Facebook parent Meta has joined forces with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to introduce "Rediscover Thailand", which features augmented reality (AR) experiences for the country's tourist attractions.
According to Meta, Thailand is one of the top 10 countries in terms of number of active Meta Spark AR creators.
"The metaverse is the next evolution of the internet, which could take shape over the next 5-10 years," said Simon Milner, vice-president for Asia-Pacific public policy at Meta.
"There are several technologies to form that foundation, including AR, virtual and mixed reality."
The Rediscover Thailand project aims to revitalise local tourism through cultural and natural experiences via AR, said TAT.
The project is a collaboration with the Creative Economy Agency, Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC), creative AR agency Holowisp, and Thailand's Meta Spark AR creators.
To experience the project, users can go to the @TourismThailand Instagram page and explore the "effects" tab.
People can also visit the Rediscover Thailand exhibition at TCDC for an immersive experience, and it is scheduled to be available at this month's Apec 2022 meeting at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
According to Meta, a recent study found 72% of the Thai population intended to go digital by the end of this year, while 74% of Thai respondents said they used at least one metaverse-related technology last year, such as AR, virtual reality or non-fungible tokens.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the country's reopening tallied 7.8 million tourists in the first 10 months of this year, compared with almost 40 million foreign arrivals in 2019.
Adopting new technologies will push Thailand towards "high-value and sustainable tourism, while stimulating demand and inspiring people to pursue meaningful travel in the future," he said.
Mr Yuthasak said the country has five key soft powers: food, film, fashion, Muay Thai and festivals.
He said the TAT plans to focus on four M's: music, museums, merit and the metaverse.
TAT is conducting a feasibility study to set up a subsidiary, which will be 40% owned by TAT, by 2023 for investment in travel tech startups.
Nithee Seeprae, deputy governor for digitisation and R&D at TAT, said the agency has a digital transformation roadmap that includes using technology to improve the tourism experience.
Technology can help Gens Z and Alpha explore a virtual tourism experience before travelling, he said. People can also share their experience with others through virtual technologies.
When the metaverse fully takes shape, full online commerce involving hotels and local communities can be integrated to drive tourism, said Mr Nithee.
TAT has a website -- virtualmart.tourismthailand.org -- to support business-to-business networking in the tourism industry.
This online channel can serve the business-to-customer model for the metaverse in the future, he said.
For 2023-2024, TAT is preparing digital infrastructure, including a tourism data catalogue, while for 2025 the goal is to develop blockchain, tokens and digital twin technologies in preparation for the metaverse, said Mr Nithee.
