Tourism

A recent wave of protests in Mexico City has underscored a core lesson for Thai cities: rapid urban growth must be paired with social inclusion. For Bangkok and other Thai destinations facing housing pressures and rising international tourism, the episodes offer a cautionary tale about balancing development with community needs and cultural integrity.

What appears to be a debate about foreign renters and remote workers reflects deeper, long-standing inequalities. Thai policymakers should recognize that growth without inclusion can spark tensions around housing, culture, and access in urban centers.

Mexico City’s recent tourism protests exposed tensions that extend far beyond complaints about foreign renters or digital nomads. According to urban researchers, these demonstrations illuminate deep-seated inequality patterns that plague cities across Latin America—and offer crucial warnings for Thailand as Bangkok and major tourist destinations face similar pressures from rapid urban development and international tourism growth.

The protests, which gained global attention for targeting “gringos” and remote workers, actually represent symptoms of much larger structural problems that have been developing across Latin American cities for decades. Understanding these underlying dynamics provides essential insights for Thai policymakers seeking to avoid similar conflicts in their own rapidly developing urban centers.

A new BBC feature highlights ethical risks in last-chance tourism. ( BBC Travel: An ethical guide to last-chance tourism )

Researchers warn that tourists who rush to vanishing sites can worsen environmental decline. ( BBC Travel: An ethical guide to last-chance tourism )

The story draws on recent academic work about grief, management, and visitor pressure. ( KU News: Eco-necrotourism study summary ) ( SSRN: Eco-Necrotourism and Public Land Management )

Last-chance tourism means visiting places likely to disappear from climate change. ( BBC Travel: An ethical guide to last-chance tourism )

A haunting paradox sits beneath Thailand’s sunlit shores. Maya Bay, once a glittering centerpiece of the country’s tourism crown, was closed for restoration after years of damage. Now reopened, it offers a timely lesson on the double-edged lure of “last-chance” tourism, where travelers race to see wonders before climate change erases them, often accelerating their decline.

The rise of eco-necrotourism is reshaping how destinations are managed. Instead of carefree recreation, visitors arrive with a sense of urgency and grief for disappearing landscapes. Research from leading universities and travel scholars shows that emotional drivers create unique management challenges for park staff and require new conservation strategies.

The crystal waters around Maya Bay once sparkled like jewels in Thailand’s tourism crown. Today, after years of closure and careful restoration, this iconic destination offers a powerful lesson about the double-edged sword of “last-chance” tourism—the global phenomenon driving millions to witness natural wonders before climate change erases them forever.

The Paradox of Farewell Tourism

Recent research from BBC Travel and academic institutions reveals a troubling paradox: the very tourists rushing to save memories of disappearing places may be accelerating their destruction. This emerging field, termed “eco-necrotourism” by researchers, examines how grief over environmental loss drives travel decisions—often with devastating consequences.

Europe is seeing a renewed wave of Chinese travellers this summer, driven by strong outbound demand from China and weakening interest in the United States, and analysts are asking whether US policy under President Donald Trump helped redirect that traffic. The European Travel Commission reports a sharp rise in Chinese intent to visit — 72 per cent of Chinese respondents say they planned to travel to Europe for the May–August period — while tourism industry publications covering flow patterns report arrivals from China to Europe rose year‑on‑year in early 2025.

Europe is seeing a renewed wave of Chinese travellers this summer, driven by strong outbound demand from China and weakening interest in the United States, and analysts are asking whether US policy under President Donald Trump helped redirect that traffic. The European Travel Commission reports a sharp rise in Chinese intent to visit — 72 per cent of Chinese respondents say they planned to travel to Europe for the May–August period — while outlets covering tourism flows say arrivals from China to Europe rose year‑on‑year in early 2025. At the same time, inbound tourism to the US has softened, prompting debate about whether political and trade tensions have discouraged Chinese and other long‑haul visitors from booking American trips and instead pushed them towards European destinations (South China Morning Post: Europe is expecting a wave of Chinese tourists). (European Travel Commission Long‑Haul Travel Barometer 2/2025). (Bloomberg analysis of Chinese travellers and Europe, June 2025).

As travellers increasingly seek out landscapes and species thought to be vanishing under rising seas, warming oceans and melting ice, researchers warn that last-chance or “see-it-before-it’s-gone” tourism can both raise awareness and accelerate destruction if poorly managed. New scholarship frames the trend as a distinct policy challenge — dubbed eco-necrotourism — that forces park managers, tour operators and governments to contend with visitors’ grief, grief-driven demand, and the legal and practical limits of access. The debate matters for Thailand because coral reefs, mangroves and other coastal attractions already under stress draw millions of domestic and international visitors whose choices will shape local livelihoods and the country’s nature-based tourism future.

