GUIDELINES FOR DEVOLOPMENT A MARKETING PROGRAM FOR PREMIUM TOURISM IN THAILAND FOR CHINESE TOURIST

Abstract

This research has as its objective the study of tourism behavior and life-style of premium Chinese tourists in order to analyze marketing mix factors determining the choice to travel Thailand and to analyze the premium travel programs offered by tour guides and tourism businesses in Bangkok to Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists to Thailand are used as samplings for the research. This research reflects an exploratory one by collecting data out of some 400 sets of on-line questionnaires farmed out by the researcher to Chinese tourists, and some 210 sets farmed out to various tour guides. The data so collected have been analyzed and explained in descriptive statistics, making use of t-test one-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation analysis, at the statistical significance level of 0.05, in order to test the co-efficient correlation among the variables used in the research, and pair-testing using the least-square difference (LSD) method.

From the research results, it has been found: 1.Chinese tourists holding different opinion as to premium-grade travel programs in Thailand with respect to the 8P’s marketing mix do not affect the premium-grade travel in Thailand with regard to all aspects of marketing mix. 2. Individual factors among diversified Chinese tourists bear no relation to travel behavior with regard to sex, age, marital status, education level, occupation, monthly earning of the Chinese tourists. 3.Life-style of Chinese tourists bears relation to the premium-grade travelling among Chinese tourists with respect to the marketing mix in that there exists 3 related aspects, namely, activities, interests and viewpoints. 4.Life-style of Chinese tourists bears relation to the premium-grade travelling among Chinese tourists with marketing mix with respect to modes of exercise, taking care of one’s own health and that having access to the media contributes to their decision to come to Thailand. 5.Different levels of earnings give rise to differing opinion with regard to physical environments, views held with regard to service providers. 6.Experience factors among tour guides resulting in different styles of discharging their duty do not affect the premium-grade travel program in Thailand with regard to all aspects of marketing mix.