A Comparative analysis of international and domestic tourists' perceptions of community-based tourism: the case of Pai, Thailand
type: CreativeWork
description: Community Based Tourism (CBT) emerged during the 1980s as a result of the increasing need to define and implement ways of addressing the challenges of tourism development in the destination through a ‘community approach’. It has since become a popular approach to tourism development that seeks to address the negative environmental and social impacts derived from such development whilst adopting the principles of sustainable development. Unsurprisingly, given its focus on benefiting and engaging local destination communities within tourism development, CBT has also attracted a significant degree of academic attention. However, such attention has been concerned primarily with the planning and management of CBT from a ‘supply’ perspective; conversely, a gap in the literature exists in regards to considering CBT as a tourism product in general, and from the perspectives and experiences of tourists in particular. In other words, limited attention has been paid to the demand for CBT as a tourism ‘product’. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address this gap by developing an understanding of CBT from not only the perspective of the supply side but also from the perspective of the consumer, more specifically, both international and domestic tourists. Consequently, Pai, a well-known destination in Thailand for both international and domestic tourists was selected as a case study. Given the focus of this study on seeking to identify and appraise the perceptions and experiences of tourists consuming the CBT product, in-depth interviews were conducted to obtain rich and detailed data, the samples comprising 25 domestic and 25 international tourists. In addition, interviews were undertaken with the supply-side stakeholders, including three representatives of the local public sector administration and eight private sector respondents, including entrepreneurs and members of the local community, in order to understand the current situation with regards to CBT development in…
abstract: Community Based Tourism (CBT) emerged during the 1980s as a result of the increasing need to define and implement ways of addressing the challenges of tourism development in the destination through a ‘community approach’. It has since become a popular approach to tourism development that seeks to address the negative environmental and social impacts derived from such development whilst adopting the principles of sustainable development. Unsurprisingly, given its focus on benefiting and engaging local destination communities within tourism development, CBT has also attracted a significant degree of academic attention. However, such attention has been concerned primarily with the planning and management of CBT from a ‘supply’ perspective; conversely, a gap in the literature exists in regards to considering CBT as a tourism product in general, and from the perspectives and experiences of tourists in particular. In other words, limited attention has been paid to the demand for CBT as a tourism ‘product’. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address this gap by developing an understanding of CBT from not only the perspective of the supply side but also from the perspective of the consumer, more specifically, both international and domestic tourists. Consequently, Pai, a well-known destination in Thailand for both international and domestic tourists was selected as a case study. Given the focus of this study on seeking to identify and appraise the perceptions and experiences of tourists consuming the CBT product, in-depth interviews were conducted to obtain rich and detailed data, the samples comprising 25 domestic and 25 international tourists. In addition, interviews were undertaken with the supply-side stakeholders, including three representatives of the local public sector administration and eight private sector respondents, including entrepreneurs and members of the local community, in order to understand the current situation with regards to CBT development in…
author: Pookaiyaudom, Gulapish
language: en
date published: 2012-09
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:35:38Z
provider: University of Central Lancashire
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Central Lancashire