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Abstract

This independent research aims to study the marketing mix that impacts elder European tourist’s decision when choosing a small-sized lodges to stay in Amphoe Mueng, Chiang Mai. The components that the research examined include: product, price, distribution, marketing, staff, service, and physical environment. The data is collected from 400 European tourists age 60 and over who choose their own lodges and planned to stay in Chiang Mai for at least 1 month for the purpose of traveling and leisure. The data is analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and inferential statistics using T-test for comparing the means of travel companion, profession, and previous experience of traveling and staying in Chiang Mai. The results of the study find that most European tourist who answered the questionnaire are male age between 60-64, married, retired, unwilling to disclose their monthly income, lived on government pension. They mostly traveled to Chiang Mai for the first time with their spouse and their main reason for choosing Chiang Mai is the historical heritage of the city. They traveled to Chiang Mai between January – March and stayed in the city for more than 5 days. Their choice for recreation is Thai message/spa. They are more likely to stay in a hotel priced between 501 – 1,000 baht/night and used user’s reviews on booking websites such as Booking.com and Expedia.com as well as booking the room from that online services. The 3 factors that influenced their decision to choose a lodges include: reasonable price, secluded and relaxing environment, and amenities. The most popular lodges amenity from the survey is enough accommodating common seating area. The results of the marketing mix research in choosing a small sized lodges in Amphoe Mueng, Chiang Mai find that those who answered the questionnaires prioritized service as the number one component. The first important sub factor in the service component is room change without extra charge. The first important sub factor of staff component is politeness and friendliness. The first important sub factor of price component is clear price information. The first important sub factor of physical environment is politeness and respectfulness among lodge guests. The first important sub factor of distribution is ease of travel to lodge location. The first important sub factors of marketing are promotions and visual media of the lodge. The first important sub factor of product is cleanliness. The study finds that the behaviors of those who answered the questionnaires differ when categorized along travel companion, profession, and experience of traveling and staying in Chiang Mai. The differentiation of behaviors include source of income, the reason of choosing to travel to Chiang Mai, time of travel, decision making channel, factors involving the decision of choosing to stay at a particular lodge and the most popular lodge’s amenity. The results when comparing the mean of marking mix components in choosing to stay at a small sized lodges of the survey in the categories of travel companion, profession, and the experience of traveling and staying in Chiang Mai find that there are differentiation in the sub factors in the product, price, distribution, marketing, staff, and physical environment components.