วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560

Transcription

1 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของ การท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน Wanamina Waehama Lecturer, Department of Business Administration and General Education, Dusit Thani College, ว นอาม นา แวหะมะ อาจารย ประจ าสาน กว ชาบร หารธ รก จและศ กษาท วไป ว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน Chakrit Srisakun Lecturer, Department of Business Administration and General Education, Dusit Thani College, ชาคร ต ศร สก น อาจารย ประจาส าน กว ชาบร หารธ รก จและศ กษาท วไป ว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน Abstract This research aims to investigate the tourism sector of ASEAN countries, understand what challenges faced the ASEAN Youth Organization, and how ASEAN Youth Organization could best utilize strategy in executing their mission and overcoming challenges that faced them in their efforts of promoting ASEAN Tourism. The respondents included fifteen ASEAN Youth Leaders and stakeholders which covered ASEAN Countries and two non-asean Countries. The qualitative research data were utilized in the determination of the final deductions of the research. The result found that the transformation leadership can be encouraged the AYO to achieve their purposes, the youth vigor in tourism campaign was a great plan for attracting more and more tourists, and tourism management theory and practice been poor. The further investigation should be incorporated the similar model of study but had to carry out the empirical research in order to enhance the validity by means of the empirical findings, adding the other regions for tourism and determine the weaknesses in the ASEAN region with the contrasting effects, and the sample size in order to determine more detailed and enlightening views from the personnel of tourism industry. ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 75

2 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 Keywords: ASEAN Youth Organization, Challenges, Promoting, Transactional Leadership Style บทค ดย อ การศ กษาคร งน ม ว ตถ ประสงค เพ อท าการว เคราะห ภาคการท องเท ยวของประเทศในกล มอาเซ ยนและ ท าความเข าใจถ งความท าทายในการจ ดต งองค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนข นใหม เพ อส งเสร มการท องเท ยวในภ ม ภาค อาเซ ยน การศ กษาเช งค ณภาพในคร งน ได ทาการก าหนดกล มต วอย างท ใช ในการศ กษาคร งน ได แก ผ นาเยาวชน อาเซ ยนจ านวน 15 คน และองค กรท ม ส วนเก ยวข องท งในและนอกกล มประเทศอาเซ ยนจ านวน 3 องค กร ผลการศ กษาในคร งน พบว า ผ น าแห งการแลกเปล ยนเป นแนวค ดท สามารถส งเสร มองค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยน เพ อให สมาช กในองค กรได บรรล เป าหมายท ได ต งไว การม โครงการท เก ดข นจากองค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนเป น แผนท สามารถสร างความน าสนใจให แก อ ตสาหกรรมการท องเท ยว ในส วนของท ต องเพ มเต มค อ เร องของการ ใส ใจแนวค ดทฤษฏ และแนวทางการปฏ บ ต ให มากข น สาหร บการศ กษาคร งต อไปน กว จ ยควรน ากรอบแนวค ด ด งกล าวเพ อย นย นในเช งประจ กษ ในบร บทท แตกต าง การก าหนดและพ จารณาถ งข อด อยของประเทศในกล ม อาเซ ยนอ นจะส งผลกระทบต อความส าเร จ และจานวนของขนาดต วอย างเพ อย นย นในแนวค ด คาส าค ญ : องค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยน ความท าทาย การส งเสร ม และร ปแบบภาวะผ นาแห งการแลกเปล ยน Introduction With the development of the global economy, the expansion of international trade, improvements in means of transport, communications, increasing internationalization and globalization of the world economy, the number, and variety of contacts, trips of citizens caused by economic necessity had increased. Having raised living standards of different countries, the rise in leisure time and the need for the full restoration of the human factor in the economy had contributed to the growth of international travel for leisure. International tourism was seen as one of the major international economic activities, challenging and complex areas that had a significant impact on both the structure and the general situation in the world economy, and the economy of most countries and particular regions of the world. Tourism development had a stimulating effect on economic sectors such as transport, communications, trade, construction, agriculture, consumer goods, and was one of the most promising areas of economic restructuring (Timothy 2011, Dharmawan 2012, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2013). The Asian-Pacific region had been the fastest growing region in the world, but the flow of tourists here still was not as high as to Europe and America. It was expected that soon, some countries in the region came to the economic forefront simply due to increasing the number 76 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

