Communication management for tourism promotion of Satun Municipality

Abstract

This research studies the planning of communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality, the operations of communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality, and the approaches to develop and improve communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality. There were 50 samples in 3 groups, chosen by purposive sampling, consisting of: Group 1) 8 administrators of Satun Municipality in charge of setting policies for public relations; Group 2) 7 managers of tourism destinations; and Group 3) 35 tourists. Qualitative research was conducted through in-depth interviews using an interview form. The results showed that there were seven aspects to the planning of communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality via social media. The public relations should be: (1) aggressive; (2) able to meet the needs of the public; (3) continuous; (4) easy to understand; (5) delivered via Facebook, Line, and Instagram; (6) accurate and constructive; and (7) cost efficient. As for operations of communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality, there were four steps: (1) study the situation and problems; (2) plan communications via social media; (3) design content that is clear, concise, meaningful, and easy to understand, with photos or graphics that are relevant and should be in the format of text messages, video clips, viral clips and infographics; (4) evaluate the impact with a view to improving the tourism experience. Lastly, the approaches to develop and improve communications management to promote tourism in Satun Municipality are the following. For message senders, personnel should undergo capacity development in the field of social media use in public relations to gain skills in using new media. For the messages, they should emphasize content, language, and formats such as infographics, and should be about the municipality’s past and present policies, projects, and plans. The media should be Facebook and Line. In terms of message receiver strategies, there should be efforts to build knowledge and understanding, and build a network of supporters. The public relations management strategy should comprise participation and cooperation of every sector, including community leaders, development volunteers, and public health volunteers.