Thai AirAsia, as an airline transporting over 20 million passengers annually, recognises that while it creates positive impacts by stimulating the country's tourism economy and distributing income to communities across all regions, it undeniably contributes to negative environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions from flights and waste left at community tourist sites.

These concerns led to the establishment of the "Journey D" project in 2017, which utilized the airline's expertise and knowledge to develop community tourism in a robust and sustainable manner. The project initially began with four communities: Pha Mee Community in Chiang Rai, Khok Muang Community in Buriram, Ko Klang Community in Krabi, and Phrom Lok Community in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Over the years, Thai AirAsia has grown alongside these communities, like family, sharing perspectives and knowledge, developing language and service skills, improving product development and presentation, implementing appropriate environmental management, and providing continuous training in various areas.

Following the challenging COVID-19 period, Journey D continues to move forward, adapting its project format to align with diverse community needs while expanding its scope of cooperation. The latest community to join the project is "Ban Mung Nuea Community" in Ban Mung Sub-district, Noen Maprang District, Phitsanulok Province. This community features numerous natural attractions, including the Pha Daeng hiking trail, the Ngon Tham Nong windmill mountain trail, 360-million-year-old limestone mountains, and a spectacular daily exodus of millions of bats that tourists can witness.

Creating Impressive Services, Adding Value to Communities

Thai AirAsia's approach to developing Journey D focuses on sharing its strengths to help communities adapt and implement effective practices. The airline excels in service delivery with over 20 years of experience serving Thai and international passengers. Combined with AirAsia Academy, Thai AirAsia has staff specialised in specific theoretical and practical training that can be effectively adapted for various businesses and entrepreneurs.

"Ban Mung Nuea Community" is located in Phitsanulok Province, which Thai AirAsia serves with direct flights. The community has ready tourism resources, and community members are aware of sustainable tourism development needs and share aligned goals. This makes development extension straightforward, with strong community acceptance and support.

"Thai AirAsia brought its Allstars employees to experience community life at Ban Mung Nuea through overnight stays, sharing perspectives on service excellence or 'Service Wonders' in an easily understood format. We conducted storytelling workshops highlighting community strengths and creating value and worth for tourist attractions and community products. Additionally, we incorporated Net Zero 2050 goals by supporting the community's low-carbon tourism activities to achieve targets together."

Partnering with 3 Allies: Sharing Strengths for Community Development

This year's Journey D project leverages Thai AirAsia's diverse network of partners. The airline and its partners conducted continuous site visits to "Ban Mung Nuea Community" during the second half of 2024 to survey the geography and gather community opinions before developing joint community development plans. Thai AirAsia received excellent support from three specialised partners who provided targeted lectures and workshops: Find Folk Company Limited, Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited, and Pun Promotion Company Limited. All entities share the common goal of sustainable community development through strong management foundations, ready to adapt to changing tourism lifestyles.

At Ban Mung Nuea Community, "Find Folk" shared knowledge and lessons learned about sustainable tourism from their diverse community work experience. "Ngern Tid Lor" conducted Financial Clinic workshops to promote good financial management networks, while "Pun Promotion" taught online content marketing techniques and social media promotion methods to generate community income.

United Forces for Sustainability

In AirAsia's view, sustainable tourism development succeeds through cooperation and integration, utilising each sector's strengths to allow communities to adapt appropriately while maintaining their identity across economic, social, and environmental aspects. "Ban Mung Nuea Community" in Phitsanulok is an excellent model community ready for further development based on growing experience and opportunities to welcome tourists.

The journey of "Ban Mung Nuea Community" in Phitsanulok and 12 other network communities in Journey D continues on the path of sustainable community tourism development, reinforcing that we're ready to help anyone fly and travel... sustainably.

Watch the Journey D project video in Ban Mung Nuea, Phitsanulok Province click