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Thai resort island wins
international tourism award
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Date: 10 August
2003
Koh Yao Noi, a small island in Thailand's Phuket province won an
international tourism award for its home stay program.
The program is operated by the
local organization co-working with the 5,500 inhabitants to promote
tourism and conserve nature and local tradition at the same time.
Koh Yao Noi is predominantly a
Muslim village of which inhabitants depend on the sea for their
living. The island was chosen from over 40 countries to receive the
"Destination Stewardship Award" which is the title given
to the villagers for their success in promoting tourism while
preserving the island's natural and cultural heritage.
The main objective of the group is
called Responsible Ecological Social Tours Project, or REST. The
group has been helping and encouraging the villagers to develop a
program where visitors stay with their hosts and learn more about
local traditions and lifestyles. By this way, apart from the revenue
from tourism, the villagers also preserve their traditional
lifestyle and cultural heritage.
The chairman of Responsible
Ecological Social Tours explains the reason of the success of this
program is that the development is done through a
"bottom-up" participation which brought the communal
awareness among the villagers on protecting their eco-system. 10
percent of the revenue they gain from tourism is used to fund local
reservation efforts such as putting a stop to illegal fishing. The
villagers could also manage to create the mangrove rehabilitation to
bring back the natural habitats for the endemic creatures.
Return to: Bangkok
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