Guidelines on Health Tourism Management for Middle Eastern Tourists in Phuket Province

Abstract

Abstract There are three objectives in this study, 1) to study the behaviour and needs of Middle Eastern tourists for health tourism, 2) to study elements of health tourism for Middle Eastern tourists, and 3) to study guidelines on health tourism management for Middle Eastern tourists. The sample in this study is 400 Middle Eastern tourists, and 10 government staff. The research tools used were questionnaires and interviews. The study found that the Middle Eastern tourists have high needs in health tourism which are as follows: 1) fair prices 2) embedding intensity 3) aromatherapy IP terminals 4) souvenirs for home, and 5) public transportation. Following the average analysis (t-test), it revealed that these aspects have a statistical difference of 0.05 between the sexes with regard to health tourism. Moreover, seven aspects that have a significant statistical difference at 0.05 were age, education, income, occupation, status, experience and nationality with regards to health tourism. According to the study, indicators which were claimed to assist in managing health tourism include; 1) variety of activities 2) Islam friendly accommodation 3) public transport 4) promotion of health tourism 5) access to prayer rooms 6) access to health tourism information, and 7) fair price of souvenirs. Furthermore, guidelines on health tourism management for Middle Eastern tourists in Phuket Province include; 1) Tourism Authority of Thailand and travel agency should be given more variety, especially the health based activities. 2) Sub-district administrative organization should have measures in place that harmonize with the Middle Eastern tourists’ needs. 3) Tourism Authority of Thailand should be studied in order to persuade Middle Eastern tourists to buy more souvenirs from the tourist attractions. 4) Thailand Government should be supported in arranging accommodation to be in line with Islamic principles. 5) Sub-district administrative organization have to arranged places for Middle Eastern tourists to praying particularly for ladies. 6) Thailand Government should inform the tourists from the Middle Eastern countries about activities involved in health tourism in Phuket. 7) Sub-district administrative organization should be executed in order to make all tourists feel safe, and also to protect them from being taken advantage of with regards to hiked prices.