3 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 of visiting tourists. Thus, in Asian countries, the Association of South-East Asian Nations was one of the most influential unions and had been for almost 50 years. Cooperation regarding tourism within the organization as mentioned earlier started immediately after its establishment in the late 1960s. This Asian area was very attractive for many tourists and the primary role in coordinating the tourist activity in the Southeast Asian region was given to the structures of ASEAN (ASEAN, n.d.). For instance, ASEAN Youth Organization as a newly born non-profit establishment played the coordinating role in the developing of tourism in the region of Southeast Asia as a central tenet of its mission. Set in Mid-August of 2015, it consisted of youth participants and volunteers from years old. Apart from ASEAN countries, the organization was present in Japan and Australia. The origin of establishment came from the ASEAN Community of 2011 online platform. ASEAN Youth Organization s mission was to encourage a sharp curiosity about ASEAN and each other (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015). First of all, this meant the creation of optimal conditions for the joint efforts of youth aged years to improve the competitiveness of this segment of the economy in the global tourism industry (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015). This paper will contribute the using of best available arsenal of proven international practice ways and means, or best practices, to achieve its goals. These goals might have included joint planning; financing; formation of investment strategy; education and training, as well as the implementation of agreed policies in international tourist organizations and promising international tourist markets. The modern tourism industry had been one of the largest sectors of the world economy. In the past three decades, the number of tourists in the world increased by almost four times, and income from tourism by more than 25 times. Tourism had been a highly profitable industry and its share in world GDP was 9% and 6% of the global exports (World Tourism Organization, 2014). In the past 50 years, the problem of the relation between tourism management theory and practice, with an eye towards maximum efficiency, had become an essential dynamic to understand. Any manager in the field of tourism management concerned with the effectiveness of their work was to strive to become a leader in understanding this dynamic. Therefore, it was evident that AYO as a newly formed organization had to anticipate a lot of challenges in promoting its regions tourism owing to the highly competitive tourism market. With the region as a less preferred tourist destination, ASEAN Youth Organization s first challenge was to convince tourists that they met the competition levels of other tourists destinations. Other challenges that that they had sufficient infrastructure for tourists to visit their region. Based on ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 77

4 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 the competitiveness of the tourism industry as found out from research (WTO, 2014), it was impossible for any marketers to attract tourists without competing at par or higher level than other competitor destinations. Based on the above information, therefore, the researcher identified that the genesis of cooperation between the ASEAN countries towards the development of the tourism industry was contingent to economic policy harmonization. The same applied to taxation harmonization, import of certain products and income, free movement of capital, and maximization of the benefits and experience of individual countries in addressing the range of issues of regional cooperation in this field (Okumus, Altinay, & Chathoth, 2010). This research therefore, could be used in further development of relationships between ASEAN countries and ASEAN Youth Organization to improve the brand image of ASEAN countries in the international arena. This was an important issue for each of the countries to individually and collectively consider. Research finding from Sarma (2014) informed that proper destination position which was the art of building and maintaining a destination s value was critical in winning tourists to one s destination. This research paper, therefore, sought to utilize empirical research methods in answering the question of potential challenges of the ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting tourism in ASEAN countries. Objective The purposes of this investigation to analyze the tourism sector of ASEAN countries, understand what challenges faced the ASEAN Youth Organization, and how ASEAN Youth Organization could best utilize strategy in executing their mission and overcoming challenges that faced them in their efforts of promoting ASEAN Tourism. Scope of research This examination of the challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting of ASEAN tourism growth towards 28 respondents included fifteen ASEAN Youth Leaders and stakeholders which covered ASEAN Countries and two non-asean Countries. They were: Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam (Non - ASEAN Countries: Japan and Australia). 78 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

