Tourism Potential Development to Increase Tourism Value from the Ethnic Identity of U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province

Abstract

This study of tourism potential development to increase tourism value from the ethnic identity of U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province aimed to 1) collect the data of tourism in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province, 2) study the factors that affect tourists’ attraction to travel in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province, and 3) develop the tourism potential of U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province to create a seasonality calendar. The sample group for an in-depth interview are the participants or people related to each tourism area. There are four groups of the population: 1) Government sector consisting of 50 tourism officers at both provincial and district levels. 2) Private sector consisting of 10 purposive samplings from entrepreneurs of accommodations, restaurants, souvenir shops, bus agencies, and tourism companies. 3) A hundred purposive samplings from the local people who live in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province, and 4) A hundred accidental samplings from Thai tourists who are traveling in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province. The instruments are a semi-structured interview, an observation form, an observation method form, and the questionnaires. The data was analyzed by descriptive analysis and basic statistics including percentage, mean, and standard deviation. This study reveals that: 1) The data of tourism in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province, consists of five ethnic groups which are Thai Song Dum, Thai Phuen, Lao Vieng, Lao Khrang, and Thai-Chinese. In the area of each ethnic group, there are a number of attractions which are divided into historical tourism, cultural tourism, and natural resource tourism. 2) The factors affecting tourists’ attraction to travel in the U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province consist of three aspects: 1) Attraction comprising natural resources, history and archeology, and cultures and traditions, 2) Facilities including accommodations, hotels, homestays, and restaurants, and 3) Accessibilities found to be easy and convenient for tourists’ access to the tourist attractions. 3) The potential of tourism management in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province consists of six aspects: 1) In terms of tourism resources, there are improvement in tourist attractions to attract the tourists. 2) Accessibility to tourist attractions are provided with various convenient transportation routes. 3) The facilities are well-prepared. For security, there are sufficient security guards positioned at different attractions. 5) In terms of service area capacity, there are a variety of restaurants for tourists to choose based on their interest, and 6) For community participation, the community participates in working with tourist attractions on public relations. 4) The potential of current tourism management in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province in overall aspects shows that the opinion of tourism service providers, as well as government sectors, private sectors, and local people, on the potential of the existing tourism management of U-Thong District in general is at a high level. The highest average is the potential of tourism resource operations. The second below is the access to tourist attractions, and the least is safety. 5) The appropriateness of a seasonality calendar for travel in U-Thong District, Suphan Buri Province was overall at the highest level.