Homestay Development Through Management Innovation for Sustainability: Ban Pang Makham Pom, Chiang Rai Province

Abstract

This research project aims to study the community context, current situation, and readiness for homestay development of Ban Pang Makham Pom village through management innovation for sustainability. This research is conducted as a Participatory Action Research (PAR). The research instruments used for data collection include group discussion, questionnaires, observation form, and joint learning activities. The research target group consists of the president of sub-district administration organization, village head and deputy, homestay owners, Ban Pang Makham Pom school teachers, young adults, and related officers, with a total of 201 participants. Qualitative data is analyzed using content analysis techniques. The study shows that Pang Makham Pom village can be developed as natural conservative tourism spots. There are scenic viewpoints. Houses have sufficient provision of bed wares to accommodate guests. Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT Analysis) was conducted. The Strengths include tourist attraction spots with natural abundance, interesting way of life. The Weaknesses are lack of systematic management and lack of public relations. For the Opportunities, it is important to use new technology and the current trend on health care and well-being. The Threats refer to the inconvenience of transportation to the village. Therefore, the strategies were derived by TOWS framework to create competitive advantages and mitigate the weaknesses utilizing homestay management innovation which will lead to the change for sustainable management. These strategies include 1) Adding value and worth to community products 2) Developing people to support internal group management, and 3) Establishing effective communication. The six development guidelines are suggested: 1) Management with transparency and fairness. 2) Distribution of tourism service workloads to avoid redundancy. 3) Creation of unique tourism activities. 4) Promote the activities for young adults to utilize their free time, to learn and participate in the conservation of local tradition. 5) Create awareness for the stakeholders on the benefit and value of forest and 6) Active communication by directly providing information and news to tourists. These activities will satisfy people within the community as well as the participation with the homestay activities.