Driving Soft Power: Southern Local Identity to Promote Tourism in Chumphon Province
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Abstract
The research article consisted of the following objectives: 1) to investigate the driving of soft power with Southern local identity to promote tourism in Chumphon province; 2) to explore problems and obstacles in driving soft power of Southern local identity in order to promote tourism in Chumphon province; and 3) to study the guidelines for driving the soft power of local identity in order to promote tourism in Chumphon province. The study employed a qualitative research method. The key informants included 22 representatives from government sector, tourism association/ network, private sector, and public sector, who were chosen by purposive sampling. The tool used for data collection was semi-structured interview form. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive summary.
From the study, the following results are found: 1) The driving of soft power operates through the integration of joint missions, encouraging local people to recognize the importance of soft power and participate in the operations of tourism-promoting activities such as exhibiting and selling community products, arranging activities to promote local culture during festivals and various traditions, benefiting from local resources (e.g., food, art, culture, sport, local wisdom, and tourist attractions), raising awareness across different generations in order to preserve local culture, and encouraging locals and entrepreneurs to use social media as a tool for conveying local identity to the public; 2) Problems and obstacles in driving soft power include a lack of understanding in soft power by the government and public sectors, a lack of government support, a lack of integrated work, mission complication, people lacking cooperation, and the arrangement of activities aiming to promote only a few specific things; and 3) The guidelines for driving the soft power include building mechanisms to promote and increase awareness to outsiders, cultivating understanding and pride in local identity among people, and encouraging people to participate in propagating, preserving, and developing.
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