TOURIST SATISFACTION AND PROPOSITION ON ELEVATING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: KOH MAK, TRAT PROVINCE

Abstract

This Article aimed to study (1) surveying tourist satisfaction on Koh Mak following The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) standard (2) proposition on elevating sustainable tourism development in accordance with GSTC standard. This research is quantitative research which collected data by survey from 513 samples. Statistics used to analyze data by percentage, mean, standard deviation and hypothesis testing by t-test and ANOVA. The result of the study found that: the average of overall satisfaction of tourist is 3.88 (out of 5 rating scale). The highest satisfaction level is in local people dimension, tourist activities, accommodation, public vehicle, passenger ship, tour agency, restaurant, coastal tourist attraction (beaches and bays), cultural attraction, spa and Thai massage, overall safety, and goods and souvenir purchasing, respectively. There is a statistically significant difference in satisfaction between Thai and foreign tourists, which the same to age and satisfaction level at significance level of 0.01. In order to elevate sustainable tourism development according to The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), it was suggested that there should be development in 6 dimensions which are harmony of local people, readiness of tourist attraction and activity, preparedness of tour service, safety, price and public relation and ease of information access. These proposed development dimensions will increase both tourist satisfaction and local people satisfaction.