Operational Strategies of the Service Businesses in Community-Based Tourism Attractions in Phayao Province

Abstract

This qualitative research had objectives to study the situation and analyze strategies of businesses’ operation in the service sector in community-based tourism attractions in Phayao province. The study duration was from February 2020 to March 2021. The data were collected from stakeholders who are involved in the development of community-based tourism, which consists of 36 informants selected by using the purposive sampling technique. The research tool was the guideline for in-depth interview and focus group discussion. The content analysis was used to investigate the results of the SWOT analysis. The findings found that (1) strengths, i.e., entrepreneurs’ experiences, businesses’ cooperation, and having the direction to drive businesses, (2) weaknesses, i.e., businesses’ potential to access the capital, the service standard, incomplete information, and ineffective management, (3) opportunities, i.e., technological advances, the distinctiveness of tourist attractions, readiness of infrastructure, supports by relevant agencies, and growth prospects of tourism industry, and (4) threats, i.e., high market competition, economic downturn, cyber threats, complicated operations of the government, social perception of CBT which is not in accordance with the actual context, the COVID-19 pandemic, and natural disasters. The next step was the strategy formulation divided into four types, including proactive, preventive, problem-solving, and reactive strategies.