The Development Process of Large-scale Hotel Clusters and Theirs Relationships between Urban Facilities and Tourist Attractions in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Kunlanun Sukpinij¹, Ota Shoichi²

¹Ph.D. candidate Kyoto Institute of Technology, JAPAN, kunlanun.su@gmail.com

²Assoc. Prof. Kyoto Institute of Technology, JAPAN, shoichi@kit.ac.jp

Abstract

This study aims to explain the formation process of large-scale hotel clusters and their transition of the relationship between urban facilities and tourist attractions, focusing on Chiang Mai City.  

In ancient times, Chiang Mai city was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom. Later, during the modernization period, it was included as a province in the northern region of Thailand. In 1921, the first hotel of Chiang Mai was built along with urban and tourism facilities development in accordance with leisure tourism trends of western countries. After that hotel played an important role in urban development and the creation of entertainment or leisure facilities. According to continuous urban growth and expansion for over 700 years, 40 ancient temples inside the city walls and hundreds more temples outside remained. However, it caused the announcements of a land-use masterplan to control new construction of large-scale and highrise buildings. It also directly affected large-scale hotels in the city, resulting in the end of new cluster development after it had been developed for almost 80 years.

Nevertheless, tourism and accommodation businesses were continually developed, packing into the city in the form of small-scale accommodation. At the present, there are 17,800 rooms of small-scale accommodations which is double in comparison to the number of large-scale hotel rooms. Those small accommodations were built among local residences that made the increasing urban density and transition of relationship among accommodations, urban facilities, and tourist attractions. So small accommodations and local residences had shared the urban facilities together. In addition, entertainment facilities were considered as tourist attractions for local general tourists.

Keywords: hotel, urban development, urban, tourist attraction, Chiang Mai, Thailand