In Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the tourism sector of ASEAN countries and understand the challenges of newly formed ASEAN Youths Organization in promoting tourism in the ASEAN region. Research refers to evidence that the Asia-Pacific region is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. That notwithstanding, the flow of tourism to the region is still not as high as the influx of tourists to Africa, Europe, and America. ASEAN Youth Organization’s mission is to reveal a sharp curiosity about ASEAN countries and on each other as far as the issue of tourism as a source of economic revenue is concerned. Its volunteers can act as moderators of an efficient negotiation process, have a noticeable political impact and can play the role of active advertisers of the region's rich cultural heritage and magnificent sites for tourists to come visiting. The comprehensive literature review examined that ASEAN countries’ governments have invested a lot in the development of tourism marketing strategies and applied considerable resources to the implementation of these plans. This informs that regimes in the ASEAN region recognize tourism as a great economic contributor despite the fact that it has not yet actually picked up. As a newly formed regional organization with a vision of championing for the region’s tourism, ASEAN Youth Organization stands to face a lot of challenges in their endeavors to promote tourism in the region. This research paper, therefore, seeks to utilize theoretical and methodological approaches to investigating the challenges that ASEAN Youth Organization stand to face in their task. The theoretical basis of the research consists of the research and writings of different scientists and experts in the researched topic and statistics from reliable sources. The methodological basis consists of three phases of interviews, surveys and data analysis.
Keywords: Asia-Pacific, ASEAN, Tourism Growth, ASEAN Youth Organization, Challenges, Promoting.
Introduction
With the development of the global economy, the expansion of international trade, improvements in means of transport, communications, increasing internationalization and globalization of the world economy, the number, and variety of contacts, trips of citizens caused by economic necessity have increased. Raising living standards of different countries, the rise in leisure time and the need for the full restoration of the human factor in the economy have contributed to the growth of international travel for leisure. International tourism is one of the major international economic activities, challenging and complex areas that have a significant impact on both the structure and the general situation in the world economy, and the economy of most countries and particular regions of the world. Tourism development has a stimulating effect on economic sectors such as transport, communications, trade, construction, agriculture, consumer goods, and is one of the most promising areas of economic restructuring (Timothy, 2011).
The Asian-Pacific region is the fastest growing region in the world, but the flow of tourists here still is not as high as to Europe and America. It is expected that soon, some countries in the region will come to the economic forefront simply due to increasing the number of visiting tourists. Thus, in Asian countries, the Association of South-East Asian Nations is one of the most influential unions and has been for almost 50 years. Cooperation regarding tourism within the organization as mentioned earlier started immediately after its establishment in the late 1960s. Today, this Asian area is very attractive for many tourists and the primary role in coordinating the tourist activity in the Southeast Asian region is given to the structures of ASEAN (ASEAN, n.d.). For instance, ASEAN Youth Organization as a newly born non-profit establishment plays the coordinating role in the developing of tourism in the region of Southeast Asia as a central tenet of its mission. Set in Mid-August of 2015, it consists of youth participants and volunteers from 17-40 years old. Apart from ASEAN countries, the organization is present in Japan and Australia. The origin of establishment comes from the “ASEAN Community of 2011” online platform. ASEAN Youth Organization’s mission is to encourage a sharp curiosity about ASEAN and each other (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015). First of all, this means the creation of optimal conditions for the joint efforts of youth aged 17-40 years to improve the competitiveness of this segment of the economy in the global tourism industry (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015). To this end, it should make greater use of the best available arsenal of proven international practice ways and means, or “best practices”, to achieve its goals. These goals may include joint planning; financing; formation of investment strategy; education and training, as well as the implementation of agreed policies in international tourist organizations and promising international tourist markets.
The modern tourism industry is one of the largest sectors of the world economy. In the past three decades, the number of tourists in the world increased by almost four times, and income from tourism by more than 25 times. Tourism is a highly profitable industry and its share in world GDP is 9% and 6% of the global exports (World Tourism Organization, 2014). In the past 50 years, the problem of the relation between tourism management theory and practice, with an eye towards maximum efficiency, has become an essential dynamic to understand. Any manager in the field of tourism management concerned with the effectiveness of their work should strive to become a leader in understanding this dynamic. In the above light, therefore, it is evident that AYO as a newly formed organization should anticipate a lot of challenges in promoting its regions tourism owing to the highly competitive tourism market. With the region been a less preferred tourist destination, ASEAN Youth Organization first challenge would be to convince tourists that they meet the competition levels of other tourists’ destinations. Other challenges that they should look forward to is proving that they have sufficient infrastructure for tourists to visit their region. Based on the competitiveness of the tourism industry as found out from research (WTO, 2014), it is impossible for any marketers to attract tourists without competing at par or higher level than other competitor destinations.