5 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 Conceptual framework This research paper endeavored to discuss the conceptual framework of the research through the elaboration of the below figures. Figure 1 Conceptual framework At the organizational level, the role of AYO as stipulated in its mission and vision statements was clear for each of the participants. The organization chart made it possible for several youths from different regions to interact effectively and share information during meetings and discussions. However, at the individual level, leadership skills, and personal competencies as well as communication skills helped AYO towards achieving its objectives. These harmonious interactions at the individual and organizational levels enabled the organization to carry collectively out papers like the ASEAN Heritage tourist workshop, ASEAN trip, and awareness campaign. Consequently, these efforts ended up promoting and bringing global awareness of ASEAN tourism and therefore considerably built and promoted the ASEAN tourism market through practical strategies. From the above structural compilation, the researcher made hypothesis that ASEAN Youth Organization from an organizational structure and strategy perspective was well positioned to champion for tourist awareness through youth involvement. The only remaining question was whether the organization had enough contingent plans to overcome challenges that came with promoting tourism in the region. ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 79

6 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 The above conceptual framework was drawn from the transformational theory. According to the theory qualitative research reflected the researched area, whereas in cases when the area was not broadly studied, exploratory qualitative research was required (Taylor, 2008). The transformational theory emerged from the systems theory. Transformation, as the name suggests, involved long-run changes in structure which emanated from institutional change. This approach had been incorporated as it had of late gained credence in the tourism field. The underpinnings of this theory were grounded on the need for collective approaches to the tourism activities. Thus, governments, political groups, tourism segments, business people, etc. were all co-opted in the theory. The theory offered practical approaches to the destination dynamics, product transformations, logistics, etc. The primary focus of the theory included time concepts, spatial concepts, hierarchical levels, structural concepts (systems impacts and clustered networks) and finally the institutional concepts (Taylor, 2008). All in all, this model s primary role was to incorporate all the social dimensions of tourism. The role of ASEAN Youth Organization in tourism growth of ASEAN countries had been best explained by transformational leadership, a type of leadership styles that had inspired people to follow. This kind of leadership style when related to ASEAN Youth Organization and their mission best informed the concept of regional tourism promotion. Through the encouragement of the youth population to follow in local tourism, AYO did not only capture the attention of the youths in their regional but also of many other potential tourists across the age groups. Therefore, the transformational leadership of the organization could best help the organization to inspire populations and contribute to the rise of the regions tourism industry. Based on personal values, beliefs, and as a leader, not on the interchange between a senior and their subordinates (Northouse, 2007), although some of the world s economies had been heavily dependent on the development of international tourism since it was practically the only source of foreign exchange in most countries. The recognition of the increased role of tourism regarding GDP growth, job creation, poverty reduction, small business development, as well as enhancing economic growth, was reflected in the emergence of economic development strategies of tourism, both in developed and developing countries (Carbaugh, 2012). Transformational leadership had been characterized by the ability to implement significant changes. The leader of this type brought a change given the future development of the organization, its strategy, culture, production and applied technology. The transformational 80 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

7 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 leader sought to establish cooperation, give meaning to the work of subordinates and involve them in the change process. This research was based on documented research evidence that contained primary documents and secondary documents. Eye-witness accounts by ASEAN Youth Leaders as primary documents were studied and accounts to evaluate the ASEAN Youth Organization as secondary documents were meticulously studied alongside. Due to limited previous research, the current study touched mainly on the development of tourism in the ASEAN region. Both the types described above were instrumental in building the basis of the research. Transformation leadership and linear functional structure were decided as the best leadership and functional structures for propelling the organization towards achieving its goals and targets. Thus, the researcher opted for a functional linear structure to assist in the development and sustenance of manpower within ASEAN Youth Organization to promote ASEAN tourism. Literature review Transactional leadership style was the exchange relationship between leader and followers that aimed at satisfying their own self-interest (Burns, 1978), and Yukl (1998) also claimed that transactional leadership as a tool to stimulate followers by appealing to their self-interest. Bass (1985) argued that transactional leaders operate by recognizing what actions their followers must take to accomplish the desired outcome or performance, and then subsequently facilitating follower s actions. Transactional leadership style concentrated the exchange which happens between leader and followers, when the transaction occurs and needs of leader and follower were met it led to the successful performance (Bass, 2008). Accordingly, transactional leadership style is leader s behavior that aimed to exchange relationship between leader and followers to both satisfaction and need which lead to successful performance. According to Bass (1985) presented the determinants on transactional leadership style included contingent reward and management by exception, and Bass (2008) claimed that management by exception factors has been divided by active and passive management by exception (Bass, 2008). Besides, Shin (2013) claimed that the transactional leadership can be divided into three dimensions to consider included contingent reward, active management-by-exception, and passive management by exception (Shin, 2013). Logic did not drive businesses, but convinced people that acted in the relevant cultural and historical context. They were managed not by systems and technologies, but by the ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 81