As travellers increasingly seek out landscapes and species thought to be vanishing under rising seas, warming oceans and melting ice, researchers warn that last-chance or “see-it-before-it’s-gone” tourism can both raise awareness and accelerate destruction if poorly managed. New scholarship frames the trend as a distinct policy challenge — dubbed eco-necrotourism — that forces park managers, tour operators and governments to contend with visitors’ grief, grief-driven demand, and the legal and practical limits of access. The debate matters for Thailand because coral reefs, mangroves and other coastal attractions already under stress draw millions of domestic and international visitors whose choices will shape local livelihoods and the country’s nature-based tourism future (An ethical guide to last-chance tourism).

A growing trend in travel invites visitors to witness habitat loss before it disappears. Researchers warn that “see-it-before-it’s-gone” tourism can raise awareness but may hasten damage if poorly managed. Scholars frame this as eco-necrotourism, a policy challenge for park managers, tour operators, and governments who must balance visitors’ grief with practical access limits. For Thailand, where coral reefs and mangroves draw millions of travelers, the way this trend is handled will shape livelihoods and the future of nature-based tourism.

European travel is experiencing a notable rise in Chinese visitors this summer. Analysts attribute this to strong outbound demand from China and a cooling appetite for U.S. trips. The European Travel Commission notes a sustained intent among Chinese travelers to visit Europe for May through August, with several European destinations reporting year-on-year gains in Chinese arrivals in early 2025.

Meanwhile, inbound tourism to the United States has softened. Observers suggest political and visa uncertainties may be shaping long-haul travel choices, nudging some travelers toward Europe. Across major travel outlets, the trend is being tracked as a broader reshuffle in global tourism patterns, with European destinations mobilizing aggressively to attract Chinese travelers.

As climate change erases glaciers, bleaches reefs and reshapes coastlines, a growing wave of travellers are chasing the experience of seeing vanishing wonders. New analysis by legal and social scientists argues that emotion-driven “last-chance” travel can be harnessed for conservation if managed carefully, but left unchecked it risks accelerating damage to the very sites visitors want to mourn and protect (An ethical guide to last-chance tourism). The debate matters to Thailand because the nation’s reefs, islands and coastal communities face the same pressures from overtourism and warming seas that are destroying destinations worldwide (An ethical guide to last-chance tourism).

Can emotion-driven tourism save endangered places, or does it hasten their destruction? For Thailand’s threatened reefs and islands, the answer depends on choices made today.

The scene unfolds daily across Thailand’s marine parks: divers descend through crystal waters toward bleached coral gardens, their cameras capturing what marine biologists warn may be final glimpses of ecosystems millennia in the making. Above the surface, longtail boats ferry snorkelers to sites where rising sea temperatures have transformed vibrant reef cities into ghostly underwater monuments.

Last-chance tourism is taking Thai audiences by storm as travelers chase once-in-a-lifetime experiences before ecosystems vanish. In Thailand’s marine parks, divers glide over bleached corals while longtail boats ferry snorkelers to sites strained by warming seas. The result is a double-edged opportunity: extraordinary awareness and real risks to fragile habitats.

People come to witness what climate change is erasing. Tourism dominates Thailand’s coast, supporting millions of jobs and contributing a large share of foreign exchange earnings. The challenge is guiding this powerful impulse toward conservation rather than crowding and further damage.

Aerial views of Ora Beach on Seram Island reveal turquoise lagoons framed by limestone cliffs, rivaling the Maldives at a fraction of the cost. Yet this Indonesian paradise remains largely off the global radar because reaching it requires a series of time-consuming transfers that turn a vacation into a logistical challenge. The lesson is clear for Thai travelers and regional planners: infrastructure shapes where tourists go, even when the scenery is world-class.

Ora Beach on Seram Island offers turquoise lagoons, dramatic cliffs and near-empty sands that feel like a Maldives getaway for a fraction of the price, yet travel to such places remains slow, costly and logistically tricky — a problem that is keeping many visitors clustered in Bali while smaller islands plead for better connections and investment. ( Want a cheap Maldives-like holiday in Indonesia? The problem is getting there — SCMP )

How the world’s most-visited country avoids resident backlash while breaking tourism records

While Spanish cities erupted in anti-tourist protests and Italian destinations buckled under visitor pressure in 2024, France quietly welcomed a record-breaking 100 million international visitors without triggering widespread social unrest. This remarkable achievement offers crucial insights for Thailand’s tourism industry as the kingdom seeks to balance economic growth with community well-being and environmental protection.

