Evaluation of the Identity Potential for Buddhist Tourism Festivals in Phitsanulok Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the conditions and needs for participation; 2) to analyze the components; and 3) to evaluate the appropriateness and consistency of the development of the identity activity model of the Buddhist tourism festivals in Phitsanulok Province. A mixed-method research method was used, with in-depth interviews with 23 key informants, potential analysis using TOWS-Matrix, and assessment and confirmation of the consistency of the potential issues obtained using a questionnaire to confirm the data, and focus group discussions with 10 people in the prototype area obtained from the evaluation results. The research results found that 1) the Buddhist tourism festival had a management system in 4 aspects: area, management, activities, and community organization, and there was a need for participation based on the potential of the festival in another 6 dimensions: tradition, food, popularity, entertainment, family, and network, which can be used to develop and enhance the potential of the prototype area; 2) the important components of potential analyzed from the basic dimensions of the festival potential consisted of 57 strategies, divided into 18 economic strategies, 20 socio-cultural strategies, and 19 tourism identity strategies; 3) the assessment of the potential and consistency in each dimension found that the overall needs in all aspects were at a high level ( = 2.31, S.D. = 0.11) and all aspects were consistent (IOC = 0.78). Of the 6 dimensions studied, it was found that the local traditions dimension was the first to be needed ( = 2.75, S.D. = 0.23). The Thai Yuan Samo Khae community was found to be the most suitable model area ( = 20.67). From the focus group discussions in the model area, it was found that important components that were appropriate for actual implementation must include supporting strategies, namely, Buddhist principles integrated in line with identity activities, including using Chanda in area development, Viriya in management, and Citta in activities and Vimangsa in community organization.