Tourism in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand
Tourism is a global activity for business or pleasure. Tourism is also the theory and practice involving touring, entertaining tourists, the business of attracting, accommodating, and operating tours. The tourism industry is vital for the advantages that bring to participant countries because of its commercial role that increases the demand and growth of other industries. Some of the tourist attractions include cultural heritage venues, museums, and physical features such as islands, caves, and mountains. Additionally, tourism generates revenues, employment opportunities, and development. Student travelers contribute to the industry because they travel more than other age groups. The purposes of student travel are to have fun, have new experiences, bonding, and educational reasons. The rise in millennial tourism is due to their changing perspectives on adventures and re-definitions of travel through a global perspective. The paper explores geographic uniqueness, tourist attraction sites, and their promotional factors in Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, and lessons that Thailand can learn from the three to attract more Us, student travelers.
Tourism in Singapore
Tourism is a significant industry in Singapore and one of the strong economic contributors to the country. Singapore is a small, urbanized island and city-state in Southeast Asia between Malaysia and Indonesia at the end of the Malayan peninsula. Singapore’s total land area is 724.2 square kilometers comprising o other islands and the mainland (Tay et al. 1). In 2017, Singapore received over 17.4 million international visitors, which was three times the country’s total population, and it is among the five most visited cities in the world, and the second in Asia-Pacific. The cultural heritage conservation programs and essential maintenance attracts tourists from all over the world, including the hotels (Chang 52). There are low crime rates in Singapore, and political stability that promotes tourism through assuring visitors’ safety, along with the efficient transport that covers the majority, is not all attraction venues.
Additionally, English is one of the dominant languages in Singapore, and it encourages visitors like students from the United States because they can easily communicate and interact with the locals during activities such as shopping and making inquiries on the cultural heritage. Singapore is a former British colony; hence it has cultural and historical landmarks that have the influences of Briton and its region in its architecture (Matondang 52). Such attraction sites are adequate for history student travelers from the US as they learn more about Singapore as a British colony. The cultural landmarks include Majid Sultan mosques, built in 1826, the Sri Mariamman Temple completed in 1827, and Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple, and Thian Hock Keng temple that completed in 1839 (Matondang 54) Other historical sites in Singapore include the Istana Kampong Glam, Civilian War Memorial, VIctorial Concert Hall and Theatre, and KIranji War Memorial.
Further, there are museums in Singapore, which depict the art and history of the country, which are the Asin Civilization, and the Peranakan Museums, Mint Museum of Toys from the mid-19th century to mid-20th century, the National Museum of Singapore, and Singapore Art Museum (Ting 60). There are also nature sight-seeing activities in Singapore, including river, Singapore and Night Safari zoos, gardens like Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Botanic, and Gardens by the Bay. The cultural heritage conservation, security, and reliable transport enhance tourism as a significant economic contributor in Singapore.
Tourism in Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia with east Malaysia on the Eastern side and Peninsular Malaysia to the West and other smaller islands. Peninsular Malaysia is in the South Most area of Malay Peninsula in the North of Singapore, South of Thailand, and East of Indonesian Island of Sumatra. Eastern Malaysia consists of Borneo Island in the North, and it shares land borders with Indonesian Borneo to its South and Brunei on its North. Malaysia has a total area of 329,847 square kilometers with 0.37% of water and 99.63% of dry land, and the Indian ocean as its lowest point and Mount Kinabalu as the highest (Miettinen et al. 68). The tourism and travel competitiveness report of 2017 ranked Malaysia as 25th of 141 countries in tourism activities, and once ranked as the 9th best in world tourist arrivals. The Malaysian government increased tourism activities to create economic diversity and make it less dependent on the exports, which made tourism the third source of foreign exchange. For instance, the improvement was evident in 3016, where the country recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals in 2016, from around 25.7 million visitors in 2015. The ministry of health in Malaysia promotes medical tourism in the country, which ensures a steady increase in the annual number of foreign patients (Harque et al. .5). Medical students from the US benefit from the reliable health system in Malaysia that supports learning. The other tourist attraction sites in Malaysia are like Gunnun Gading and Bako National Parks, islands like Perhentian, Langkawi, Pulau Tioman, Redang, and Manukan. Malaysia has also maintained its cultural heritage to attract tourists, for instance, through Kek Lok Si TempleBatu caves with Hindu art, North Borneo Railway with old-fashioned train chugs, Sarawak Cultural Village, and Christ Church.
