TOURISTS DECISIONS ON SELECTING RESORT SERVICES IN THONG PHA PHUMDISTRICT, KANCHANABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

The purposes of this study were: 1) to study the marketing mix factors influencing consumer decisions on selecting resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province,  2) to study the decisions of tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province, 3) to compare the decisions of tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province, in terms of their personal information, and 4) to find the relationship between marketing mix factors and the decisions of tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province. The sample group was 400 tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province. The research tool was a questionnaire. The statistics used included percentage, mean, t-test, f-test, One-way ANOVA, correlation, and multiple regression analysis.

The results revealed that most of the respondents were female, younger than 31 years old, single, with the educational level lower than a bachelor's degree, working in private companies and earning 15,000 Baht or lower. The overall picture of the opinions on the marketing mix factors and the decisions of the tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province was at a high level. The results of the hypothesis testing of personal differences in terms of age, occupation, and the level of education affected the decisions of the tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province. The overall picture of the opinions on the marketing mix factors correlated with the decisions of the tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province, at a high level in the same direction. The overall picture of the opinions of the marketing mix factors in terms of distribution channels, marketing promotion, personnel, service process, and physical appearance influenced the decisions of the tourists who came to use the resort services in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province, with the statistically significant level of 0.05. 

            From the study results, it was suggested that the administrative officers of the resort should pay attention to the location selection, create the resort in an environment that was in harmony with nature, create the place for tourists to have a chance to experience the nature, design a room with  comfortable atmosphere and healthy food for guests who could participate in cooking, specify a variety of prices suitable for the quality and services, provide adequate parking spaces and directions to travel to the accommodation, recruit enough personnel, train the personnel to be knowledgeable and able to provide the services and communicate with guests, maintain guest safety, impress guests, and make recommendations and advertise resort activities through social media regularly.