THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF SMALL HOTELS IN DIGITAL ECONOMY AGE IN THAILAND

Abstract

The objective of this research is to create a handbook for operating the small hotel business in the digital economy age based on the research and development approach consisting of the following steps: the first step is the analysis of problems; the second step is the designing of the handbook; the third step is the development of the handbook; the fourth step is the try-out and evaluation of the handbook; and the fifth step is the potential development using the workshop as a tool for the transferring the body of knowledge for potential development. The handbook for operating the small hotel business in the digital economy age entitled “Click to Future: Small Hotel Is not Too Difficult to Create if Having Smart People and Strong Marketing” was the core content for this particular workshop. The satisfaction assessment for workshop and in-depth interviews with small hotel entrepreneurs participating in the pilot project after attending the workshop and using the handbook for potential development of small hotel business was employed as the evaluation tools. Data were analyzed with content analysis of in-depth interview results which followed the concept of constructionism. The triangulation method was employed was to check the validity of the data and validity of data analyzers. The population comprised 50 purposively selected small hotel entrepreneurs. The results of research showed that the developed handbook of the small hotel business in the digital economy age entitled “Click to Future: Small Hotel Is not Too Difficult to Create if Having Smart People and Strong Marketing” contained the marketing strategies of small hotel business and the competency of small hotel entrepreneurs. It could be really used for potential development of the small hotel business in the digital economy age.