diversity and to build international collaboration for peace and security among members. At present, tourists do not travel for just leisure as before, but they also look for new life experiences to further promote self-development. Concept of creative tourism is a new trend in tourism different from other types of tourism. It shifts from traveling for tangible cultural resources, visiting places like , palaces, natural conservation, mountains and such, to intangible cultural resources such as lifestyle, community atmosphere, community identity, history or cultural creativity such as arts, handicraft, with an emphasis on participation between tourists and local people as well as community. Naturally, creative tourists are the sort of tourists with cultural awareness, who are eager to try their hands on diverse cultural activities. This is consistent with an old Thai proverb, ‘Learning by doing’.

2. CREATIVE TOURISM MODEL IN THAILAND In Thailand, the innovation of creative tourism has been launched by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA). DASTA is a public organization with the roles and responsibilities over sustainable tourism operation, through coordination for integrated administration of areas with valuable tourism resources, with more flexibility and promptness in operation than that of government agencies and state enterprises, as an important driving force in the administration of the country's tourism industry both in short and long terms.There are currently six designated areas consisting of Koh Chang Islands and related areas, Pattaya City and related areas,Sukhothai – Si Satchanalai – Kamphaeng Phet Historical Parks, Loei province, Nan old city, and U-Thong ancient city.

Community context is one of the main important elements in implementing creative tourism. Community must be able to provide authentic experience of the tourist destination to attract tourists to come and learn what they are interested in the real place. Community with more learning centers or creative networks will encourage tourists to come and experience more variety and better quality. Once tourists appreciate spirit of place and develop deep appreciation of the place, they tend to return again. Since 2012, an ongoing research has been sponsored by DASTA to develop ideal creative tourism model for Thailand. The research involves several site visits and a pilot test. Potential benefits for community includes network building with tour operators and other public organizations and institutions for long term goals. This network building strategy is set corresponding with determination of cultural values in each community. Once community and the network realize their own cultural values, it is not hard to promote those values to tourists and create bond between tourists and local people. The research process for the development of ideal creative tourism in Thailand involves 2 main steps: 1) the development of creative tourism model for each Designated Area of DASTA, and 2) the development of creative tourism network. What the research team has done in the first step is presented in this paper. The research team has established that any creative tourism model should have the following characteristics. Area-wise characteristics 1) Destination with diverse and distinct culture/nature 2) Local communities with cultural awareness and ownership Process-wise characteristics 1) There is cross-cultural exchange 2) Co-experiences between tourists and hosts. 3) Leading to profound understandings of destination. 4) No harm to traditional values of local culture and communities 5) Aiming at economic, social, and environmental equilibrium During the first year of the project, the research team surveyed six tourism activities within two of DASTA’s designated areas. Sukhothai ceramics workshop in Designated Area 4 Sukhothai – Si Satchanalai – Kamphaeng Phet Historical Parks was then selected as a pilot model for creative tourism in Thailand.

3. Pilot Creative Tourism Activity: Sukhothai Ceramics Workshop The city Sukhothai, located in north central Thailand, was said to be the first national capital of Thailand in the 14th century. The city was designated as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991. Made from local soil, Sukhohai ceramics, also known as celadon, were famous for trading in the times of yore (Brown 1988, 2000; Miskic 1985; Richards 1995). Historical evidence showed ceramics trading between Thailand and other Asian countries such as , Brunei, , , , , , Arab and . As a pilot creative tourism activity in this research, Sukhothai ceramics workshop was conducted in DASTA’s Designated Area 4. Tourists learn to make traditional ceramics from local craftsmen and made their own souvenirs.

4. Other Development of Creative Tourism Activities To expand creative tourism model to other DASTA’s designated areas, in 2013, the research team has identified at least one creative tourism activity for each designated area. The examples are as follows.

4.1 Experiencing Islamic Cham atNam Chiew Community (Designated Area 1:Koh Chang Islands and Related Areas) Nam Chiew community is located in Laem Ngob district, . It is in the eastern part of Thailand and is also a part of DASTA’s designated area 1. This small community comprises of both Buddhists and Muslims. The local Muslims descended from the old Cham Kingdom in long time ago. The locals have been planning to establish a community museum within a 200-years old mosque that has already been renovated. There are many home stays along the canal that runs through the community. Visitors will get to experience the locals’ charming way of life. They may also try fishing, using traditional tools. There is also ‘Kanom Ya Na’, an authentic cuisine that can be found only in this community.

4.2 Learning Local Fishermen Way of Life (Designated Area 3: Pattaya City and Related Areas) Pattaya is a very popular beach city among international tourists and well known for the nightlife. Little known is the fact that this city used to be just a small fisherman village. Currently, there are still some local fishermen left, trying to maintain their traditional way of life. With arrangements, tourists can sail with these fishermen and try catching seasonal fishes, crabs, shrimps, squids, etc. The fishermen will then cook them fresh seafood. Experiencing local fishermen way of life reflects authenticity of Pattaya and corresponds to DASTA’s mission. DASTA is also trying to bring Greenovative Tourism City concept to solve uncontrolled growth of Pattaya. DASTA has a high hope to keep Pattaya one of the best tourist destinations in the world while maintaining local way of life and tradition by creating consciousness and participation among locals.