8 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 individual, who went his/her way by using mental abilities, professional qualities, instincts, and emotions. There were numerous incredible military victories, powerful corporations, and strong professional associations, and it was all thanks to the farsightedness and leadership of a few people. The concept of leadership had a different meaning of a broad range of activities from government to guiding small groups. The mechanism of integration of group activities, when an individual coordinated and directed the activities of the group, had always been at the core of leadership. At all times, leaders had determined the policies of the state, had been involved in solving major scientific, technological, financial and other problems, and often became the arbiters of the fate of millions of people (Northouse, 2007). The basis of leadership constituted trust, authority, recognition of a high level of skill, and; a willingness to support the team in all endeavors, personal sympathy, and the desire to study and learn from the experiences. One of the main features of ASEAN region as a World Tourist Destination was that it consisted of newly industrialized countries and countries with low-income population, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines (1967), Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos (1997) and Cambodia (1998). Asian integration of centripetal forces was also strategically important. Effects such as our geographical position at the crossroads of world trade routes and the transition to the liberal model of a market economy, involved the inflow of foreign capital and export orientation of the economy restructured (Salvatore, 2007). The prospective directions and strategies of ASEAN in the tourism sphere were the promotion of ASEAN as attractive touristic destination; the enhancement of cooperation in tourism areas between member countries in order to increase their efficiency and competitiveness; significant decrease in requirements for tourism and travels among ASEAN participants; creation of an integrated network of enterprises involved in the tourism industry; and promotion of ASEAN as the only destination in the world travel market with the highest quality of services provided. Other prospective directions and strategies included mutual collaboration in human resources development within the market, formation, update and extension of tourism infrastructure and services; and ensuring favorable conditions for more intensive participation of government and private sectors in tourism development, interregional travels and creation of tourism infrastructure objects and services (ASEAN, n.d.). The tourism business had many examples of well-known non-profit organizations, apart from United Nations World Tourism Organization, World Travel and Tourism Council, World Scout Organization, World Conservation Union, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, John Soros 82 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

9 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 Foundation, UNESCO, among which there had been the following Geotourism Development Foundation, Passports With Purpose, travel2change, WAVES for Development International, etc. (Alcos, 2011). As for Asia-Pacific region, the list of NGOs included The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Guilin Tourism, The Pacific Asia Travel Association, ASEAN Tourism Association, Tourism Promotion Organization for Asian-Pacific Cities, The East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum, Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Tourism Charter), South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation and Global Tourism Economy Research Centre (UNWTO, n.d.). Non-profit tourism organizations protected the interests of consumers of tourism services, resolved problems between the tour companies, the state, and the end users. In a similar light, ASEAN Youth Organization was seen as a global non-governmental organization, established to concentrate on increasing cognizance about ASEAN region as a popular tourists destination and raising joint consideration and long-term interactions amongst the youth throughout all states and nations. It had to be mentioned that ASEAN Youth Organization, as an official establishment, offered an essential and vital prospect structure for youth involvement in organizing. Young leaders sensed a collective spirit concerning their work, their leadership abilities, also, a real sense of the effect they were able to make in their societies. Engagement in the organization process facilitated youth to formulate crucial social analysis as well as to increase their educational enthusiasm and ambitions (Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing, 2011). The organizational structure of ASEAN Youth Organization was due to its activities in ASEAN and non-asean member states, such as; individual needs and interests of participating in the work of adolescents and young people; specific conditions of implementing activities; the absence of coercion as the organization is the volunteer, etc. Figure 1 below showed that the organization consisted of five departments, namely Communication & Publication, Program Development, Network Development, Organization Development and International Relations, which were managed by the President with the help of the Vice President and the Secretary. Such a structure had been known as linear-functional, which meant more efficient use of manpower of all kinds, availability of opportunities for career development, better monitoring of the activities of each department and its executive, and a decrease in the use of material resources in functional areas (ASEAN Youth Organization, 2015). ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 83