Based on the above information, therefore, the researcher identifies that the genesis of cooperation between the ASEAN countries towards the development of the tourism industry is contingent to economic policy harmonization. The same applies to taxation harmonization, import of certain products and income, free movement of capital, and maximization of the benefits and experience of individual countries in addressing the range of issues of regional cooperation in this field (Okumus, Altinay, and Chathoth, 2010). This research therefore, can be used in further development of relationships between ASEAN countries and ASEAN Youth Organization to improve the brand image of ASEAN countries in the international arena. This is an important issue for each of the countries to individually and collectively consider. Research evidence from Sarma (2014) informs that proper destination position which is the art of building and maintaining a destination’s value is critical in winning tourists to one’s destination. This research project, therefore, seeks to utilize empirical research methods in answering the question of potential challenges of the ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting tourism in ASEAN countries.
Literature Review
Logic does not drive businesses, but convinced people that act in the relevant cultural and historical context. They are managed not by systems and technologies, but by the individual, who goes by his/her way by using mental abilities, professional qualities, instincts, and emotions. There are numerous incredible military victories, powerful corporations, and strong professional associations, and it is all thanks to the farsightedness and leadership of a few people. Today, the concept of leadership means a broad range of activities from government to guiding small groups. The mechanism of integration of group activities, when an individual coordinates and directs the activities of the group, is at the core of leadership. The basis of leadership constitutes trust, authority, recognition of a high level of skill, and; a willingness to support the team in all endeavors, personal sympathy, and the desire to study and learn from the experiences. At all times, leaders have determined the policies of the state, have been involved in solving major scientific, technological, financial and other problems, and often become the arbiters of the fate of millions of people (Northouse, 2007).
In this context, the role of ASEAN Youth Organization in tourism growth of ASEAN countries is best explained by transformational leadership, a type of leadership styles that can inspire people to follow. This kind of leadership style when related to ASEAN Youth Organization and their mission best informs the concept of regional tourism promotion. Through the encouragement of the youth population to follow in local tourism, AYO does not only capture the attention of the youths in their regional but also of many other potential tourists across the age groups. Therefore, the transformational leadership of the organization would best help the organization in inspiring populations to contribute to the rise of the regions tourism industry. Transformational leadership is characterized by the ability to implement significant changes. The leader of this type brings a change given the future development of the organization, its strategy, culture, production and applied technology. The transformational leader seeks to establish cooperation, gives meaning to the work of subordinates and involves them in the change process. It bases on personal values, beliefs, and as a leader, not on the interchange between a senior and their subordinates (Northouse, 2007).Some of the world’s economies are heavily dependent on the development of international tourism since it is practically the only source of foreign exchange in most countries. The recognition of the increased role of tourism regarding GDP growth, job creation, poverty reduction, small business development, as well as enhancing economic growth, is reflected in the emergence of economic development strategies of tourism, both in developed and developing countries (Carbaugh, 2012).
One of the main features of ASEAN region as a World Tourist Destination is that it consists of newly industrialized countries and countries with low-income population, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines (1967), Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos (1997) and Cambodia (1998). Asian integration of centripetal forces is strategically important. Effects such as our geographical position at the crossroads of world trade routes and the transition to the liberal model of a market economy, involving the inflow of foreign capital and export orientation of the economy restructured (Salvatore, 2007). The prospective directions and strategies of ASEAN in the tourism sphere are the promotion of ASEAN as attractive touristic destination; the enhancement of cooperation in tourism areas between member countries in order to increase their efficiency and competitiveness; significant decrease in requirements for tourism and travels among ASEAN participants; creation of an integrated network of enterprises involved in the tourism industry; and promotion of ASEAN as the only destination in the world travel market with the highest quality of services provided. Other prospective directions and strategies include mutual collaboration in human resources development within the market, formation, update and extension of tourism infrastructure and services; and ensuring favourable conditions for more intensive participation of government and private sectors in tourism development, interregional travels and creation of tourism infrastructure objects and services (ASEAN, n.d.).
The tourism business has many examples of well-known non-profit organizations, apart from United Nations World Tourism Organization, World Travel and Tourism Council, World Scout Organization, World Conservation Union, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, John Soros Foundation, UNESCO, among which there are the following – Geotourism Development Foundation, Passports With Purpose, travel2change, WAVES for Development International, etc. (Alcos, 2011). As for Asia-Pacific region, the list of NGOs includes Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Guilin Tourism, The Pacific Asia Travel Association, ASEAN Tourism Association, Tourism Promotion Organization for Asian-Pacific Cities, The East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum, Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Tourism Charter), South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation and Global Tourism Economy Research Centre (UNWTO, n.d.). Non-profit tourism organizations protect the interests of consumers of tourism services, resolve problems between the tour companies, the state, and the end users. In a similar light, ASEAN Youth Organization is a global non-governmental organization, established to concentrate on increasing cognizance about ASEAN region as a popular tourists’ destination and raising joint consideration and long-term interactions amongst the youth throughout all states and nations.
