The Beach

Source: Google, Movie Poster

Based on Alex Garland’s book of the same name, The Beach (2000) tells a story of an American backpacker who travelled to Bangkok seeking to have a more authentic experience as he bemoaned the inauthentic nature of backpacker tourism in Thailand. After an encounter with a fellow traveller, he found himself in possession of a map to a secluded island that was rumoured to be an island paradise. Together with a French couple, he set out to find this island.

This movie featured Maya Bay beach, which is located Phi Phi Leh island. Despite not being a conventional tourist promotional film, the movie captured a growing market that aims to attract visitors to filming locations. It was estimated to have generated US$13 million for Thailand’s economy (Law et al, 2007). For 18 years, the beach had attracted up to 5000 visitors everyday (Wipatayotin, 2019).

In the movie, Maya Bay was depicted as an escape to an authentic environment on a remote island far away from civilisation. This results in a film-induced tourism for reasons of escape. It was mentioned that some of the reasons for visiting the island include reliving experiences they had watched through the landscapes and experiencing the romantic atmosphere that was depicted in the movie (Rattanaphinanchai and Rittichainuwat, 2018). The movie also appealed to the orientalist fantasy of a western traveller and their experience in discovering empty land (Shohat and Stam, 1994). All these serve as a form of escapism for visitors to this destination.

There is also the film-induced tourism icons as a focal point of visit. For those that are less interested in the filming sites, their purpose was to witness the movie’s production process. They were more interested in the tangible attributes that were involved in the film. It was reported that there were groups of tourists who rented a boat to get a view of the production process. Thus, the production of the movie itself became a component that forms the destination image. 

Just like in the movie, what started out as a paradise soon became a nightmare. In 2018, authorities in Thailand announced the closure of the beach as part of the effort to rehabilitate the marine environment after being wrecked by overtourism (Wipatayotin, 2019). Since then, there has been progress in the rehabilitation effort with the fish population increasing by 200 percent and the return of the sharks to the beach (Promchertchoo, 2018). This highlights the importance for destination to manage the unprecedented influx of tourism to prevent negative implications of overtourism.

                                               

References:

Law, L., Bunnell, T., & Ong, C.-E. (2007). The Beach, The Gaze and Film Tourism. Tourist Studies, 7(2), 141–164.

Promchertchoo, P. (2018, December 9). Sharks return to Thailand’s famous Maya Bay after tourist ban. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/sharks-back-in-thailand-maya-bay-after-tourist-ban-11009908

Rattanaphinanchai, S., & Rittichainuwat, B. (2018). Film – induced tourism in Thailand: an influence of international tourists’ intention to visit film shooting locations. International Journal of Tourism Sciences, 18(4), 325–332.

Shohat, E. and R. Stam (1994) Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media,

London: Routledge.

Wipatayotin, A. (2019, May 9). Maya Bay to remain closed until mid-2021. Retrieved from https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1674364/maya-bay-to-remain-closed-till-mid-2021

Story Telling: Hospitality and Media

Storytelling has existed for thousands of years and is a powerful means of engaging and fostering emotional connections. In the tourism industry, storytelling is an integral part of a marketing campaign. It can strengthen the brand image, promote trust between businesses and customers (Russell, 2019).

In a light-hearted session at Nanyang Polytechnic, Mr Azhar Abdul-Salam, a senior lecturer for the Mass Media Communications, shared with SIT Hospitality students the art of digital storytelling. 

Digital storytelling is about picking the best story and finding the best way to deliver the story. Interesting stories are everywhere. One of the most critical aspects of storytelling is knowing your story and who it is for. The biggest mistake one can make is to set out to do a story without knowing the answers to these two questions. Only through these questions, can you find the best way to reach and connect to your audience.

According to Mr Azhar, there are six elements that make a great digital story - purpose of story, narrator’s point of view, clarity of voice, pacing the narrative, meaningful and appropriate audio and quality of images.

Videos were shown throughout the one-hour session to exemplify the different points that he had made. One that stood out was Casey Neistat’s ‘What Would You Do with $25,000?’. As part of Twentieth Century Fox’s advertising effort for the movie ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, Neistat was offered $25,000 to create a promotional video centred on the theme of ‘living your dream’. Instead of making a promotional video, Neistat used the money to help the typhoon victims in the Philippines. The video encapsulates the different elements that make a successful digital storytelling - engaging content, attractive visuals and an honest narration.

Closer to home, the late Yasmin Ahmad is another great storyteller. The Malaysian director’s  Petronas ad ‘Tan Hong Ming In Love’ has garnered positive reviews. Being in a racially diverse country like Malaysia and Singapore, there bound to be racial tensions as there is diversity. Thus, what makes this ad successful is that it managed to create a conversation on an issue that is real and relatable in a light-hearted manner through a simple message that children are colourblind. Even though this video may seem more straightforward than the video by Neistat, this video still conveys the emotions and message that it intended to.

At the end of the day, digital storytelling is not about using the most sophisticated editing tools or expensive, it is about conveying a story in the most sincere way that allows the audience to connect with the story that is being told.

References:

Russell, E. (2019, July 7). Storytelling in Tourism Marketing. Retrieved from https://www.tourismtiger.com/blog/storytelling-in-tourism-marketing/

TTG Asia's Corporate Engagement Strategy: A Session with Mr Ooi Peng Ee

Founded in 1974, TTG Asia Media is Asia-Pacific’s leading publisher and event organiser in the travel and tourism industry. They have been responsible for the delivery and distribution of editorial and intelligence analysis in Asia-Pacific through its four business groups - Travel Trade Publishing, Maps and Guides Publishing, Events and Global Commerce. With the rise of digital media, how does one remain relevant after 46 years? 

On 24 January 2020, we were honoured to have Mr Ooi Peng Ee, head of TTG Global Commerce and Development, to share with us on TTG Asia’s corporate strategy in engaging travel industry stakeholders’ channels and distributions.

When it first started out, the broadsheet newspaper was highly sought after by industry professionals as TTG filled the demand for market intelligence that the industry needed. In 1983, they further ventured into the MICE segment by launching its own trade show, ICMA. Destination depended on TTG to act as an intermediary by sieving through the different buyers, with whom they had already been engaging. 

With the company’s visionary outlook, TTG ventured into database marketing in 1985, leveraging its rich data assets sourced from readers database and directory listing from its Information Group. TTG’s Asia Pacific Travel Index was so successful that it had to be closed after two year as competitors began reproducing it, for a lower cost, overseas. 

Looking forward, customer engagement will be influenced by many factors such as channel proliferation, disintermediation to name a few. All these will influence TTG’s approach in staying relevant. One way TTG circumvents this is through working with leading media agency, MEC, to launch TTG’s digital offerings in 2009. MEC also assisted TTG to formulate its digital marketing strategy. Recently, they begin forming strategic partnerships with leading, award-winning technology team to deliver finest experiential solutions for the next generation of travellers

In 46 years, TTG has gone through different stages of transformation, navigating changes such as moving from physical to digital engagement platform and expanding on channels. One thing that stays the same is that TTG is still a company that connects the sellers and buyers in the industry through the value they provide in their print, quality of media and market intelligence. At the end of the day, TTG is a marketing engagement company that is able to connect to the various channels by understanding the different needs and requirements of each channel. And that is what makes them successful even after almost half a century.