Introduction to the Thesis
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MANAGING A MATURE COASTAL TOURISM DESTINATION: THE CASE OF PATTAYA, THAILAND By Chootima Longjit A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management Victoria University of Wellington 2010 ABSTRACT This thesis develops the concept of destination management with a particular focus on the management of a local destination. It concentrates on seeking to understand what constitutes the general concept of destination management, exploring management practices, and clarifying the overall management of the local destination. In the absence of previous literature, a conceptual framework is developed from the bodies of literature in tourism, management, inter-organizational relationships, and integrated coastal management. This framework illustrates aspects, issues, and dimensions that are relevant to destination management and provides a structure for the analysis of destination management in Pattaya, Thailand. Given the exploratory nature of the study, a multi-phase case study is used. A mix of holistic and embedded cases is used to obtain broad and in-depth data relevant to the concept and practice of destination management. Pattaya, as one of the major coastal resorts in Thailand, is selected as the case study as tourism has been developed there for several decades and its diverse problems provide a range of management challenges. Its major tourism attractions – beaches, nightlife, Pattaya Music Festival – are examined as embedded cases. In addition to secondary data, semi-structured interviews and observation are used to collect primary data. The broad concept of destination management is developed first and then used as a basis to examine the nature and extent of destination management in Pattaya. The conceptual framework provides a structure to analyze the individual embedded cases and to compare commonalities and differences between their management processes and structures and their implications for the practice of destination management. The research reveals that there is a relationship between the practitioners’ perspectives on a tourism destination and on destination management, and that there is a relationship between their initial perspectives on destination management and their management practices that occur at the destination. Destination management is defined as “the collaboration of relevant agencies responsible for providing multiple tourism products at the destination in a way to achieve common goals or destination goals.” The research also highlights that destination management requires the integration of management agencies, of management purposes, and of management ii activities at the destination scale. In Pattaya, varying levels of integration occur and relevant agencies are commonly involved with managing aspects of tourism rather than the destination as a whole. The embedded cases reveal that two main forms of management occur in Pattaya: daily operations and project management. Daily management is practised by single agencies to achieve individual organizational goals and is evident in most aspects of beach management and the management of dispersed nightlife activities. Project-based management involves the pursuit of project goals and is carried out by committees, for example, Walking Street Committee and the Pattaya Music Festival Committees. A lack of common goals and low levels of integration are factors which lead to an absence of destination management. The formulation of destination goals and a scaled-up project management structure is suggested as one means of fostering destination management. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest appreciation and thanks to my principal supervisor, Prof. Douglas G. Pearce, who provided me the opportunity to start this journey. With his guidance and valuable suggestions, patience, and understanding, I successfully completed my study. Big thanks to my second supervisor, Dr. Adam Weaver, for his advice, encouragement, and support throughout my study. A special thanks to Prof. Jafar Jafari, the first person to introduce the key to my success when I decided to start this PhD journey - ‘Endurance’ was the key. I would like to thank all my family members for their moral support. Thank to my wonderful parents for their unconditional love, support, and belief in my ability. I decided to take this journey not only for myself but also for them, especially for my mother since she loves learning and always wants to have a higher education. Thanks to both of my brothers for taking good care of our parents when I was away. Thank you to my boss and the scholarship committee members at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Kasetsart University Sri Racha Campus for financial support. Without the four years of funds, my life here in New Zealand would have been a struggle and my journey would be difficult to finish. Thanks to all my friends in New Zealand. Without your friendship, my journey would have been lonely and less enjoyable. I would like to thank P’Garoon, Tam, Aor, Pa, Tarn, Palm, Moa, Bowl, Fa, and Bew for being wonderful brothers and sisters while I was in New Zealand. Thank you to my PhD colleagues: Wayne Pihema (NZ), Marian Evans (NZ), Jorge Velez (Columbia), Karthik Peedikappurath (India), Rebecca Bednarek (NZ), Zanele Ndaba (South Africa), Lois Parkes (Jamaica), Heike Schänzel (Germany), Huong Nguyen (Vietnam), Cesar Guala (Chile), and Saurabh Jain (India) for the laughs and tears that we shared. It was a great experience to have known you. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all my research participants for their cooperation and valuable input of empirical materials. Thank you all for being a part of this research. Without you, this thesis would not have been possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: DESTINATIONS AND DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 WHY DESTINATION MANAGEMENT?..................................................................................... 1 1.2 CONTEXT OF PATTAYA, THAILAND...................................................................................... 5 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 8 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................. 9 1.5 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................ 11 1.6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 13 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 TOURISM DESTINATIONS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT .......................................................... 13 2.3 THE CONCEPT OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT .................................................................. 25 2.4 PRACTICES IN DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ....................................................................... 34 2.5 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR DESTINATION MANAGEMENT........................................ 45 2.6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................................................... 53 3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 53 3.2 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................... 55 3.3 A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY ............................................................................................. 59 3.4 A MULTI-PHASE APPROACH................................................................................................ 64 3.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................... 87 3.6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 4 THE RESEARCH CONTEXT: THAILAND AND PATTAYA ....................... 92 4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 92 4.2 THAILAND: THE NATIONAL CONTEXT................................................................................. 93 4.3 PATTAYA: THE LOCAL CONTEXT ...................................................................................... 102 4.4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 119 CHAPTER 5 CONCEPTS OF A TOURISM DESTINATION AND DESTINATION MANAGEMENT.............................................................................................................................. 121 5.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 121 5.2 DEFINING A TOURISM DESTINATION................................................................................. 121 5.3 DEFINING DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ..........................................................................