Thai Culinary Tourism Management Model Using the Creative Economy Concept in the Water Shed Provinces of the Central Region

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to develop a Thai food tourism management
model using the creative economy concept in the river basin provinces of the Central
Region. This study was a qualitative research. Data were collected from a group of
experts and a group of practitioners by observation, interviews, focus group discussion,
and organizing workshops in Bangkok, Samut Songkhram, and Suphan Buri provinces as
representative provinces for the river basin provinces of the Central Region. Data were
analyzed with content analysis together with the use of the triangulation technique to
ensure validity and reliability of the data. Research findings revealed that tourism with
the use of food as a motive for taking a trip received high levels of interest from
tourists and could be developed as a new model of tourism, which can be called Thai
food tourism. The groups of Thai food tourists could be classified into the family and
children group, the elderly group, the group for study and learning, and other groups
such as the adolescents group and the working age people group. The activities that
can attract these various groups of tourists could be organized separately by the
community, private and state sectors or they could be jointly organized with
cooperation from all sectors. Tourism supporting enterprises such as hotels,
restaurants, and souvenir shops could directly and indirectly provide support for the
development of Thai food tourism at tourist attractions. For example, the restaurants
could use local raw materials in food preparation to show the local identity of the
food, or the hotels or guesthouses could disseminate information on local food
activities to their tourist guests or they could organize home stay tourist programs that
include the serving of local food. These activities and the development of various
products could be used as a part of creative economy concept to mobilize the existing
tourist attractions and resources and transform them into the new tourist attraction
model that can motivate the community economy and create the cultural identity of
the community and the nation in the future.