PUBLIC DIPLOMACY THROUGH TOURISM: COMPARING THE TOURISM STRATEGY BETWEEN INDONESIA AND THAILAND IN 2015-2017

Abstract

In the current rising globalization era of 21st century, tourism has become one of the industries that have been utilized to promote the nation image of many countries, and it also has a large economic contribution. Additionally, tourism has helped many countries in meeting its national interests. Tourism contributes to promote a country’s nation image by creating promotions in foreign countries, coordinating with governments of other countries, as well as establishing policies and strategies that may benefit potential tourists. There is a certain relation of tourism industry along with a country’s public diplomacy, with the management of governments. Thailand and Indonesia have been notably known as popular tourist destinations in the world, the governments of both countries have established policies and several set of strategies to support the implementation of their tourism industry. Those set of policies and strategies are aimed in hope to appeal the foreign public eyes and attract investors that help in enhancing the nation image of Thailand and Indonesia. This thesis will examine and analyze the development, policies, and strategies used for tourism in Indonesia and Thailand from 2015 to 2017. The methods that are used are descriptive research and comparative, by using government publications, related organizations publications, books, journals, and newspapers articles as the sources. The framework analysis is divided into three sections: the description of the overall tourism development of Indonesia and Thailand, the description and comparison of the policies related to tourism of both countries, and also comparing the overall strategies of both countries. This thesis will analyze and compare the set of tourism strategy of Thailand and Indonesia as part of the public diplomacy of the governments, along with its relation to nation brand within the period of 2015-2017.