Guidelines for quality tourism in Kanchanaburi Province after the COVID-19 situation

Abstract

This research project is supported by Mahidol University. This research aims to study the potential and guidelines for tourism development in Kanchanaburi Province after the COVID-19 situation. This research is qualitative research using purposive and snowball sampling, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observation from 20 government officials or local leaders, tourism scholars, tourism operators, and community scholars. The results of the study were as follows: 1) Kanchanaburi has all types of tourist attractions, which can be classified as 91 major tourist destinations. The target group is mostly Thai tourists (95 %). Due to the epidemic situation of COVID-19, the government has implemented strict control measures, causing the number of tourists to decrease. As the situation improves, it has been upgraded to a pilot province for tourism due to its large number of attractions, accommodation, facilities, activities, and accessibility — causing a steady increase in tourists. Despite the increase in tourist arrivals in recent years, tourism income has declined. Therefore, it is necessary to change the direction of tourism in the province to quality tourism. 2) Guidelines for tourism development of Kanchanaburi Province to have high potential after the COVID-19 situation consists of 1) developing areas in the special economic zone and surrounding areas; 2) developing environmentally friendly tourism based on creativity and innovation; 3) organising tourist attractions in accordance with relaxation measures;
4) upgrading the standards of tourism products and services to achieve the standard certification;
5) preparing personnel to support changes in tourism in the future; and 6) developing media and tourism programmes to suit the target group.