Factors of Psychological Characteristics and Tourist Destination Characteristics affect the Perception of Destination Image of Thailand: A Foreign Tourists Perspective

Abstract

This research set to study the effect the effect of psychological and functional factors on
perceived destination image of Thailand by investigating factors which influence tourists’ decision
to visit Thailand. By collecting data from foreign tourists, total was 1,531 sample. The findings show
that there are two factors which significantly influence the creation of destination image. The two
factors are psychological factor and functional factor. The psychological factor appears to be more
influential to the creation of destination image than the functional factor, significantly (p < 0.05).
the perceived destination image was predicted by these factors as 55.3% (R2)
The psychological factor is composed of 2 sub-factors, including knowledge and social
interaction and physical. The functional factor is composed of 6 sub-factors, namely transportations,
climate and atmosphere, natural, activities, infrastructures, and culture. All sub-factors are found
significantly influence the creation of perceived destination image.