Factors Affecting the Success of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) in Homestay Form

Abstract

Homestay is one of the government tourism policy for community to operate and promote the strength of a community and generate additional income. Not all communities are succeed. Thus, this study attempt to determine which factors affecting the success of homestay operating. The objectives of this article are to analyze the management of homestay, to identify the behavior of consumer, and to determine the factors affecting the success of homestay. The analysis is based on the theory of sustainable tourism management and uses the Homestay Standard Thailand Assessment Principles of the Department of Tourism as the frame of reference. The primary information was obtained by interviewing leaders and representatives of all 123 homestays that applied for the assessment and certification of the Homestay Standard Thailand in 2017–2018. The analysis is performed upon the results of descriptive statistics and mean analysis using t-test. The results show that the community-run homestay businesses in Thailand of 123 homestays mostly have been in operation for more than 3 years and they are located in 50 provinces with a total of 895 homestay units capable of accommodating 8,832 tourists per day. Thai tourists averagely 215,327 in number each year stay overnight at homestays, generating a total of 24,617,140 baht of local income. Most of them come in a group (5 or more persons) and their main travel objective is to get an understanding about the community way of life or to participate in the tourism/cultural activities/events organized in the community. As for foreign tourists, 51,947 in total number each year spend the overnight stay the certified homestays, generating 7,354,126 baht of local income. Most of them are traveling alone or with an acquaintance/family to learn about culture, traditions, ways of life, and wisdom. The success of homestay depend on: (1) the good homestay management and arrangement, apart from the homestay having been in this business for a long time, in terms of adequate accommodation units, the serving of local foods and dishes, a standard security system in place, friendliness of the host and his/her family members, and the availability of interesting organized tours, which have led to an increase in the number of lodgings in this community enterprise; (2) the arrangement of learning activities, performing arts and cultural shows, and story-telling through various interesting forms of presentation, which have attracted more tourists to visit the community; and (3) the reasonable price for tourism and homestay services, for example, an averagely 747 baht per person for one overnight stay, three meals, and attending the learning activities, considered worthwhile for tourists’ traveling to visit the community. The key factors contributing to the highly successful homestays are the more of accommodation units which means they have a good management in operations, the variety of tourist attractions, and the high number of tourists staying which means the popularity of that homestay. Keywords: Community Tourism, Homestay Standard Thailand, Community-Based Tourism, Homestay Management, Homestay Guests