DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT FOR SENIOR TOURISTS IN THAILAND'S RIVIERA HOTELS

Abstract

This research aims to 1) study the development guidelines of facilities management for senior tourists in Thailand Riviera hotels (also known as Thailand Western Seaboard Tourism Development Regions Hotels) , which are located in the provinces of Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, and Ranong respectively. The result of study could be a guideline for hotel in order to provide an appropriate facility management for senior tourists. The research methodology used here is quantitative. 400 senior tourists, both Thais and foreigners, who had previously stayed in the Thailand Riviera regions and were 60 years of age and above, made up the sample group. A five - points Likert scale was used as the research instrument. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis. According to the general data collected, the majority respondents were senior female tourists, between the ages of 65 - 69, with a bachelor’s degree, married status, originating from a European country, and monthly incomes ranging between 55,001 - 65,000Thai baht. The research findings, in accordance with the objectives, reveals that the following crucial elements must be taken into consideration when developing guidelines for facility management for senior tourists in the study area of: 1) Service quality component, 2) Universal Design component and 3) Thailand Hotel and resort standards components. This is to enable hotel entrepreneurs, hotel front line employees, government and relevant departments to use these guidelines for facility management within hotel in order to serve senior tourists properly.