CHIANG MAI, Oct 24 — The Old City in Thailand’s Chiang Mai is a warren of alleys with ancient Buddhist temples sitting cheek by jowl with guesthouses and luxury hotels, bars and restaurants, and other businesses catering to the millions of tourists who typically flock there.
“This will be good for the country’s environment and natural resources,” he said at a press conference, adding that the nation hoped to draw about one million of these visitors before April, without specifying how, or who is a quality tourist. “All businesses should have the same opportunities when we reopen,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.The coronavirus pandemic grounded flights and shuttered businesses worldwide, and has pushed authorities from Amsterdam to Bali to pledge a more sustainable model that is less reliant on mass tourism that has damaged the environment and angered local residents priced out of homes.
But there has been a growing backlash against some visitors, including so-called digital nomads — people who mix travel with work and set up shop any place with an internet connection — who have been lured by countries to make up for a fall in tourism. “But quality tourists are those who care about environmental preservation, respect local cultures and local communities. This is the requirement now — not just money,” he added.Nearly every country introduced border restrictions to fight the coronavirus’s spread, and wide disparities in vaccine rollouts have led to different reopening strategies.
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