Development of the Burmese Temple Management System in Lampang Province towards Creative Tourism through Community Engagement Process

Abstract

The study on development of the Burmese temple management system in Lampang province towards creative tourism through community involvement aimed to achieve two objectives: 1) to analyses the art, culture and history of the community surrounding the Burmese temple in Mueang District, Lampang province, and 2) to develop a Burmese temple management system that promotes creative tourism through community participation. Qualitative research the population of research is divided into 5 groups from a group of people who are important in the field of worship, government agencies and the private sector involved, a sample of 40 people with questionnaires and interviews was applied through the active involvement of community members.               The research process consisted of the following steps:

1. Studying the needs and potential of the community.
2. Identifying the community’s unique characteristics and analyzing data using a SWOT Matrix to determine potential tourist activities.
3. Transferring and applying the knowledge gained.
4. Organizing authentic tourism with the active participation of the community.

         Quantitative research to evaluate the satisfaction of the community's tourism management system, a sample of 400 people using the simple random sampling method.

         The study revealed that the community surrounding the Burmese temple in Mueang District, Lampang Province. Is both ready and capable of managing and identifying tourist activities independently. The community demonstrated the ability to organize activities that serve as learning experiences for visitors while promoting environmental, social, and cultural sustainability.

          According to the results of a survey questionnaire, the community based tourism management was highly rated by tourists, with an overall score of ( = 4.29 ; S.D. = 0.63).          The specific components of the tourism management system were evaluated as follows: Natural resources: ( = 4.38, S.D. = 0.65), Organization: ( = 4.32, S.D. = 0.71), Management: ( = 4.26, S.D. = 0.67), Learning: (  = 4.20, S.D. = 0.75). These findings will be presented to the community to support ongoing efforts for sustainable tourism development.