A Study of Thai Tourists' Behavior and Satisfaction for the Development of Phanom Wan Stone Castle Tourism Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Abstract

This research consists purposes were 1. to examine the behavior of Thai tourists visiting Phanom Wan Stone Castle in Nakhon Ratchasima Province 2. to investigate the satisfaction of Thai tourists toward the tourism components of Phanom Wan Stone Castle in Nakhon Ratchasima Province and 3. to compare the differences in behavior and satisfaction regarding tourism development at Phanom Wan Stone Castle among tourists with different personal characteristics. This study employs a quantitative research methodology. The research instrument is a questionnaire, administered to a sample group of 400 Thai tourists visiting Phanom Wan Stone Castle, determined by Cochran (1977), by using a convenience sampling method by using a convenience sampling. The collected data are analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics for data interpretation and hypothesis testing. The findings indicate that 1) the majority of tourists travel to this site for educational purposes and relaxation. They traveled by personal car with family or relatives, and for most, this was their first visit to the attraction. Travel expenditures were reported to range between 2,001 and 4,000 THB, and the findings revealed that tourists learned about the Phanom Wan Stone Castle tourist attraction from the internet 2) The overall tourist satisfaction with the components of tourism at Phanom Wan Stone Castle in Nakhon Ratchasima Province was at a high level (x̅ = 4.06) and 3) Differences in personal characteristics influenced tourists’ behavior in visiting Phanom Wan Stone Castle in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Meanwhile, most personal characteristics did not significantly affect satisfaction with tourism development at the 0.05 statistical significance level, except for gender, age, and educational level, which were found to have an impact on satisfaction according to these personal characteristics