Development Guidelines for the Agritourism Activities Case Study: Integrated Ago-Farm, Ko Yo Sub-district, Songkhla Province

Abstract

This research aims to: 1) study the potential of agritourism activities in integrated farming of Ko Yo Sub-district in Songkhla Province 2) study the guidelines for the development of agritourism model of Ko Yo Sub-district, Mueang District, Songkhla Province. The research comprised qualitative and quantitative methods. The tools included in-depth interviews with 5 main informants who were leaders in agritourism of new style integrated farming in Ko Yo. The questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 Agro-tourists. The qualitative data were analysed using descriptive analysis. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, such as mean and percentage. The results showed that most of agro-tourists traveling to Ko Yo Sub-district were female (55 %), aged from 25 to 34 (37.5%), being a student (34.4%), having income less than 10,000 baht (30.3%), and single (51.0%). Most of them visited Ko Yo for recreation (38.0%). The tourists chose Ko Yo Sub-district because of its reputation (30.5%) and unique identity of the tourist attraction (16.3%). Moreover, the tourists came to learn the concept of integrated farming and fishery lifestyle of the villagers at Songkhla Lake basin. In addition, the agro-tourists were able to participate in activities at the agricultural learning center according to their interests. These agritourism activities enhanced the economy in Koh Yo Sub-district and created value-added of its resources.