The Potential Architectural Tourism Route in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom Province

Abstract

The potential of architectural tourism routes in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom was
studied. The purposes were 1) To explore and analyze the potential of architectural tourism
routes in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom. 2) To investigate travel behaviors and the factors
influencing architectural tourism by general tourists in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom.
3) To present architectural tourism routes in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom. The study
was mixed-method research, in which the quantitative research comprised questionnaires for
collecting data from 400 tourists. In terms of qualitative research, in-depth interviews were
used to collect data from the related tourism departments. The results of the study were.
1) The current situation of architectural tourism in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom is uniquely
outstanding, and able to attract tourists to experience the atmosphere of tourism, along with
increasing their interest in visiting and traveling more. The readiness of tourism destinations
has various aspects such as tourism attraction, accessibility in tourism, facilities, and tourism
activities. 2) In terms of the travel behaviors and factors influencing the tourists’ architectural
tourism in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom, most tourists had several purposes in traveling
to visit the architecture; which were as follows. Travel companions refer to be family, cousins,
couples who spent one to three traveling days and have traveled to Nakhon Phanom for the frst
time. In terms of internal factors, the outlook of the internal factors, influencing making decisions
in the architectural tourism in Mueang District, Nakhon Phanom was high ( = 4.33), Standard
deviation (S.D.=0.69). To clarify, the highest mean was for the section of entertainment with
architecture and new artworks ( =4.5), Standard deviation (S.D.=0.61). Concerning external
factors, the outlook of external factors influencing making decisions in traveling was high
( =4.37, Standard deviation (S.D.=0.74), which was the highest mean for the section of
several types and tastes of food ( =4.70, Standard deviation (S.D.=0.60). The result is that
two issues can promote three of the architectural tourism routes in Mueang District,
Nakhon Phanom to meet both need for travel behaviors and tourists’ demands. The frst
route is the richness of merit and happiness with the watershed architecture of the Mekong River Basin. The second route is slow living with the Mekong River Basin and the architecture
of old town of Nakhon Phanom. Lastly, the third route is back to the past in Nakhon Phanom City.