Potential of Local Foods for Tourism Promotion through Local Food A Case Study of Trang Province Meuang Kon Chang Gin

Abstract

This research study is a qualitative research study. The purpose is to analyze the potentials of the local foods in Trang Province for promoting the culinary tourism in the province. There were nine main informants were including experts with knowledge and experiences about local foods from tourism business associations, provincial tourism promotion public organizations, and locally culinary entrepreneurs. The purposive sampling method was used. The potentials of the local foods were divided into five aspects. The findings were as follows. The first aspect was the accesses to the local foods. The foods could be accessed easily because there were various local foods and restaurants open almost 24 hours. The second aspect was the opportunities to attract tourists with the foods. There were many opportunities because the province had many original foods well known among tourists. The third aspect was the locally eating behaviors. The province’s eating behaviors were originated from the Chinese eating behaviors. An outstanding behavior was spending times at coffee shops in the morning. Therefore, the coffee shops were where the people gathered. The fourth aspect was the local ingredients. The ingredients were partially in the province, but the main ingredients were from other provinces or department stores because the demands were higher than the local supplies. The fifth aspect was the local identities. The local foods reflected the local identities including food enthusiasm, kindness and welcoming tables. Thus, the foods were carefully prepared.