10 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 Figure 2 - Organizational Structure of ASEAN Youth Organization (Asean Youth Organization, 2015) Research methodology Owing to the technical nature of this research paper and the need to get pragmatic and empirical results at the end of the research paper, the researcher proposed to utilize a mixed methodology of research. The research was decided to be majorly exploratory. According to Robson (2002), this type of investigation sought to find new insights as well as tried to assess a given phenomenon in a new light. Thus, the qualitative research data were utilized in the determination of the final deductions of the research as far as the challenges facing ASEAN Youth Organization in promoting tourism in their region were concerned. In that light, therefore, there were three phases of research distinguished. Firstly, it was determined to be an intensive review of documented research evidence based on two types of documents namely, primary documents and secondary documents. Primary documents referred to eye-witness accounts produced by ASEAN Youth Leaders who the researcher might need to study. On the other hand, secondary documents were documents provided by stakeholders who had eye-witness accounts to evaluate the ASEAN Youth Organization or had worked alongside them. Another secondary source was previous research works on the 84 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

11 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 field by other researchers. The researcher, however, acknowledged the fact that this was not easy to find since there was limited previous research on the effectiveness of AYO in promoting tourism. Nonetheless, the researcher intended to pay close attention to any previous research materials touching on the development of tourism in the ASEAN region. These types of research sources were instrumental in building the basis of the research and played a great role in the analysis of the empirical results of the other research methodologies. Secondly, the researcher decided to interview three target groups about the organization s success and contribution to the increase in tourism in the area. The target groups included the Individual Level 10 ASEAN youth leaders and Organizational Level 15 ASEAN Youth General Members as internal respondents, while, Officer of The Ministry of Tourism, Director of South East Asia Tourist Guide Association and ASEAN Secretariat Secretary General as the external respondents. Thirdly, the researchers related the outcomes from the first and second sections with the data that was taken from the World Tourism Organization, the ASEAN countries reports, regulations and other documents of ASEAN and other tourism organizations, the results of scientific studies of various scientists, experts, reference books and periodicals. The researcher applied common scientific and precise approaches to methodological knowledge. Methods of abstraction and analysis and synthesis were applied amongst common approaches. The combination of primary and secondary methods of information gathering provided the researcher with reliable, goal-oriented, quick and relatively cheap access to necessary data. Result The research paper was successfully conducted on 10 AYO leaders, 15 AYO general members, three stakeholders in the ASEAN tourism industry and a detailed review of reports and previous research on the development of tourism in the ASEAN region over the last three decades. A general analysis of the data collected from the research were reported here, but first and foremost, it was essential that the basic questions and response from the respondents used for the general analysis of research results were highlighted. The respondents were asked the below five questions of interests, how well was AYO positioned to promote tourism in the region, what was the role of AYO as a new tourist promotion body, had poor tourism management theory and practice been the main problem hampering success of the ASEAN tourism industry, had transformation leadership of help in AYO as far as ASEAN tourism promotion was concerned and was ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 85

12 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 functional linear structure of help for the organization to achieve its goals? To the above major questions of the research paper, a majority of the respondents agreed that AYO with proper execution of strategies was well positioned to steer tourism in the ASEAN region forward. Secondly, a majority of the respondents agreed that the best role for AYO was a youth-wing ASEAN tourism campaign organization by this, the researcher deduced that most of the respondents agreed that bringing in the youth vigor in tourism campaign was a great plan for attracting more and more tourists. On the third question, over fifty percent of the respondents agreed that poor tourism management theory and practice had been the baseline problem for stagnating tourism sales in the ASEAN region. On the other hand, almost forty percent of the respondents argued that the problem was more than just tourism management theory and practice been poor. Almost ten percent of the respondents argued that corruption and profligacy were also factors to consider in the study of the reasons for poor performance and development of the region s tourism industry. On the fourth and fifth main questions for analysis, the researcher found out that a great percentage of the respondents believed that transformational leadership and functional linear models were the best approaches for ASEAN Youth Organization to achieve goals and promote effectiveness. Conclusion The empirical research paper was well completed and offered some findings that were worth reporting about the evidence of previous research. The main purpose of the research paper was to understand what challenges faced the ASEAN Youth Organization, and how ASEAN Youth Organization could best utilize strategy in executing their mission and overcoming challenges that faced them in their efforts of promoting ASEAN Tourism. Based on the analysis of the data collected from the research, the general notion of the respondents for the interviews that ASEAN youth organization was a robust idea that could help in promoting the ASEAN tourism market. This was in concurrence with earlier consulted evidence of research that had pointed to the need for the ASEAN region to act jointly in efforts towards promoting the region s tourism capacity. The data analysis also provided results that most of the respondents and stakeholders interviewed believed that the region s poor tourism management theories and practices were a reason for stagnating tourism sales. Some other evident results were that 86 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

