BACKGROUND
Tourism remains a vital pillar of Thailand’s economy, with 2025 goals to increase revenue by 7.5% to 3.4 trillion baht and attract over 40 million international travelers. This growth opportunity drives destination development, investment, and job creation, particularly in secondary destinations that the government actively promotes.
While AI technologies offer transformative potential for personalized travel experiences and improved customer service, an adoption gap exists among smaller businesses and regions lacking technological infrastructure. The ‘AI Skills for AI-enabled Tourism Industry in Thailand’ program bridges this gap, ensuring AI benefits are accessible across the industry. This initiative aligns with Microsoft Thailand’s broader THAI Academy project, which aims to enhance AI skills for one million Thais within its first year.
This program helps entrepreneurs and young people use Generative AI in Thailand’s tourism industry, supporting inclusive economic growth and emerging tourism destinations. The initiative positions AI as both an operational efficiency tool and a catalyst for sustainable economic growth, emphasizing ethical implementation that preserves human judgment and creativity.
OBJECTIVES
The project achieves this vision by empowering TVET teachers to develop essential digital and AI competencies to advance student careers, while supporting SMEs in the tourism and hospitality sectors, thereby equipping them with AI skills to foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Our comprehensive approach combines self-paced learning, instructor-led training, collaborative hackathons, and evidence-based evaluation to create a scalable, replicable model for building AI capabilities within Thailand’s tourism ecosystem. The program’s specific objectives include:
- Curriculum Development: Develop an effective AI Skills for Tourism Industry module in Thai through collaboration with an advisory board of key government stakeholders, industry associations, and SME representatives, ensuring alignment with real market needs.
- Teacher Empowerment: Equip OVEC college teachers with comprehensive knowledge, capacity, and instructional resources to effectively deliver the AI Skills module and foster digital competencies among students.
- Implementation Support: Provide ongoing support to teachers for successful classroom implementation, ensuring effective knowledge transfer and student engagement
- Industry Application: Demonstrate practical AI applications in tourism and hospitality sectors, bridging theoretical learning with real-world business implementation.
- SME Partnership and Scale: Partner with government agencies to enhance tourism and hospitality SME business efficiency through the scaled deployment of the AI Skills learning module.
KEY ACTIVITIES
The ‘AI Skills for AI-enabled Tourism Industry in Thailand’ program employs a comprehensive approach to skill development, built on Kenan’s extensive experience in education innovation and capacity building. Key activities include:
- Train-the-Trainer Model: Over 800 vocational teachers trained as teachers (surpassing the 500 target), with ongoing technical support to ensure sustained implementation of the AI Skills module across OVEC colleges.
- Free Online AI Courses: Accessible online platforms delivering AI knowledge to entrepreneurs and the broader workforce.
- Generative AI Training and Hackathons: Training sessions and competitions for vocational students and SME tourism entrepreneurs, fostering innovative idea development and encouraging real-world application of AI solutions.
- Advisory Board: Representatives from agencies, including the Ministry of Labor, Digital Skill Development Academy, the Office of Vocational Education Commission, Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization), Thailand Professional Qualification Institute, The Office of SMEs Promotion, Digital Economy Promotion Agency, Marketing Association of Thailand, and United Nations Development Programme provide diverse perspectives and ensure program alignment with national priorities.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Assessment framework tracking program effectiveness through output indicators, surveys, and interviews, measuring knowledge and attitude-based outcomes.
