The Community–Based Tourism Management Effect on Tourists’ Perceptions and Expectations
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Abstract
This study investigated tourists’ behaviour, perceptions, and expectations of community–based tourism management. Online questionnaires were used to collect data from a random sample of 280 respondents who had experience with community–based tourism in all regions of Thailand. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse percentages, means, and standard deviations.
The research results showed that tourists’ perceptions (products, pricing, destination management, marketing, and service process) and expectations (service standard, essential service quality, and reliability) are high and play an important role in destination choice. The tourists’ behaviours were to immerse themselves in nature, local cuisine, tourist attractions, and cultural traditions in the central and northern regions 2–3 times per year and for 2–3 days per trip, followed by trips to their destinations in the east and northeast. The information they receive through social media continues to be an essential source. They tended to travel with friends or colleagues rather than family and relatives. Hotels and resorts near the community remain high on their priority list, related to their lodging reservation channels such as OTA. The most notable finding is that tourists’ views on community–based tourism are that tourism development can create attraction and trust among tourists and that training in public and private institutions is needed to achieve these goals.
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