Decision on MICE centre deals a major blow to Phuket

Over the past five years, political infighting has crippled efforts to develop a sustainable plan for tourism in Thailand. As Asia led the world in a post-2008 economic surge, a shift from foreign to Thai investment in the hotel business has spawned an uncontrolled countrywide surge in the number of new properties being built.

Ranging from the feasible to the illogical, the influx of new tourist accommodations and the long line of new projects yet to be completed are endangering virtually every destination in the country.

Hotel development has made a dangerous transition: In the past, decisions to enter the industry were typically based on sound business criteria. These days, many people pursue the trade as a hobby, a secondary line of business or, in some cases, nothing more than a showcase for friends and family. In many cases, no feasibility studies or initial financial projections have preceded investment decisions.

As a result, many of the hotels and resorts that are now cropping up are bulk-standard, mid-scale properties that have few distinctive or unique offerings: They lack differentiation.

First-time hotel owners are generally investing in the provision of guest rooms only. Few of them care to look into other demand generators for tourists. New master-planned resorts, with open areas and a wide array of facilities, are fast becoming an endangered species.

While the number of guest rooms has multiplied as a result of this private-sector investment, there has been little or no effective government regulation of this growth through zoning and other controls. Worse still, government infrastructure projects needed to keep pace with the growth are too often focused on bringing in ever increasing numbers of tourists. This is perhaps the very definition of unsustainable.

So many rooms, so many tourists - yet what is there for them to do? Players in Phuket's travel industry often complain about the rising number of less affluent guests, but what can be expected if all that is available is a seemingly unlimited supply of anonymous 32-square-metre rooms?

As of the middle of this year, Phuket had 43,571 hotel rooms. Another 6,968 are in the pipeline and will open by the end of 2014.

Airport arrivals in 2011 are expected to reach a record 4 million and total passenger throughput will come close to 8 million people. An expansion plan is underway to boost the Phuket International Airport's capacity to 12.5 million by 2014. Therefore it is inevitable that more tourists will come.

The clear and present danger is that there is no choice but to tumble further down the dead-end expressway of volume mass tourism - that is, rooms to fill at any price. The price, for Phuket, may be catastrophic.

An international convention centre, whether located in Mai Khao, Patong or Phuket Town, would serve to diversify the inbound market and wean it away from its growing over-reliance on charter and group tours.

Domestic and international MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) are a necessary component of any developed market. Check out Singapore, Hong Kong - even resort islands such as Bali, where a new conference centre is being built at the Nusa Dua destination resort.

Given recent history, it is illogical to expect that the rejection of the Phuket convention-centre plan, as an isolated government intervention in the island's tourism future, is part of a changing attitude to get things right. The question being asked is whether this is a case of colliding political agendas or the shape of change, with a greater awareness of planning foresight.

While officials wallow in indecision over tunnels, flyovers, convention centres and public transport - leaving Phuket's future a foggy blur - the rest of the world continues to move forward.

Holistic long-term tourism planning is the only way forward: planning that includes stemming the number of new hotels, encouraging renovation and upgrades, strict enforcement of environmental measures and appropriate and sustainable land-use zoning.

The vital word is "sustainable", and finally to move towards this ideal requires diversification. To punish Phuket by laying waste to a vital and necessary infrastructure boost to the island's tourism economy is a shame. It's that simple.

For now, Phuket has all the rooms in the world, but very few places for its jostling visitors to go.