Strategic Plan for Integrated Sustainable Tourism Development in Lopburi Province, Thailand

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to 1) study the potential of sustainable integrated tourism development in Lopburi Province 2) plan a strategy for sustainable integrated tourism development in Lopburi Province This research used the mixed method with exploratory design, the main research was qualitative while the supporting was quantitative, using Participatory Action Research: PAR. The qualitative research instruments were community study checklists, tourism resource audit checklists and the structured in-depth interview and focus group form. The qualitative data were collected from 32 key informants belonging to public sector, private sector, people and tourists. The quantitative research instrument was the questionnaires, the data were collected from 400 respondents. The qualitative data were verified and analyzed with Triangulation and the content analysis while the statistics used to analyze the quantitative data were: percentage, mean and standard deviation. The research revealed that 1) Lopburi Province had the potentials of natural and cultural tourism resources, capacity to create various activities to raise awareness of conservation and mind development, community participation to develop tourism and capacity to manage sustainable tourism. 2) The strategic plan had the vision to brand Lopburi as one of the best destination in Asia, enhancing 4 brands with various positions: Brand No.1: Lopburi will be the best destination of arts and civilization of 4 eras and the world hub of meditation practice. Brand No.2: Lopburi will be the world food innopolis with various creative activity of festivals and events: food, music, sport and heath to develop local economy and to distribute income to people. Brand No.3: Lopburi will be the best destination of world natural tourism in Sub-Lanka Forest, the large forest in the central plain of Thailand, the largest sunflower plantation and Pasak Jonsit Dam. Brand No.4: Lopburi will be the multicultural destination: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and various ethnic groups, living together in peace.