Development of Community Potential in Service Management to Support New Normal Tourists: A Case Study of Walking Street of Khemarat Community, Ubon Ratchathani Province

Abstract

The work used a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research. The
objectives were to study problems and community potential and to investigate the
recommendation on the community potential in the service management to accommodate
the tourists. The tools used for gathering data consisted of a questionnaire and an interview
form. The quantitative data were analyzed to find percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
The hypothesis was tested with t-test and F-test at the significance level 0.05. The qualitative
data from key informant were analyzed by means of a content analysis.The research findings
were as follows.
On conditions and problems of the walking street of Khemarat, there were not many
tourists from other provinces due to the pandemic crisis of COVID-19 and new cases were
still found in the country. The entrepreneurs had no knowledge and understandings about
applying the standard of Safety and Health Administration (SHA) . Concerning physical
condition, there was no rest area in the walking street and the public toilets were
insufficient. As regards community potential in service management, the walking street of
Khemarat was well prepared in terms of tourist attractions, tourism activities, and
accessibility. As for preparedness in hospitality according to the standard of SHA, the priority
was given to the screening points at the entrances and exits, medical masks and latex gloves
use of the sellers in the area. For the hypothesis test, the subjects’ opinions
were significantly different at level 0.05. it was recommended that understandings among
the entrepreneur on the standard of SHA, foreign language training for the personnel
concerned, development of amenities, and development of connected tourism sites should
be promoted.