REVITALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SECONDARY CITY TOURISM OF THE LOWER NORTHERN REGION PROVINCES 2: POST THE EPIDEMIC OF COVID-19

Abstract

The tourism industry is a significant source of income and an important part of the country's economy. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has had a negative impact on the industry's revenue and business as both domestic and international tourism has declined significantly. In addition, the implementation of strict control and management measures to handle the spread of the virus has further impacted the tourism industry, especially businesses directly or indirectly related to tourism. Therefore, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has studied and reviewed the above-mentioned impacts to introduce measures and policies that provide assistance in various dimensions to help the tourism industry and businesses in various sectors to recover. These include the reopening of the country and the lifting of the above-mentioned control measures, which has led to an improvement in the tourism industry after the pandemic.

However, the tourism industry's revenue is concentrated in major cities such as Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Chonburi and Phuket. It is important for the government to address and manage the above issue to distribute revenue to secondary cities to expand opportunities, reduce income disparities and gaps, and create sustainable stability and prosperity. This will be achieved through the strategic planning of various tourism strategies, focusing mainly on the northern provinces such as Nakhon Sawan, Kamphaeng Phet, Phichit and Uthai Thani, which have unique potential and characteristics as tourist destinations. Moreover, their location enables trade, investment and business linkages with neighboring countries.