Factors affecting the sustainable development of cultural tourist sites

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the level of community context, potential of the community members, community participation, potential of the tourist attractions, and sustainable development of cultural tourist sites; and 2) to study the factors affecting the sustainable development of cultural tourist sites using quantitative research. The sample group consisted of 400 people living in the tourist areas around the island of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. The data was collected from the questionnaires and was analyzed with the structural equation model. The research results revealed that 1) community context, potential of the community members, community participation, potential of the tourist attractions, and sustainable development of cultural tourist sites were at the moderate level, and 2) the potential of the tourist sites had the most direct influence on the sustainable development of cultural tourist sites followed by the potential of the community members. Meanwhile, the community context and the community participation indirectly influenced the sustainable development of cultural tourist sites. The research results could be used by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Ayutthaya Province as the guidelines for sustainably promoting cultural historical tourist sites causing important tourist attractions to be preserved, maintained and prevented from being deteriorated. Moreover, the local community has benefited from the economy and the quality of life. The tourists also gained valuable experiences from what they see.