4.3 Cotton Quilting Workshop (Designated Areas 5: Loei Province) Loei Province is located in the northern border region of Thailand, widely regarded as ‘one of the coldest area in Siam’. Therefore, cotton quilt has long been a significant part of the locals’ way of life, especially in Chiang Khan District, where handmade cotton quilts are produced from locally grown cotton. DASTA and the research team collaborated with the local craftswomen to organize a pilot cotton quilt workshop and found this program to be a high potential creative tourism activity for the area. With guidance from the local craftswomen, tourists get to make cotton quilt, using traditional tools and techniques, while also experiencing the cultural spirit of Chiang Khan.

4.4 Tung Workshop at Phra Kerd (Designated Area 6:Nan Old City) Tung is a traditional ornament made from paper and originated from the Nan Old City in northern Thailand. The locals have belief that crafting a Tung and hanging it in a Buddhist temple will change one's bad fortune. This practice has become quite popular among tourists who visit temples in the area. Nowadays, workshops are regularly offered to those interested in making this paper craft. However, the workshop instructors are mostly local elders. So it is important to raise awareness from young locals to help preserve this unique tradition and make this a sustainable creative tourism program.

4.5 Ancient Bead Embroidery Workshop (Designated Area 7: U-thong Ancient City) U Thong is an ancient city located in central Thailand. During era, U-thong was one of the main cities and later became the origin of . The district is an important archaeological site with many pre-historic articles found here, including ancient beads. According to traditional belief, there are many types of bead such as charming bead, lucky bead, fortune bead, etc. There are now workshops on this ancient bead embroidery using traditional crystals. Since these crystals require expensive machinery to produce, the research team has observed that to achieve sustainable creative tourism program, both community involvement and financial investment are requirements.

5. Summary Examples of ideal creative tourism models proposed from the research reflect and stress specific values of each tourist destination. Tourists have to spend some time at the place to learn and understand by hand on experience consistent with basic characteristics of creative tourism: engagement between tourists and hosts, cultural learning exchange, deep understanding, and practical know-how in each creative activity. From case studies in these DASTA’s Designated Areas, the research team has observed that any creative tourism program should reflect ‘identity and spirit of place’ of the said region. First, the region should have rich history. For example, Sukhothai Ceramics Workshop and U-thong Bead Embroidery workshop are related to history of Designated Area 4: Sukhothai – Si Satchanalai – Kamphaeng Phet Historical Parks and Designated Area 7:U- thong Ancient City. These workshops let tourists appreciate identity and spirit of place of both regions. Second, the region should have distinct culture. Examples are Nam Chiew Community in Designated Area 1: Koh Chang Islands and Related Areas and Tung Workshop at Phra Kerd Temple in Designated Area 6: Nan Old City. Both of these creative tourism programs were built on religious beliefs in the respective regions. Third, the region should have distinct nature such as Designated Area 3: Pattaya City and Related Areas which is located on the gulf of Thailand, therefore, a creative tourism program was created based on local fisherman wharf. Another example is cotton quilting workshop in Chiang Khan District which is linked to the cool climate of the region. The research team agrees with the definition of creative tourism that it is the new alternative for tourists nowadays. It is a new trend and new paradigm in tourism industry. It allows cross-cultural sharing and thus leading to conservation of varied cultures. Besides, it will create tie between hosts and visitors, impression, remembrance, and deep understanding of spirit of place. The research process starts from selecting activities that the local people appreciate and try to share with visitors. From the supply side, the local people gain pride and realize their own cultural values. They will also try to conserve these values and also search for more cultural values in the community. Since creative tourism emphasizes values within the community, cultures and lifestyle are the assets that need no investment, special events and festivals. What creative tourism presents is real way of life. Generally speaking, creative tourism is an important tool to empower the cultural and natural heritage of the community and also add economic values to the community. Long term goal of creative tourism is then to balance social, cultural, economic, and environmental aspects of the community. Moreover, the research team has realized important factors for the future development of practical creative tourism as followings. 1) Appropriate investment and marketing for creative tourism activity in each Designated Area. 2) Community participation in creative tourism is a key to sustainable tourism. 3) Sustainable tourism involves conveying concept and types of creative tourism to new generations.

6. Bibliography Brown, R. M. (1988). The Ceramics of South-East Asia, their dating and identification. Singapore: Oxford University Press, Revised edition reprinted (2000). Chicago: Art Media Resources. Miskic, J., 1985. The distribution of Thai ceramics in Indonesia and trading patterns of the fifteen century. SPAFA Technical Workshop on Ceramics (T-W4), . Richards, G., & Raymond, C., 2000. Creative tourism. ATLAS news, 23, pp.16–20. Wurzburger, R. et al., 2010.Creative Tourism: A global conversation: how to provide unique creative experiences for travelers worldwide. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press.