Marketing mix factors and a business development model for street food tourism

Abstract

This study creates a business development model for street food tourism using data collected from Yaowarat Road and Khao San Road, in Bangkok, Thailand and the application of Kotler's marketing mix factors model. The 415 respondents were made up of 210 Thai and 205 foreign tourists and had an average age of 33 years. The research tools used were a summated rating scale questionnaire for the tourists and in-depth interviews that were conducted with fifteen respondents including six international tourists, three tour guides and six street food business owners. Basic statistics, inferential statistics and content analysis were used to analyze the data. This research was conducted in three languages (Thai, Chinese and English). The results support a business development model of street food stalls on Yaowarat Road and Khao San Road that can be applied to other areas in Bangkok or in any Asian Country that wishes to develop street food tourism as a niche tourist attraction by focusing on price, people, process, product, and physical evidence respectively to understand why street foods are capturing the interest of tourists.