Guidelines for the Management of Health Tourism According to the Perceptions and Behaviors of Stakeholders in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to analyze the components of health tourism, to assess the need for health tourism perceptions and behaviors and to search Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) in management and guidelines for promoting health tourism development. The sample group for quantitative data collection was 507 Thai tourists who had visited Ayutthaya Province. The main informants for qualitative data collection were experts in government agencies, the private sector, community leaders, academicians, entrepreneurs and 14 Thai tourists by purposive sampling. The results of the research showed that the variables, components, and indicators of perceptions and health tourism behaviors were harmoniously consistent with the empirical data, necessary needs concerning perceptions and behaviors of health tourism by prioritizing the needs of current and supposed needs using the improved Priority Needs Index method (PNI_modified), it was found that activities in tourist attractions were the most needed and searching for SWOT in the management and guidelines for promoting the development of health tourism, it was found that the strengths were attraction in tourist, as for the points that should be developed, there are 4 phases: access to tourist attractions activities in tourist attractions and tourism attraction management, as for opportunities: tourism attraction management, for threats were accessibility to tourist attractions and management of tourist attractions.