Moreover, Malaysia uses experience marketing as one of its main strategies of destination promotion through initiating policies that support the improvement of the tourism industry in the country to ensure visitor satisfaction. For instance, there are tourism policies that insist on efficient and reliable education and experience of service providers like tour guides and drivers, which ensures that the individuals provide high-quality services to their tourists (Mokhtar et al. 26). Consequently, visitors are satisfied with their experiences, and they help in advertising the country’s efficient tourism industry to attract more international tourists via platforms like websites and search engines. The maintenance of cultural heritage, Island conservation, and experience marketing promote Malaysian tourism.
Tourism in Japan
Japan is an Island Country with a strato-volcanic archipelago that is 3,000 kilometers along Eastern Asias’ Pacific Ocean. There are around 6,852 islands in Japan, with the main ones being Honshu, Kyushu, Hokkaido, Okinawa, and Shikoku, with a total area of 377, 975 square kilometers (Yoichi et al. 2). The numerous tourist attractions in Japan contribute to its success in tourism, evidenced by the 31.9 million international tourists that it attracted in 2018. Additionally, japan ranked 4th of the total of 141 countries in the 2017 travel and tourism competitiveness report, and it was the highest in Asia (Murakami 7). There are about 21 World Heritage sites in Japan, which include the historical monuments of Ancient Nara and Kyoto and the Himeji Castle. The other popular tourist attraction sites are such as, Mount Fuji, Tokyo and Hiroshima, Okinawa, Ski Resorts like Niseko in Hokkaido, and Shikansn riding along with Japanese hot spring and hotel Networks. The government of Japan has increased the number of tourists by ensuring affordability by actions like reducing the entrance fees to the attraction sites (Russell 32). The strategy has promoted both domestic and international tourism, which also enables student travelers to afford and to enjoy the services. More so, the Japanese government initiates strict measures to facilitate the observance of health and hygiene in the industry, which increases the number of tourists as they are sure of their well-being. Security and safety in Japan is also a significant contributor to the Japanese tourism sector because it eliminates fears of attacks and robbery of travelers, and occurrence of seismic activities (Lihui and Dan 168) Cultural and heritage conservation measures in Japan is also a strategy that supports the tourism industry as people enjoy viewing ancient architecture and art, more so international students interested in history learning. For instance, Japan maintains the heritage of the Meiji Restoration that attracts global tourists. Therefore, Japanese tourism is successful.
Tourism in Thailand
Tourism contributes to the economy in the Kingdom of Thailand. However, the actual tourism contribution of tourism to Thailand’s economy is relatively lower than the measured percentages because there is the inclusion of revenue, while GDP measurements consist of value-added. Cultural tourism is prominent in Thailand, which features performing arts like Thai dance and drama. There are also variety shows featuring theatrical arts in areas such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Bangkok, where the “Siam Niramit” is the most popular among Thailand tourists. Nevertheless, cultural tourism barely attracts as many tourists as it should, which is because of the absence of modernization in aspects like dressing that would otherwise attract more visitors. For instance, tourists argue that women in revealing outfits who sit at the bar fronts in places like Patong would hardly change into traditional outfits and perform Thai dances using poles. Other popular cultural attractions are puppet shows, Thai Tribal dances, and boxing matches. Medical tourism also occurs in Thailand, where foreigners receive treatment. However, the total government estimates are below the actual participants in medical tourism in Thailand because the approximations included plastic surgery (Noree et al. 34). Furthermore, there are records of sex tourism in Thailand, where the majority are men who go to Thai for commercial attractions. The form of tourism has negative impacts, including insecurity and unsafe conditions for other genuine tourists. Gastronomy tourism is relatively successful as it was the fourth-largest form of tourism income in 2016, where the majority of the visitors were Chinese, Russians, Britons, Malaysians, and Americans (Wang 396) The challenges affecting Thailand tourism discourage US student travelers from visiting the place.
