Creating a coffee tourism network in the north of Thailand

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to provide directions on coffee tourism administration as well as to establish a coffee tourism network among the communities in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, and Lampang provinces. A qualitative method is applied to the data collected from 45 attendees of a meeting on coffee tourism. They discussed several case studies and then visited Doi Chang Village in Chiang Rai to study their successful practice before exchanging views on how similar tourism management can be implemented in their own communities. With a problem tree constructed, they also identified major challenges regarding coffee tourism in Northern Thailand. The findings discusses the initiation of three projects: the community-based tourism by coffee farmers in Chiang Mai, the pilot study of a coffee tour program in Huay Hom Village, Mae Hong Son, and the project “Good Coffee in Lampang.” Also, the six coordinators of the coffee tourism network assist the communities in publicizing tourism information. With growing popularity of special interest tourism, it is surprising Thailand still lacks coffee tourism though it is blessed with several tourism advantages. Therefore, it is critical to explore whether Northern Thailand can flourish as a coffee tourism attraction.