The Economic Impacts of the Floods on Tourism Industry in Year 2011: A Case study of Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya

Abstract

For, the economic impacts of the floods on tourism industry, Bang Pa-in,Ayutthaya, the main objectives aim at exploring: 1) general information on tourism industry in Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya, 2) situations before and after catastrophic floods in year 2011 and its effects on the tourism industry in Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya. The research samples consisted of 30 establishments. The main tool used in this study was
questionnaires. Data used for analysis was through frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results are as follows: In general, almost all of businesses (about 70%) are single-owner type. The main
business type was a restaurant (53.3%). The main assets were lands and building, around 50 % of the total assets in the business. Average implementation period per a single owner was around six years or about 20%. Average number of workers in a firm was 10 people or about 23%
For the condition of the tourism industry before the floods in 2011, based on the questionnaires, it was found that the majority of the entrepreneurs prepared themselves before the floods (60.0 percent). The establishments received related information from medias before the floods (76.7 percent). The main prevention before the floods was by temporary cessation of the establishments (83.3 percent). The floods in 2011 were caused mainly by the geography (53.3 percent). Expenses for protection and maintenance of floods were from other costs e.g. primarily requirements ( 80 percent). There was receiving floods warning before floods (96.7 percent). The government has not been well-prepared to prevent the floods of 2011 (96.7 percent). Before the floods, the major groups in tourism business did not acquire any support (90 percent). In addition, most of the entrepreneurs in the area were not satisfied with the solution and the assistance from thegovernment before the flood in 2011 (93.3 percent). The main water management in the area was by controlling the flow of water before the flood in the year 2011 (83.3 percent). For the condition after the flood in 2011, based on the questionnaires, it was found that the majority of the tourism entrepreneurs were improved to be self-sustain after the flood (93.3 percent). There was the impact on revenues to the tourism entrepreneurs after the floods in 2011 (90.0 percent). After the flood in 2011, there were temporarily operation stoppage of entrepreneurs (90 percent). The period affected by floods in 2011 was around three months (80 percent).The main protection plan for businesses after the flood was to improving of the sites’ conditions to be able to handle floods (56.7 percent). 73.3% of entrepreneurs have not yet received any financial aids from the government. For the level of the impacts of the floods in 2001 on the tourism industry, it was found that, by average, most entrepreneurs indicated the impacts in the high level (X=4.00and SD = 0.59). It was also found that the highest level of impacts was not directly related to the business. The impacts on the products, services and cost