| Abstract | The purpose of this study were to: 1) study the characteristics and behavior of international tourists who visited Koh Trong and Koh Pdao, 2) investigate the potentiality of tourism resources for the development of creative tourism activities, 3) compare the significantly interesting levels of international tourists, and 4) suggest guidelines for the development of creative tourism activities in Koh Trong and Koh Pdao.
The research data were collected by the use of questionnaires, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews. The questionnaires included 384 responses by international tourists who visited Kratie Province between 26 March 2014 and 30 June 2014. The quantitative data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences and presented in terms of frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. An inferential statistic t-test and One-Way ANOVA were used to test the research hypothesis whether international tourists with different demographics had significantly different levels of interest towards new creative tourism activities in Koh Trong and Koh Pdoa community. The focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to conduct the situation analysis (SWOT analysis) to present TOWS Matrix, strategies, policies, optional policies, and projects as guidelines for creative tourism activities development.
The results of the study found that: (1) Most of the international tourists who visited Kraties Province for holidays were first-time visitors, traveled by bus with their friends, and stayed at home-stays. The international tourists had high satisfaction with five activities and high interest in six new tourism activities; (2) Kratie Province is an eco-tourism destination rich in cultural and natural heritage, and includes the Mekong River, Irrawaddy dolphins, attractive landscape and sunsets, beaches, farmland, and interesting examples of architecture, traditional houses, local festivals, traditional weddings, ways of life, local food, beliefs, wood-carving skills, traditional medicine, and floating villages; (3) international tourists of different genders had different interest levels in new creative tourism activities at a statistically significant level of 0.05, while those of different ages, nationalities, occupations, incomes, and educational levels had different interest levels at a statistically significant level of 0.05 in participation in traditional ceremonies, souvenir-making, pottery-making, learning to plant pomelo trees, learning about Irrawaddy dolphin behavior and habitat, staying on a floating home-stay, learning to make bamboo fishing equipment, and teaching English in the community. The researcher made five suggestions for the future: 1) introduction of new creative tourism activities, 2) development of marketing and public relations, 3) improvement of the community’s capacity building, and 4) improvement of the community’s amenities, and 5) an optional policy that included product and other creative tourism activities innovation.
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