My personal knowledge of Thailand was very limited at the beginning of the TDM Course, and I was not the only confused student in the classroom when we were informed that this would be our second destination. Where was this place, anyway?

Known amongst Thais as ‘the Rose of the North’, Chiang Mai is a moated and walled city that is surrounded by mountains which are filled with legends and mysticism. Although it is not a typical beach destination like other Thai tourism hotspots, it does have its unique selling points; which our class had the fortune to experience first-hand. As tourism experts in-the-making, it was our job to become acquainted with and analyse this developing destination’s attraction factors, locating the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for development, from the perspective of Small and Medium Enterprises, Large Tourism Organisations, and Public Organisations.

TDM students in Chiang Mai

To welcome us into this new and delightfully mysterious place, a typical red taxi had been arranged and took us to visit the Wat Prathat Doi Suthep; a Theravada Buddhist temple that attracts many a tourist. We were engulfed by Thai culture as we walked around the gold-wrapped chedi and received our blessings from Buddhist monks, and sipped on a straw in a coconut while we were tricked into buying paintings from local artists for twice the normal price. The next day, a visit to the Lisu village and their community-based lodge was followed by some rafting on the Mae Taeng River, and we planted diverse tree saplings according to Chiang Mai University’s FORRU (Forest Restoration Research Unit) concept as part of a local attempt to restore the rainforest. During the month, some of us spent a day playing with elephants, zip-wiring through the forest canopy, trekking in the mountains, visiting the Tiger Kingdom, watching a snake show, crossing the border into Myanmar, shopping on the Saturday and Sunday night markets, or simply benefiting from the goodness of a traditional Thai massage during the weekends.

TDM students in Chiang Mai

But March 2012 was not all fun and games. During the week, every group worked intensively on the assigned research and analyses, hoping to get a better grip on the situation with regard to the different stakeholders located here. Difficulties were experienced due to cultural and language barriers; which were luckily overcome in creative ways. Time flew past and before we knew it the presentations were right in our face; some of us had to spend sleepless nights in order to finish what we had started… Generally speaking, the research here pointed out that Chiang Mai’s public organisations and the private sector have quite a long way to go, and that they must attempt to cooperate more with each other, to come up with well-structured, long-term organisational strategies, as well as more innovative products and marketing, to keep the city’s head above the surface in an ever-increasing competitive global tourism market.

As Chiang Mai does not have the attributes of the typical ‘Thai’ destination image, it must learn to play a different set of cards. Referred to as the Northern Thai culture capital with a fine history and more than 300 temples, Chiang Mai hosts festivals, a distinctive cuisine and local traditions; and it is home to numerous hill tribe villages in the surrounding area. To the North, adventure tourism takes place in the forest-covered mountains, and tourists can visit elephant camps, while to the South, there are handicraft villages and a hot spring centre, which have great potential for developing health, culture and art tourism; for both domestic and international markets.

After the work was done, our final day in Chiang Mai was dedicated to buying souvenirs, taking pictures, drinking our favourite fruit smoothies whilst eating our favourite Thai dish (Khao Soi, in my case!), sending postcards and generally being a real tourist that has become acquainted with the destination, as well as visiting our favourite spots for the last time and saying goodbye to new-made friends. All in all, Chiang Mai was a rewarding experience and it is the perfect example to demonstrate how fast the South-East Asian region is developing economically. As a conclusion to this colourful destination, we raised our glasses of Chang beer to the next adventure… Cheers!

TDM students in Chiang Mai