The French Formula: Dispersion, Domestic Travel, and Smart Management

France’s success stems from a carefully orchestrated strategy that prevents tourist saturation from reaching what researchers call the social “tipping point” — the moment when local tolerance collapses into active resistance. According to tourism analysts at Euronews and industry data from Atout France, this approach has three pillars that Thailand can adapt to its own unique context.

A new look at France’s tourism management offers practical guidance for Thailand as it balances growth with community well-being and environmental protection.

France avoided resident backlash and still posted record visitor numbers in 2024. Analysts say three core pillars kept demand from tipping into social resistance: geographic dispersion, a strong domestic travel market, and smart management of attractions. Thailand can adapt these lessons to fit its own unique landscape and cultural context.

Why spectacular beaches remain out of reach for most travelers — and what Thailand can learn

Crystal-clear lagoons stretch toward dramatic limestone cliffs at Ora Beach on Seram Island, creating postcard-perfect scenes that rival the Maldives at a fraction of the cost. Yet this Indonesian paradise, like countless similar destinations across the archipelago, remains largely unknown to international travelers due to a fundamental challenge: getting there requires multiple time-consuming transfers that can transform a relaxing beach holiday into a logistical marathon.

France’s tourism numbers rebounded to new highs in 2024 without sparking the large-scale resident protests seen in parts of Spain and Italy, and researchers say a mix of dispersion, domestic travel and targeted management has kept pressure below a social “tipping point.” The findings are important for destinations wrestling with crowding because they show how policy, marketing and infrastructure can reduce hotspots even while overall visitor numbers rise. ( Euronews: Why France’s strategy is working in the age of overtourism )

Chongqing’s sudden rise from an industrial inland hub to a global “cyberpunk” tourism phenomenon has pushed the sprawling, multilayered “Mountain City” onto international travel radars — driven by neon-lit nightscapes, viral social media clips and big-ticket infrastructure that make it easier than ever for visitors from Southeast Asia to arrive. The city that feels, in the words of one visitor, like “peering into the future” is already seeing inbound arrivals surge: official figures and multiple travel operators report dramatic year-on-year increases in foreign visitors after China’s reopening and visa-policy rollouts, while a newly opened super-hub rail station and a host of curated tours are turning viral feeds into ticket sales and hotel bookings for travellers, including many from Thailand and neighbouring countries (CNN; iChongqing).

Chongqing has evolved from an industrial backbone into a global tourism magnet, drawing visitors with its dramatic vertical streets, neon-lit nights, and distinctive monorails weaving through neighborhoods. Since China reopened post-pandemic and eased certain travel rules, foreign arrivals have surged. The city’s new connectivity, highlighted by the vast Chongqing East high-speed rail complex, makes it easier for Southeast Asian travelers to reach this mountain metropolis. For Thai readers, Chongqing offers short-haul flight options, visa-free entry considerations, and unique experiences—from monorails threading through buildings to cliffside escalators and fiery hotpot culture—that stand apart from the typical Beijing-Shanghai circuit.

Chongqing’s meteoric transformation from obscure industrial center to global tourism sensation represents one of Asia’s most dramatic destination success stories, as the sprawling “Mountain City” leverages its otherworldly vertical architecture, neon-drenched nightscapes, and viral social media appeal to attract unprecedented numbers of international visitors. The megacity that appears, in the words of mesmerized travelers, like “peering into the future” has experienced explosive growth in foreign arrivals following China’s post-pandemic reopening and strategic visa policy liberalization, with official statistics documenting year-over-year increases measured in hundreds of percentage points. Sophisticated infrastructure investments, including the recently unveiled Chongqing East high-speed rail station—one of the world’s largest railway facilities—are converting online fascination into tangible tourist revenue while creating seamless connectivity for Southeast Asian travelers. Most importantly for Thai readers, Chongqing combines short-haul flight accessibility with visa-free entry policies and highly distinctive experiences including monorails threading through residential buildings, cliffside escalators, labyrinthine multilevel streets, and fiery hotpot culture that offers compelling alternatives to traditional Chinese tourism circuits centered on Beijing and Shanghai.

New York State is having a late‑summer moment as families and culture lovers pivot toward road trips that blend learning with landscapes, according to a new roundup of seven standout attractions spanning museums, state parks and an iconic river crossing. The mix—glassmaking in Corning, presidential history in Hyde Park, the “Grand Canyon of the East” in Castile, a record‑setting skywalk over the Hudson, and arts and science stops from Utica to Binghamton—mirrors national travel patterns for 2025 and offers Thai travelers and Thai‑American families a template for educational tourism in the United States. With gas prices at multi‑year lows and state park visitation at record highs, New York’s driveable destinations look set to cap the season on a high note (AAA, Governor’s Office).