Agro-tourism Supply Chain and Logistics Management in Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze logistics and supply chains linking agro-tourism with the learning community lifestyle in Nakhon Pathom Province, collect information, and provide recommendations on logistics and supply chain development to create a sustainable community. The research instruments included 400 questionnaires distributed to tourists and interviews with representatives from government/private sectors and learning centers/agricultural tourism sites. This study examined nine aspects: information flow, physical flow, financial flow, services at tourist destinations, tourist attractions, agro-tourism in accordance with the community lifestyle, location, personnel, and products. The data were presented in percentages, means, and standard deviations and were statistically analyzed using SPSS.
The results from 400 questionnaires revealed a high level of agreement across all aspects (mean = 3.83, SD = 0.77). When considering each aspect, the highest agreement was found in agro-tourism in conformity with the community lifestyle (mean = 4.17, SD = 0.70), followed by personnel (mean = 4.12, SD = 0.73), and information flow at a moderate level (mean = 3.38, SD = 0.83). From the tourists’ perspective, information related to public relations should be improved to reach a wider audience than currently achieved by government/private sectors. Moreover, information regarding tourist sites/location signs and brochures should be readily available to serve tourists. Such information should align with the relevant government/private agencies and representatives from agro-tourism/learning centers.