GUIDELINES FOR PROMOTING THAILAND TOURISM FOR CHINESE TOURISTS IN THE CHONBURI PROVINCE

Abstract

          The objectives of this research article were: 1) to study the tourism situation in Thailand from Chinese tourists exploring Chonburi province as a case study and 2) to distill approaches to promote tourism. Samples are 205 Chinese tourists who have traveled in Chonburi province. The research method is a quantitative approach using a questionnaire. Secondary data as well as statistical methods, both Descriptive Statistics and Inference Statistics - Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Test of Chi - Square, are used in data analysis. The findings show that the trends regarding the situation of tourism from China and Thailand before the Covid - 19 pandemic were positive, as evidenced by the number of Chinese tourists. The main travelling pattern to Thailand of Chinese tourists is the group package tour. However, the Free Independent Traveler - FIT tourism is another pattern that is highly growing in the tourist market especially for younger age groups. There are concerns over security in case Chinese tourist visas are canceled which could lead to an increase in transnational crime in Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia. For Chonburi province, the challenges impacting tourism are traffic congestion, convenience and safety. Short - term recommendations are the promotion of safety and standardized tourism as well as providing more tourism information and business available online. In addition, business sectors should develop package tours that are suitable for free Independent travelers. In long - term, governmental sectors should enact and emphasize measures for attracting affluent tourists and improve public transport to cover less visited areas in line with prevention of transnational crime.