The Study of Cultural Tourism Potentiality: Case of the Songkhla Old Town, Songkhla Province

Abstract

The purposes of this study were 1) to evaluate Thai tourists’ satisfaction towards visiting the Songkhla old town, and 2) to analyze the potential factors of cultural tourismin the Songkhla old town, Songkhla Province. By the mixed method, quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied. Quantitative research consisted of four hundred Thai tourists selected by accidental sampling. Data on measures of Thai tourist satisfaction were collected by using the questionnaire analyzed by the statistical computer program to find the arithmetic means and standard
deviation. Qualitative research consisted of non-participant observation and in-depth interview techniques applied for SWOT analysis of the potential factors of cultural tourism in the Songkhla old town, Songkhla Province. The study found that, 1) overall, Thai tourists’ satisfaction towards visiting the Songkhla old town, Songkhla Province, was at a moderate level ( =3.34), and 2) the potential factors of cultural tourism in the Songkhla old town were found to have strengths in terms of location and being culturally diverse while the weak points were pricings of goods and
services that did not reflect their real cost; and found to have opportunity in trending in cultural tourism with government tourism promotion policies when the obstacle was economic slowdown.
Keywords: Cultural Tourism, Potentiality, Songkhla Old Town