It is worth mentioning that ASEAN Youth Organization, as an official establishment, offers an essential and vital prospect structure for youth involvement in organizing. Young leaders sense a collective spirit concerning their work, their leadership abilities, also, a real sense of the effect they could have in their societies. Engagement in the organization process facilitates youth to formulate crucial social analysis as well as to increase their educational enthusiasm and ambitions (Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing, 2011). The organizational structure of ASEAN Youth Organization is due to its activities in ASEAN and non-ASEAN member states, such as; individual needs and interests of participating in the work of adolescents and young people; specific conditions of implementing activities; the absence of coercion as the organization is the volunteer, etc. Exhibit 1 shows that the organization consists of five departments, namely Communication & Publication, Program Development, Network Development, Organization Development and International Relations, which are managed by the President with the help of the Vice President and the Secretary. Such structure is linear-functional, which means more efficient use of manpower of all kinds, availability of opportunities for career development, better monitoring of the activities of each department and its executive, and a decrease in the use of material resources in functional areas (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015).
Exhibit 1. Organizational Structure of ASEAN Youth Organization
Conceptual framework or Hypothesis (ses)
This research paper will endeavor to discuss the conceptual framework of the research through the elaboration of the below figures.
Exhibit 2. Conceptual Framework
At the organizational level, the role of AYO as stipulated in its mission and vision statements is clear for each of the participants. The organization chart makes it possible for several youths from different regions to interact effectively and share information during meetings and discussions. However, at the individual level, leadership skills, and personal competencies as well as communication skills help AYO towards achieving its objectives. These harmonious interactions at the individual and organizational levels enable the organization to carry collectively out projects like the ASEAN Heritage tourist workshop, ASEAN trip, and awareness campaign. Consequently, these efforts end up promoting and bringing global awareness of ASEAN tourism and therefore considerably building and promoting the ASEAN tourism market through practical strategies. From the above structural compilation, the researcher hypotheses that ASEAN Youth Organization from an organizational structure and strategy
perspective is well positioned to champion for tourist awareness through youth involvement. The only remaining question is whether the organization has enough contingent plans to overcome challenges that come with promoting tourism in the region.
The above conceptual framework is drawn from the transformational theory. The transformational theory emerged from the systems theory. Transformation, as the name suggests, involves long-run changes in structure which emanated from institutional change. This approach has been incorporated as it has of late gained credence in the tourism field. The underpinnings of this theory are grounded on the need for collective approaches to the tourism activities. Thus, governments, political groups, tourism segments, business people, etc. are all co-opted in the theory. The theory offers practical approaches to the destination dynamics, product transformations, logistics, etc. The primary focus of the theory includes time concepts, spatial concepts, hierarchical levels, structural concepts (systems impacts and clustered networks) and finally the institutional concepts (Taylor, 2008). All in all, this model’s primary role was to incorporate all the social dimensions of tourism.
Methodology
Owing to the technical nature of this research project and the need to get pragmatic and empirical results at the end of the research project, the researcher proposes to utilize a mixed methodology of research. The research will majorly be exploratory. According to Robson (2002), this type of investigation seeks to find new insights as well as tries to assess a given phenomena in a new light. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative research data will be utilized in the determination of the final deductions of the research as far as the challenges facing ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting tourism in their region is concerned. The mixed approach is useful in research since it helps us ‘qualitise’ the quantitative data analyzed. This means, turning it into a narrative to be analyzed qualitatively. The reverse can as well take place. According to Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003), the multiple method approaches provides a strong opportunity for ensuring the extent research findings can be trusted according to the inferences made out of them.
Both quantitative and qualitative research data will be utilized in the determination of the final deductions of the research as far as the challenges facing ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting tourism in their region is concerned. In that light, therefore, there will be three phases of research.
Phase 1: Secondary sources
It will be an intensive review of documented research evidence based on two types of documents namely, primary documents and secondary documents. Primary documents refer to eye-witness accounts produced by ASEAN Youth Leaders who the researcher may need to study. On the other hand, secondary documents are documents provided by stakeholders who are eye-witness accounts to evaluate the ASEAN Youth Organization or have worked alongside them. Another secondary source is previous research works on the field by other researchers. The researcher, however, acknowledges the fact that this will not be easy to find since there is limited previous research on the effectiveness of AYO in promoting tourism. Nonetheless, the researcher intends to pay close attention to any previous research materials touching on the development of tourism in the ASEAN region. These types of research sources will be instrumental in building the basis of the research and will play a great role in the analysis of the empirical results of the other research methodologies.
