Browsing by Author "Oksanen, Sampsa"

Growing tourism has led dive tourism to become a significant tourism sector. Thailand is the most popular tourist destination in Southeast Asia and also one of the most popular dive tourism destinations in Asia. Economically, dive tourism is a very significant form of tourism in Thailand. The marine environment is the most important pull factor of dive tourism and it is vulnerable to different kind of changes. The negative effects of climate change and growing tourism of coastal areas are threats to both marine environment and tourism of dive destinations. Changes in behavior of tourists or environmental conditions have direct and indirect impact on local economy and tourism businesses. The aim of this thesis was to find out what kind of threats Finnish dive tourism operators in Thailand are experiencing that have effect on dive tourism, and more specifically on business they are representing, and what kind of changes are expected in the future. Another aim was to study what actions have been taken against these threats and changes. This research was conducted by doing eight semi-structured theme interviews. The interviewees were Finnish dive tourism entrepreneurs and employees and they were targeted with the help of web pages of diving companies, personal connections and snowball effect. To avoid misunderstandings during the interviews, the interviewees were limited to Finnish, and more specifically to native Finnish speakers. Interview material was analysed using content analysis to divide the material into themes for further conclusions. Based on the findings the major threat to dive tourism was considered to be the seawater temperature rise caused by climate change, which at worst can cause the destruction of coral reefs. The other major threats were the number of tourists and the excessive construction exceeding the carrying capacity of the destinations. As concrete threats to corals in the destinations were considered to be inexperienced snorkelers and divers with insufficient understanding of the marine environment, and as a result they cause damage to the corals by physically touching them. A major threat to the dive business that interviewees pointed out was regional and destination level competition. The seasonal nature of tourism in Thailand and the challenges it causes to business were also mentioned. Difficult work permit legislation, weak administration and corruption were also considered to be threats to businesses in Thailand. The most important actions against threats and changes or for adapting to them, were cooperation between different stakeholders, planning of own business activities and anticipating future customer needs. Finnish dive tourism operators experience very similar threats that appear on the dive tourism literature. Threats are also comparable to those that are associated with coastal tourism. The wellbeing of seas and corals is particularly a concern to dive tourism sector and it tries to hold on to this pull factor that is vital to it. Through conservation and education good diving conditions are aimed to maintain and improve the weakened dive sites. Dive businesses are pursuing sustainable tourism within the limits of economic profitability. They continuously try to develop their business, extend the life cycle of their company and improve fading interest of dive tourists towards Thailand.