FACTORS AFFECTING THAI TOURISTS’ INTENTION TO TRAVEL: THE PHUKET CITY OF GASTRONOMY STUDY

Abstract

             The aim of this study was to investigate four key areas: 1) sustainable tourism behavior, 2) gastronomy affection, 3) the theory of planned behavior, and 4) factors influencing Thai tourists’ intentions to travel to a city of gastronomy. The research employed a quantitative methodology and was conducted in Phuket province. Convenience sampling was used to select a sample of 420 Thai tourists who had traveled to Phuket, and data were collected through a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistics, specifically regression analysis, to test the hypotheses.              The findings revealed that the majority of respondents were female (77.38%) and aged between 28–37 years (44.28%). The results indicated that Thai tourists:                        1) strongly agreed with sustainable tourism behavior (𝑥̅ = 4.23±0.582), 2) agreed with gastronomy affection (𝑥̅ = 3.82±0.635), 3) agreed with attitude (𝑥̅ = 4.04±0.746), subjective norm (𝑥̅ = 3.86±0.776), and perceived behavioral control (𝑥̅ = 3.70±0.924), and 4) sustainable tourism behavior did not significantly affect food tourism intention (p-value = 0.394). However, factors related to gastronomy affection, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were statistically significant (p-value < 0.05). Based on these findings, it is recommended that both the government and private sector should prioritize activities related to gastronomy affection and the theory of planned behavior to encourage Thai tourists to engage in gastronomy tourism in Phuket.