External Influence Factors Affecting the Personal Psychology of Middle and Low-income Chinese Tourists Traveling to Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to compare external factors affecting the personal psychology of second and third-tier Chinese tourists, who had middle and low income respectively, visited Thailand. It was both quantitative and qualitative research with 1) 500 second and third-tier Chinese tourists visited Thailand to fill in 0.67-1.00 validity and 0.894 reliability questionnaire by accidental sampling and 2) 15 related parties which were 5 tour guides and tour companies for Chinese tourists in Thailand, 1 Thailand Tourism Authority of Thailand officer, the Chair of Thai Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of Thailand, 1 Chair of Provincial Chamber of Commerce, 3 hotel presidents, 2 souvenir shop owners, and 2 restaurant owners to give an in-depth interview by purposive sampling. Then, the data from the interview and related documents were analyzed with content analysis and systematic synthesis, and the data from the questionnaire was analyzed with statistical packages for frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, and chi-square test, T-test, and multiple regression to test the difference between the mean values of the 2 sample groups.

The findings indicated that the tourists visited Thailand because of its interesting attractions and reasonable prices. Respectively, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Krabi were their popular destinations. For the second-tier tourists, beautiful attractions, reasonable prices, various kinds of international food with acceptable standards, and freedom to travel were important external factors to visit Thailand. However, the third-tier tourists paid attention to valued-money tours, local participative activities, Thai friendliness, interesting cultures and traditions, and freedom to travel. The statistical significance of the external factors of the 2 sample groups was different at 0.05.