CREATING JOBS FOR THE COMMUNITY TOURISM TO DEVELOP THE LOCAL ECONOMY OF THE ANDAMAN REGION

Abstract

This research aimed to study 1) the ways to improve career development, add value, build credibility of careers in tourism management which develop grassroots economy in Andaman region, and 2) the satisfaction of tourists about careers which supports local tourism. A specific selection method, which includes in-depth interviews, was used to gather the qualitative data. The participants of this study were stakeholders in tourism management in Andaman region. There were nine groups of participants and three people in eachgroup. Those groups were local politicians, academicians, governors, community leaders, group leaders, business owners, students, tourists and other people. While questionnaires were used to gather quantitative data about the satisfaction of the tourists. The participants were selected from the population in Andaman region which were 402,017 people in Phuket, 267,491 people in Phang - Nga, 469,769 people in Krabi, 643,072 people in Trang and 190,399 people in Ranong. They were the sample of 348 people selected by Craigsie and Morgan's ready - made tables P=0.5. To avoid incomplete questionnaire responses, the researchers, therefore, added the participants up to 400 people each province. There was a total of 2,000 questionnaire responses, but it can be used only 1,987 questionnaire responses. The research instruments were distributed to three experts to check validity in the form of Items Objective Congruence Index (IOC). The results of this study showed that 1) guidelines for tourism management in Andaman region were to develop people, create careers, build accommodations for tourism services, develop connections, provide innovations, advertise and public relations. 2) an overall satisfaction of the tourists was in the highest level of (  = 4.24) When considering each aspect, it was found that the value added was the highest level (  = 4.38), followed by credibility building (  = 4.21), and career development (  = 4.13), respectively.