A Study of Development of Strategies and Guidelines for Creative Health Tourism Operations in Health Region No 2

Abstract

This research employed an action research approach with the objectives to analyze tourism
strategy content, study health tourism activities that can be developed into creative tourism,
develop strategies and operational guidelines for creative health tourism, and evaluate the developed
strategies and operational guidelines for creative health tourism in Health Region 2. The research samples
were divided into four groups: (1) 5 medical and public health personnel, (2) 5 representatives from
the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Health Region 2, (3) 10 representatives from tourism
entrepreneurs, and (4) 403 tourists. The research instruments consisted of document analysis forms,
focus group discussion guides, questionnaires, in-depth interview guides, and quantitative data
analysis using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
Qualitative data were analyzed through classification and grouping of data. The research findings
revealed that (1) tourism-related agencies have developed strategic plans to support the growth of
health tourism in Thailand, such as the National Tourism Development Plan, Edition 3 (2023–2027)
and the Tourism Service Development Plan (2023–2027), among others; (2) provinces in Health
Region 2 have health tourism activities that can be developed into creative tourism, such as
Thai traditional massage and herbal medicine preparation, among others; (3) the strategy
development comprised 5 strategies, 17 tactics, and operational guidelines for creative health
tourism, with 6 success factors: administrators, tourism entrepreneurs, medical and public health
personnel, tourism resources, tourism network partners, and tourists, implemented under the
VITAL-X Model concept; and (4) the evaluation of the developed strategies and guidelines indicated
that they are practical, appropriate, and applicable to tourism sites similar to those in Health Region
2. Tourists expressed overall satisfaction at a high level (X =4.20, S.D.=0.61) and demand at the
highest level (X = 4.31, S.D.=0.67). Recommendations include; developing concrete guidelines for
implementing creative health tourism, enhancing community knowledge of creative tourism,
applying AI for promotion, and studying the role of network participation in tourism development.

Keywords: Strategy; Guideline; Health tourism; Creative Health Tourism