NSTDA and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports established a collaboration to apply science, technology and innovation to support and promote sustainable tourism. The MOU was executed on 17 June 2019 by Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, NSTDA President and Mr. Chote Trachoo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Under this collaboration, NSTDA will prepare the Tourism Satellite Account-System of Environmental Economic Accounting (TSA-SEEA) for key tourism clusters. TSA-SEEA measures tourism economic and environmental impacts in a national economy and is one of the key indicators of sustainable tourism. NSTDA will also develop a national guideline on tourism carrying capacity for three types of destinations: mountains, sea and cultural/historical sites. Certification and accreditation system for sustainable tourism standards will be established, especially with regard to the requirements set by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
The data acquired from decades of studies performed by NSTDA researchers, especially in the fields of biodiversity and environment, will greatly serve the work to be carried out under this partnership. The data will also be linked to the Tourism Intelligence Center (TIC) and Thailand Tourism Directory.