The Assessment Of Social Return On Investment Through The Perspective Of Behavioral Science: A Case Study Of Creative Tourism Activities Of The Esan-Lanna Community In Dok Kham Tai District, Phayao, Thailand

Abstract

The esan-lanna community located in phayao province in the upper northern region of thailand is a multi-cultural community that has received promotion and development from agencies in both the public and private sectors to become a community for tourism. This research study is one part of the promotion and development of the esan-lanna community with the objective to raise the level of the community from cultural tourism to creative tourism by the arrangement of creative tourism activities categorized into three types: 1) activities related to the faith and beliefs of the community, 2) activities related to music and art, and 3) activities related to food and beverages. The target group comprises stakeholders related to these activities divided into two groups: 1) the group of direct stakeholders that participated in the creative tourism activities and 2) the group of indirect stakeholders, which includes people that live within the community but did not participate in the creative tourism activities. After conducting the creative tourism activities, the researcher evaluated the social return on investment in order to measure the changes in three types of behavioral indicatiors: 1) perception of the economic value from creative tourism, 2) feasibility of the creative tourism activities and 3) entrepreneurial intentions.

The results indicate that 1) the group of direct stakeholders’ perception of the economic value significantly increased after conducting the creative tourism activities, 2) the group of direct stakeholders have the opinion that all three types of creative tourism have been  significantly feasible in the raising of the level of the community from cultural tourism to creative tourism, and 3) the group of direct stakeholders have significantly increased entrepreneurial intentions after conducting the creative tourism activities. Regarding the indirect stakeholder group, it was indicated that their perception of the economic value from creative tourism and intentions to become entrepreneurs did not change from their original opinons before the arranged activities. Thus, raising the level of the community from cultural tourism to creative tourism should provide opportunities for stakeholders to participate as much as possible in order to recognize the value and increase entrepreneurial intentions, which will affect the economic growth and development of the community.