The 2nd CE Innovation Policy Forum took place virtually on 27 July 2021, focusing on circular economy (CE) in tourism and service industry. CE Innovation Policy Forum is a joint activity of NXPO and the Thai Sustainable Consumption and Production Network (Thai SCP Network) intended to serve as a platform for players in the society and industry to share viewpoint and drive CE transformation. This forum was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Sayam Aroonsrimorakot, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, and attended by 60 participants from the public and private sectors, academia and communities.
Dr. Sayam briefed the forum on the results of previous brainstorming session. CE transformation in tourism industry requires that Thai tourist destinations and operations follow the guidelines and standards of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). All players in the value chain of goods and services must come together to design a scalable CE model for tourism industry, and set indicators, baselines, target and performance monitoring system. The government sector must set a clear policy and offer incentives to enterprises to implement CE actions because eco-friendly goods and services bear higher production costs, whereas public awareness must be raised. Meanwhile, the industry sector must design the management system to cover the entire value chain and form a network such as Thai SCP Network. Consumers should have easy access to CE products and services and be educated on CE.
In this forum, the Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA) presented its SWOT analysis of three players in its sector, namely travel businesses, hotel businesses and communities.
- Travel businesses. Travel businesses and their network in the value chain are keen to embrace CE; however, their knowledge in CE and workers with CE experience and understanding are limited. The opportunity in CE is wide open because of strong support from tourists, the government and academia. The threats identified include overconsumption of resources, inability to implement CE due to lack of knowledge, lack of platform for CE tourism, lack of mechanism and performance indicators and lack of understanding in CE implementation across stakeholders.
- Hotel businesses. The strengths include clear policy (green policy) to follow; accommodations, services and activities already incorporating local culture and wisdom; and businesses already contributing to the local economy. The weaknesses include lack of CE knowledge among many of its members, high staff turnover resulting in CE implementation disruption, and manpower and funding limitation. Hotel operators have positive outlook for CE because it is a national agenda and global trend, and more and more CE solutions are available. However, they feel that a number of travelers still lack CE awareness and the government lacks supporting system for CE implementation such as zero waste. In addition, there are very few businesses that support CE initiative such as waste collection company, and access to finance for CE implementation is limited.
- Communities. Support for CE from the communities is very strong because CE will improve the environment and strengthen the community; however, the communities still lack CE knowledge. As for the opportunities, communities are ready to support CE tourism and more travelers are interested in learning about community culture. Environmental degradation, natural disasters, and declining farm product prices are among threats identified by this group.
Participants in the forum actively exchanged viewpoints on how to successfully implement CE initiatives. Waste management was identified as the main challenge that needs to be addressed. Onsite waste segregation needs to be promoted. Local government administration must be equipped with CE awareness and knowledge so that CE implementation can be driven effectively at the community level. Entrepreneurs need to incorporate CE design concept and local identity into their products and services which will help build a creative economy. The government must design policy and measures to promote CE such as tax incentive and marketing campaign.