There are lessons that Thailand can learn from Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan to attract student tourists. The first action is to reduce revenues and costs, which can help increase the number of students that visit the country because costs will also be lower. Nevertheless, the approach focuses on quantity over quality, which may affect the industry as the student visitors’ revenues may be insufficient to meet the countries’ targets. The solution is to accommodate both low and high revenue clients to ensure that there is a broad target market because the two categories of students can access the services. Concerning medical tourism, Thailand can learn from a Malaysian reliable healthcare system that has the financial strength to facilitate effective and modern equipment, drug access, and therapy protocols (Noree et al. 36). The improvements can attract student travelers, especially in the school of medicine, because they can learn the essential aspects of medical tourism from Thailand. Thailand can learn from Singapore to integrate cultural heritage conservation programs in its tourism sector to attract more student visitors from the United States. The conservation of cultural heritage focuses on the care and protection of all tangible aspects, including archaeology, artworks, museums, and architecture. Heritage is a significant contributor to international tourism in Singapore and is also applicable to Thailand.
Similarly, Thailand can attract more student tourists from the US by providing a broad perspective of their cultural heritage and break from the monotony of activities like puppet performances and traditional dancing even in night clubs. Young people enjoy energetic and modern dances that are compatible with modern dressing; thus, the improvements can increase student travelers (Hamed 19) Escorts and brothels dominate Thailand’s nightlife, which limits the number of student visitors. The appropriate improvement approach would be a modernization of cultural heritage sites in places like Bangkok to enhance the night views. Thailand can also learn to cultivate political stability as a way of attracting student travelers in the country. The constant occurrences of crisis in the political system affect tourism because it creates a negative image of the country. Student travelers from the United States are scared to travel to Thailand due to fear of experiencing the attacks (Hamed 12). The improvements can be beneficial to Thailand’s tourism.
Additionally, tourism is difficult in a politically unstable country as one risks attacks through moving from one tourist destination to another. Thailand is still a developing country and is politically unstable, which affects its tourism (Jenmana et al. 30). Thailand can learn from developed Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan to cultivate stability and promote tourism. Destination marketing is also an effective way to attract student travelers to Thailand by increasing the popularity of specific tourist attraction sites to increase the number of potential student visitors in the country. Thailand can learn from countries like Singapore to integrate effective strategies to their destination marketing activities. The establishment of a particular target audience and market is an effective method of attracting student travelers from the US, for instance, through Thai advertising culture and the modern capital city. Both of the tourist attraction sites can attract young travelers because it’s fascinating to learn the cultures of others and, at the same time, interact with modern aspects of the capital city. Other strategies of destination marketing that Thailand can learn and use to attract student visitors include destination branding, search engine optimization through sites like Google, experience marketing, virtual and video reality marketing using social media and influences, and online-offline promotional approaches (Henricksson et al. 2). Concerning this, Thailand can integrate policies in the tourism sector to facilitate visitor satisfaction and use experiential marketing like in Malaysia, and attract more student travelers.
Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan have varying geographical uniqueness and thriving tourism sector, and they have essential lessons that Thailand can learn to attract US student travelers. Cultural and medical tourism in Malaysia boosts its economy and makes it a thriving tourism destination for international students. The learners can take lessons from the sustainable health care system that provides reliable medical services for medical tourists. Japan has also maintained its cultural heritage, which increases the number of tourists visiting the country, including millennials. The islands, parks, and gardens in Japan are important tourist attractions sites that enable it to generate income. Security, health, and hygiene are factors that promote tourism in Japan. Singapore’s cultural heritage, safety, and effective management in the tourism industry contribute to its success and economic support from the industry. Despite the stable gastronomical tourism in Thailand, there are challenges in the sector that inhibit the region from maximizing its full potential in tourism. Sex tourism, inefficient medical, and cultural tourism, discourage people from visiting, especially US student travelers. Insecurity also affects Thai tourism. Thailand can learn marketing strategies like experience advertisement and effective healthcare from Malaysia. Additionally, it can learn from the hygiene and health standards from the Japanese government, along with safety, to attract student tourists. Tourism generates income for countries with practical management strategies.
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