13 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 better form of leadership and functional structure helped AYO to achieve its goals and that prospects of AYO were bright with the development of online tourism platforms. Consequently, understanding the theories which related towards the current circumstances and applying the transactional leadership concept included respecting the idea of followers and encouraging towards members directly and indirectly can be enhanced the promoting the ASEAN Tourism Discussion One issue of concern worth bringing up in the discussion was the point of tourism management theory and practice as the central hindrance to tourism development in the ASEAN region. In light of the first research objective, the study focused on analyzing the tourism sector of ASEAN countries to understand what challenges faced the ASEAN Youth Organization in terms of promoting the region s tourism product. In concordance with literal evidence of research which had pointed out on the need for ASEAN tourism organizations and stakeholders to adapt to modern tourism management theories and best practices, the empirical research found out that poor tourism management theory and practices were among the major reasons for poor tourism performance in the region. Other reasons that the empirical research also found as contributing to poor tourism sales in the ASEAN region were corruption and profligacy among those in administrative positions. Also, the empirical research found out that ASEAN Youth Organization had to work on eliminating corrupt behaviors and profligacy within its administration to genuinely venture into promoting and campaigning for the region s tourism market development. The possibility of deliverance and the role of AYO as a newly formed organization was another challenge that the research analysis brought to understanding. According to the leaders, ordinary members and ASEAN tourism industry stakeholders interviewed the role of AYO as a newly formed body was an ASEAN tourism advocacy body with the duty of giving a youthful feeling to tourism experiences in the ASEAN region. Thus, this incentive corresponded effectively to the second research objective that examined how ASEAN Youth Organization could best utilize strategy in executing their mission and overcoming challenges that faced them in their efforts of promoting ASEAN Tourism. With a greater number of the global population being young, vigorous advertisement efforts tended to capture more than just the youths but even the middle aged population who had enough income to save for touring. This, therefore, confirmed ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 87

14 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 what literature review of the ASEAN tourism market had found to be missing, the youthful effect in tourism promotion. Apart from this, the organization leadership and functional structure was brought to scrutiny on the points of whether transformation leadership and linear functional structure were the best leadership and functional structures for propelling the organization towards achieving its goals and targets. As found out from the literature review of the ASEAN tourism industry field, the empirical results of the studies confirmed that transformational leadership was able to help the organization in achieving its goals and gaining volunteers. A functional linear structure apart from enhancing efficiency and execution of strategy was used to assist in the development and sustenance of manpower which was one of the assets that ASEAN Youth Organization direly needed in its efforts to promote ASEAN tourism globally. In a nutshell therefore, the research had found out that despite there been many challenges moving from structural to functional all the way that AYO faced in its course of promoting ASEAN tourism potential; the organization was well placed to overcome the various challenges as found out from research and even reached for more goals. With the development of the internet, AYO had the platform to easily reached wider populations from other spheres globally that were actually prospects for touring the region. This coupled with the facts that AYO had definite strategies towards attaining its goals informed that this newly formed youthful organization had the capacity to promote tourism in the ASEAN region to the global front. Further, from the findings it could be seen that this research contributed to the body of knowledge in the tourism sector. The potential of revenue formation from the tourist activities in the ASEAN region incorporated positive prospects, which eventually indicated the need for the effective promotion and administration of the tourism (Buhalis & Crotts, 2013). Hence, from the above research analysis the following was recommended the four main issues. Firstly, the administration programs of tourism had to be standardized in accordance with the international standards of tourism in order to ensure their integrity and effectiveness. Secondly, once standardized, the programs were intended to help enhance the extent of tourism services and promote tourism by means of attracting a large number of potential tourists to the ASEAN region (Borowiecki & Castiglione, 2014). Thirdly, the safe tourism practices that support the youth in incorporating the decision of tourism had to be implied, which eventually could attract a large number of youth tourists who tended to seek tourism opportunities (Schroeder & Pennington-Gray, 2015). Lastly, the structural change was required to be incorporated so that the tourism industry and 88 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth

