The Development of Local Food Styles on Creative Tourism Routes to be a Leading City for Wellness and Leisure in the Tourism Development Zone of Muang District, Songkhla Province

Abstract

The objectives of this study were 1) to study the development of local food styles and creative tourism routes to be a leading city for wellness and leisure in the Tourism Development Zone of Muang District, Songkhla Province, and 2) to study the obstacles to local food development and tourism routes in the aforementioned area. The sample groups for this mixed research totaled 116 people from various groups including 10 entrepreneurs and 6 officers from various government agencies comprising the Provincial Industry, the Municipality, the Provincial Developer, the Provincial Administrative Organization, and the Songkhla Provincial Tourism, as well as 100 people comprising groups of tourists and people living in the area. The data collection tools included a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to find percentages, while data analysis was carried out from information gained during in-depth interviews. However, the findings revealed that tourists' demands for the development of local food included unique flavors, cleanliness, and hygienic conditions, as well as suitable prices in relation to quality. Also, they preferred to be welcomed by the shops, needed the shops to be more famous, and wanted to enjoy cooking demonstrations. Moreover, the main problems and obstacles were that most entrepreneurs lacked marketing knowledge and entrepreneurial experience, choosing to implement reactive rather than proactive business operations. Thus, support for empowerment from government agencies was necessary. In addition, there was a lack of funding for such investment, as well as increases in the prices of raw materials and problems with distribution channels that have not yet met the needs of current tourism.