In this study of domestic hotels in Thailand, a timeline approach was used to build a cumulative set of insights. Using archival analysis, the study initially traces the development of the domestic hotel in Thailand by exploring hotel sector growth in Thailand from 1962 to 2012. Building on these insights, the perspectives of key stakeholders towards the current state and future development of Thai domestic hotels were then studied empirically. Questionnaire and interviews were conducted with 334 domestic tourists and 33 hotel operators in Prachaup Khirikhan, Chon Buri and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces. Broadly, the prospects for these types of properties were seen as sound with operators and customers predominantly adopting an optimistic view. Key action features for attention to ensure this optimism is not unfounded were identified. The analysis of domestic hotels and change in a leading Asian destination adds novelty and broadens the patterns of trends that can be detected in the global, smaller scale hotel sector.
AlanJWChotihamwattanaC (2013) Who visits Thailand and why? An econometric model of tourist arrivals by country of origin. Paper presented at the Proceedings of 8th Asian Business Research Conference, 1–2 April 2013, Bangkok.
2.
AteljevicIDoorneS (2000) ‘Staying within the fence’: lifestyle entrepreneurship in tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism8(5): 378–392.
3.
ButlerRW (2006) The Tourism Area Life Cycle: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues. London: Channel View.
4.
ClarksonMBE (1995) A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. Academy of Management Journal20(1): 92–118.
5.
CohenE (1982) Marginal paradises: bungalow tourism on the islands of Southern Thailand. Annals of Tourism Research9(2): 189–228.
6.
CohenE (2005) The beach of ‘the beach’ – the politics of environmental damage in Thailand. Tourism Recreation Research30(1): 1–17.
7.
CooperD (1994) Portraits of paradise: themes and images of the tourist industry. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science22: 144–160.
8.
Di DomenicoM (2005) Producing hospitality consuming lifestyles: lifestyle entrepreneurship in urban Scotland. In: JonesEHaven-TangC (eds) Tourism SMEs, Service Quality and Destination Competitiveness. Oxford: CABI, pp. 109–122.
9.
DonaldsonTPrestonLE (1995) The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review20(1): 65–91.
10.
Freund de KlumbisDMunstersW (2005) Developments in the hotel industry: design meets historic properties. In: LeslieIDSigalaM (eds) International Cultural Tourism: Management, Implications and Cases. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 162–184.
11.
GetzDPetersenT (2005) Growth and profit oriented entrepreneurship among family business owners in the tourism and hospitality industry. Hospitality Management24: 219–242.
12.
HendersonJC (2011) Hip heritage: the boutique hotel business in Singapore. Tourism and Hospitality Research11: 217–223.
13.
HuangSSunXM (2014) Economy Hotels in China: A Glocalized Innovative Hospitality Sector. Abingdon: Routledge.
14.
ImrieRFyallA (2001) Independent mid-market UK hotels: marketing strategies for an increasingly competitive environment. Journal of Vacation Marketing7(1): 1–13.
KanlayanasukhoV (2014) An analysis of the tourism industry’s management responses to political crises in Thailand. In: RitchieBCampiranonK (eds) Tourism Crisis and Disaster Management in the Asia-Pacific. Wallingford: CAB International, pp. 116–131.
17.
Kaosa-ardM (1998) Economic development and institutional failures in Thailand. TDRI Quarter Review13(1): 3–11.
18.
Kaosa-ardMBezicDWhiteZ (2001) Domestic tourism in Thailand: supply and demand. In: GhimireK (ed) The Native Tourists: Mass Tourism within Developing Countries. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd, pp. 109–141.
19.
KruegerRCaseyM (2000) Focus Groups. A Practical Guide for Applied Research. London: Sage.
20.
McCullochG (2004) Documentary Research in Education, History and the Social Sciences. London: Routledge.
21.
MorganN (2014) Problematizing place promotion and commodification. In: LewAHallCM (ed) The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Tourism. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 210–219.
22.
MorrisonAMPearcePLMoscardoG. (1996) Specialist accommodation: definition, market served, and roles in tourism development. Journal of Travel Research35(1): 18–26.
23.
PATA (2014) Asia Pacific Growth trends. Asia Pacific Newsletter, October. Bangkok: PATA.
24.
PearcePLMoscardoG (1992) The boutique-specialist accommodation sector: perceived government needs and policy initiatives. Queensland Small Business Research Journal5: 34–41.
25.
PluemmanooP (2010) Guidelines of the adapting traditional Thai arts for 5 star-rated hotel management in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand Tourism Development Research Institute3: 1–8.
26.
PriorL (2003) Using Documents in Social Research. London: SAGE.
SagnarongS (2009). Factors affecting the marketing mix of boutique resorts and hotels in Pattaya Chonburi province. International Thai Tourism and Hospitality1: 1–10.
29.
SautterETLeisenB (1999) Managing stakeholders: a tourism planning model. Annals of Tourism Research20(2): 98–108.
30.
SeligmanMEP (1990) Learned Optimism. New York: Knopf.
31.
TeoPChangTC (2009) Singapore’s postcolonial landscape: boutique hotels as agents. In: WinterTTeoPChangTC (eds) Asia on Tour: Exploring the Rise of Asian Tourism. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 81–96.
32.
TidtichumernpornT (2009) Chiang Mai boutique. Accommodation Research Survey2(2): 1–23.