15 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 management in the ASEAN region was able to hinder the aspects of corruption and poor administration (Cabiddu et al., 2013). Accordingly, the results of this research analysis, a majority of the respondents agreed that AYO with proper execution of strategies was well positioned to steer tourism in the ASEAN region forward. On the other hand, almost forty percent of the respondents argued that the problem was more than just tourism management theory and practice been poor. Almost ten percent of the respondents argued that corruption and profligacy were also factors to consider in the study of the reasons for poor performance and development of the region s tourism industry. Recommendation The current study incorporated the data acquired from the tourism professionals, which was analyzed in accordance with the extensive review of the literature and findings. The tourism industry and management enlightened in this paper was limited to the ASEAN region and hence, no contrast or comparison was incorporated with respect to the other regions of the world. The sample size used in the current study was relatively small and hence, cannot ensure consistency of the results over the tourism mechanism of the ASEAN region. Hence, the future research needed to incorporate the similar model of study but had to carry out the empirical research in order to enhance the validity by means of the empirical findings. Besides, future researches needed to address the other regions for tourism and determine the weaknesses in the ASEAN region with the contrasting effects. Last but not least, future researchers were asked to enhance the sample size in order to determine more detailed and enlightening views from the personnel of tourism industry. References Alcos, C. (2011). 50 Nonprofits Making a World of Difference. Retrieved 2 November 2011 from -difference/ [Accessed: 5 November 2015] ASEAN (n.d.). Overview. Retrieved from [Accessed: 5 November 2015] ASEAN (2011). ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan Retrieved from 20Plan% pdf [Accessed: 5 November 2015] ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 89

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17 วารสารว ทยาล ยด ส ตธาน ป ท 11 ฉบ บพ เศษ เด อนพฤษภาคม 2560 Northouse, P. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Okumus, F., Altinay, L. and Chathoth, P. K. (2010). Strategic Management for Hospitality and Tourism. London: Taylor & Francis. Sarma, K. M. (2015). Towards Positioning a Tourist Destination: A Study of North East India. ASEAN Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, vol. 2. Pp Accessed from Schroeder, A., & Pennington-Gray, L. (2015). The role of social media in international tourist s decision making. Journal of Travel Research, 54(5), Shin, Y. (2013). The relationship between leadership styles, organizational commitment, and organizational outcome in Oklahoma s volunteer fire departments (Order No ). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. ( ). Retrieved from Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2007). Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall Taylor, E. W. (2008). Transformative Learning Theory. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Pp Retrieved from [Accessed: 5 November 2015] Timothy, D. J. (2011). Cultural Heritage and Tourism. Bristol: Channel View Publications. UNWTO (n.d.). Regional Tourism and Tourism-related Organizations. Retrieved from [Accessed: 5 November 2015] World Tourism Organization (2014). UNWTO: Tourism Highlights 2014 Edition. Retrieved from [Accessed: 5 November 2015] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2013). Tourism S Contribution To Sustainable Development. Retrieved from Yukl, G. A Leadership in Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ความท าทายขององค กรเยาวชนอาเซ ยนในการส งเสร มการเจร ญเต บโตของการท องเท ยวอาเซ ยน 91

18 Dusit Thani College Journal Vol. Special May 2017 Wanamina Waehama, Master of Business Administration, International Business and Project Management, University Southern Queensland, Doctor of Business Administration, Management Information System, Victoria University Melbourne Australia, Lecturer Department of Business Administration and General Education, Dusit Thani College. 4 Chakrit Srisakun, Master of Business Administration, Management, Chiang Mai University, Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration, Management, Martin de Tours School of Management and Economics, Assumption University (Studying), Lecturer, Department of Business Administration and General Education, Dusit Thani College. 92 The Challenges of ASEAN Youth Organization in Promoting ASEAN Tourism Growth