Phase 2: Primary sources
The researcher will interview three target groups about the organization’s success and contribution to the increase in tourism in the area. The target groups are as follows:
Internal
- Individual Level: 10 ASEAN youth leaders
- Organizational Level: 15 ASEAN Youth General Members
External
- Stakeholders: Officer of Ministry of Tourism, Director of South East Asia Tourist Guide Association and ASEAN Secretariat Secretary General
Phase 3: Analysis
The researcher will relate the outcomes from Phases 1 and 2 with the data that is taken from the World Tourism Organization, the ASEAN countries’ reports, regulations and other documents of ASEAN and other tourism organizations, the results of scientific studies of various scientists, experts, reference books and periodicals. The researcher will apply common scientific and precise approaches to methodological knowledge. Methods of abstraction and analysis and synthesis were applied amongst common approaches. The combination of primary and secondary methods of information gathering provides the researcher with reliable, goal-oriented, quick and relatively cheap access to necessary data.
Result
The research project was successfully conducted on 10 AYO leaders, 15 AYO general members, three stakeholders in the ASEAN tourism industry and a detailed review of reports and previous research on the development of tourism in the ASEAN region over the last three decades. A general analysis of the data collected from the research will be reported here, but first and foremost, it is essential that the basic questions and response from the respondents that will be used for the general analysis of research results be highlighted. The respondents were asked the below five questions of interests, how well is AYO positioned to promote tourism in the region, what is the role of AYO as a new tourist promotion body, has poor tourism management theory and practice been the main problem hampering success of the ASEAN tourism industry, will transformation leadership be of help in AYO as far as ASEAN tourism promotion is concerned and will functional linear structure help the organization achieve its goals?
The empirical research project having been well completed there are some findings that are worth to report about the evidence of previous research. The main purpose of the research project was to understand the role of AYO as a newly formed body in the ASEAN tourism industry. Based on the analysis of the data collected from the research, the general notion of the respondents for the interviews and surveys was that ASEAN youth organization was a robust idea that would help in the promotion of the ASEAN tourism market. This was in concurrence with earlier consulted evidence of research that had pointed to the need for the ASEAN region to act jointly in efforts towards promoting the region’s tourism capacity. The data analysis also provided results that most of the respondents and stakeholders interviewed believed that the region’s poor tourism management theories and practices were a reason for stagnating tourism sales. Some other evident results were that better form of leadership and functional structure would help AYO in achieving its goals and that prospects of AYO were bright with the development of online tourism platforms.
Discussion
One issue of concern worth to bring up in the discussion is the point of tourism management theory and practice been the central hindrance to tourism development in the ASEAN region. In concordance with literal evidence of research which had pointed out on the need for ASEAN tourism organizations and stakeholders to adapt to modern tourism management theories and best practices, the empirical research found out that poor tourism management theory and practices were among the major reasons for poor tourism performance in the region. Other reasons that the empirical research also found to have contributed to poor tourism sales in the ASEAN region were corruption and profligacy among those in administrative positions. Also, the empirical research found out that ASEAN Youth Organization has to work on eliminating corrupt behaviors and profligacy within its administration to genuinely venture into promoting and campaigning for the region’s tourism market development.
The possibility of deliverance and the role of AYO as a newly formed organization is another challenge that the research analysis brought to understanding. According to the leaders, ordinary members and ASEAN tourism industry stakeholders interviewed the role of AYO as a newly formed body was an ASEAN tourism advocacy body with the duty of giving a youthful feeling to tourism experiences in the ASEAN region. With a greater number of the global population being young, vigorous advertisement efforts tend to capture more than just the youths but even the middle aged population who have enough income to save for touring. This, therefore, confirms what literal review of the ASEAN tourism market had found to be missing, the youthful effect in tourism promotion. Apart from this, the organization leadership and functional structure was brought to scrutiny on the points of whether transformation leadership and linear functional structure were the best leadership and functional structures for propelling the organization towards achieving its goals and targets. As found out from the literature review of the ASEAN tourism industry field, the empirical results of the studies confirmed that transformational leadership would best help the organization in achieving its goals and gaining volunteers. A functional linear structure apart from enhancing efficiency and execution of strategy would also assist in the development and sustenance of manpower which is one of the assets that ASEAN Youth Organization direly needs in its efforts to promote ASEAN tourism globally.
In a nutshell, therefore, the research has found out that despite there been many challenges moving from structural to functional all the way to financial that AYO faces in its course of promoting ASEAN tourism potential; the organization is well placed to overcome the various challenges as found out from research and even reach for more goals. Further, from the findings it can be seen that this research will contribute to the body of knowledge in the tourism sector. What the research has found out can be replicated in another region. With the development of the internet, AYO has the platform to reach comfortably wider populations from other spheres globally that are prospects for touring the region. This coupled with the facts that AYO has specific strategies towards attaining its goals informs that this newly formed youthful organization can promote tourism in the ASEAN region to the global front.
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