A Study of Environmental Factors for Cultural Tourism Management Based on Kamphaeng Thong Phatthana Community

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to study 1) the generality and management of community-based cultural tourism, and 2) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for cultural tourism development. The instruments for this qualitative research consisted of a tourism resources survey and in-depth interviews with 38 community leaders, members, and tourists. The results showed that the community lived in the traditional riverside lifestyle, surrounded by impressive temples, arts, fine arts, sculptures, architecture, and history. Moreover, the Artist’s house presented the arts and the performance of the Thai traditional puppet show, which directly impacted the community’s tourism. For community management, all community leaders and members followed the contingency model, emphasized roles, responsibilities, respect for privacy, and simplicity under the same belief in terms of aesthetics and local culture without aiming for profit. The results revealed that (1) the strengths were geographical features, history, pure art, and culture for the environmental factors for tourism management. (2) The weaknesses of this community tourism were the lack of good public relations, budget, and basic amenities such as ATMs or facilities for people with special needs. (3) The opportunities were that the community obtained tourism promotion from government agencies and received tourists' attention. (4) The threats were a lack of budget and high competition among communities nearby. Therefore, to promote sustainable cultural tourism, proper publicity and the community's unique product must be created to attract visitors and draw more income into the community.