On 24 July 2025, NXPO, represented by Vice President Assoc. Prof. Wongkot Wongsapai and Dr. Chalothorn Boonlua, Director of the Creative Economy and Industry Policy Division, held a strategic meeting with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), led by Ms. Erblarp Sripirom, Director of the Tourism Products Division. The discussion focused on leveraging higher education, science, research, and innovation to advance Thailand’s tourism sector in support of economic, social, and environmental goals.
The discussion focused on the concept of regenerative tourism—an approach that emphasizes creating positive impacts on natural resources, local communities, livelihoods, arts, and cultural heritage. This model positions higher education and innovation as catalysts for sustainable transformation, supported by the integration of big data and AI analytics to drive policy and development of pilot areas. The meeting identified five priority areas for collaboration:
- Launching regenerative tourism pilot projects in high-potential areas
- Elevating sustainable tourism standards in line with Sustainable Tourism Goals (STGs) and Thailand’s net-zero targets
- Fostering research and innovation to promote Thai festivals on the global stage
- Strengthening workforce capacity through reskill/upskill programs and the STEMPLUS platform for vocational workers, entrepreneurs, and travel content creators
- Building collaborative networks to nurture a tourism ecosystem connected to soft power, and the creative and grassroots economies
The potential of festivals as drivers of income generation, job creation, and grassroots economic growth was also discussed. Technology and innovation developed under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) could play a key role in raising event standards to meet international benchmarks. Human capital development and local university engagement will support the organization of large-scale festivals and the creation of effective festival space management systems. NXPO presented key findings from its Festival Landscape study, which assessed the international scaling potential of Thai festivals such as “Pride Thailand” and “Phuket VegFest 2026.”
Another discussion point was the development of digital content creators and tourism entrepreneurs. The aim is to cultivate a new generation of Thai travel content creators by providing training in digital skills, generative AI, online branding, and content marketing— empowering local youth and university students across Thailand to present their communities’ heritage and tourism assets through culturally accurate stories to global audiences.
