MARKETING MIX FACTORS OF TOURIST TO USE THE OUTBOUND TRAVEL AGENTS SERVICE REGARDING NEW NORMAL TOURISM

Abstract

This study aimed to (1) study tourist behaviors; (2) study marketing mix factors of tourists using outbound travel agents’services; and (3) marketing mix factors that affected behavior to use the outbound travel agents service among tourists. This quantitative research gathered data by collecting questionnaire among 400 samples of tourists who had used the service of outbound travel agents and would use this service in the future. The research instruments were survey questionnaire which had content validity value of 0.942 and confidence (Reliability Coefficient) was equal to 0.945. The data were collected by purposive sampling method and were analyzed in term of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and multiple regression analysis. The study was found that most tourists were women over 60 years who earned an average monthly income of more than 35,000 Baht. They spent approximately 4 - 7 days traveling, and the average cost of purchasing a tour package was 15,001 - 29,999 Baht. In terms of marketing mix factors (4C’s), it was found that the tourists put the greatest emphasis on meeting the needs of the customers. And they believed that traveling abroad using an outbound travel agent was much safer and more comfortable than traveling by themselves, which was the factor that influenced their decisions most. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that marketing mix was 31.9 percent correlated with decision - making. In terms of customer needs, convenience and the customer cost had a positive correlation but communication aspect was negatively correlated to the decision of tourists to use the outbound travel agents service in the new normal tourism era.