Introduction The presentation compares the tourism industry in South East Asian Countries Countries that share similar characteristics to Thailand, within South East Asia include Malaysia,Indonesia and Vietnam

Tourism Tourism, in a statistical context, refers to the activity of visitors taking a trip to a destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year. It can be for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal reasons other than to be employed by a resident person, household or enterprise in the place visited.

Why I chose Tourism The tourism industry is centered around providing services to people: for example, a hotel provides lodging and a tour guide provides recreation. Tourism products, like all services, are intangible. These are usually not tangible things you can hold in your hand, or ram your head into and get hurt. In comparison, a goods-based industry provides physical, tangible items to consumers. Tourism in another words is the sale of images. Tourism has become one of the major players in ‎international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income ‎sources for many developing countries.

Importance of tourism Sources of foreign exchange earnings- Tourism industry is the main influential type of industry in the world. Nepal has also taken tourism industry as its major sector of income .       Employment Opportunities – Tourism industry is also one of the influential sectors. It generates employment opportunities. It provides employment to unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manpower. Guide, load man etc are the personal or labour required in Tourism industry. Sources of public as well as private income Tourism industry is the source of income for both public also well as private sector government charges tax, sales tax, service tax etc. which is known as government revenue is the income of public. And handicraft, arts etc are the things that attract tourist and most of them buy them and the seller makers some profit which is called private income.

Importance of Tourism Cultural Exchange Tourism industry facilities cultural exchange tourist carry over various cultural concepts of other countries where they visit. Local people can learn their language, art, skill, culture etc and vice versa.    Publicity of nation Tourism helps to publicize the country in different parts in the world. It helps to publicize. Nepalese art, skills tradition, cultural beauty and hospitality to the world

Indonesian Tourism Growth Tops Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand Indonesia has recorded an increase in the rate of foreign tourist arrivals in 2017 this year compared to its three neighboring countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). BPS data shows that 4.2 million foreign tourists in the four month period, an increase by 19.34 percent from last year. The month of April alone saw a significant jump of 1.14 million visits, a 26.75 percent year-on-year increase from 901,090 foreign tourists in April 2016. Meanwhile, according to The Business Times, Singapore welcomed 5.79 million foreign tourists in the first four months of 2017, an increase by 4.4 percent from the same period last year, with 1.1 million Chinese and 968,000 Indonesian visitors.

Indonesian Tourism Growth Tops Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand The strengthening of the Singapore dollar is expected to persist this year, and this could continue to deter some Indonesians from traveling to Singapore," said Cushman & Wakefield research director Christine Li, as quoted in the article. Singapore's hotel sector revenues reportedly decreased by 2 percent to about S$1.06 billion (US$767.34 million), with average room rates (ARR) experiencing a 2.3 percent decrease. Meanwhile, Xinhua reported that the number of tourist arrivals in Malaysia had dropped by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2017. Malaysia saw its greatest first-quarter slump in visitors from the United States, which fell by 12.9 percent to 52,237 visitors according to The Star. The slump ranked US tourists 14th of the top 15 nationalities visiting Malaysia during the period, but the number of tourists from China rose 7.5 percent to 551,000 visitors, ranking them third.

Thailand “Where Fantasy Comes to Life”

Thailand – Competitive Analysis Opportunities: Attractions: beaches, mountains Outdoor-adventure opportunities abound: sail, paddle, dive, and snorkel in the sea; trek to villages; ride the rivers; or go on four- wheel-drive adventures in the rugged upcountry.

Indonesia – Competitive Analysis Attractions: The largest archipelago in the world Beautiful beaches and sea: Snorkeling + deep-diving for blossom coral exploring sunken ships and wrecks from Surfing in the west monsoon (October to March)

Malaysia – Competitive Analysis Attractions: (eco-adventure destination) -beautiful beaches -coral reef : Sipadung -more developed than Thailand -People are more fluent in English Festival: November Penang International Lantern Festival (similar to Thai’s full moon party ) Paintball World Cup Series Asia 2008

Vietnam - Competitive Analysis Attractions Beautiful beaches and mountainseg. Halong Bay, Ho Chimin City Cultural Freshness in natural resource

Conclusion In conclusion let me say that the future of South East Asian tourism remains bright. The economic benefits accruing to Thailand through international tourists such as the Chinese are undeniable, even if some of the claims made about tourism are overly optimistic. My concern is that we are in danger of losing sight of the more qualitative benefits of tourism, namely, increased cultural understanding through greater human interaction

Conclusion Hopefully neither side will forget that tourism relies, ultimately, on people. It is people who produce and deliver tourist products and services and it is people who consume them. In that interaction lies the great challenge for tourism managers. And in that interaction lies the potential of a memorable tourism experience for Japanese and indeed all travellers to this land of ours