Abstract:
The objectives of this research are five folds. Firstly, it aims to explore present status of hotels in Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya in terms of their services provided to Thai elderly tourists. Secondly, it focuses on studying all the visitors behaviors in choosing to stay in a hotel in the province. Thirdly, it analyzes the expectation and satisfaction of the visitors concerning the hotels services. Fourthly, it studies the potential of hotel business regarding its capacity to facilitate visitors in the province. Lastly, it aims to suggest and formulate ways to develop friendly design standard of the hotels to accommodate tourists in the province. This research used a survey form and a questionnaire for Thai and foreign elderly tourists. The tourists under the study included a total of 400 samples. The quantitative analysis features descriptive statistics based on percentage, average, standard deviation, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffes method, logistic regression analysis and factor analysis. Whereas qualitative research method utilized in-depth interview and content analysis was used to interpret the findings. The results of the research present the fact that, in terms of the hotels present status, most of them already built and installed equipments to accommodate the elderly even though it lacks Universal Design Standard. The visitors behavior was found that there were similar characteristics. Thai tourists travelled because they would like to be with their children in a new place, but the foreign ones would like to admire beautiful nature and landscapes. In terms of the expectation and satisfaction on the services of the hotels for Thai and foreign tourists in relation to marketing mix, it was found out that Thai and foreign visitors provided similar expectation and satisfaction both before and after using hotel services. Concerning the Universal design standard of the hotel, it can be categorized into the hotel standard and resort and boutique standard. It depends on each hotel to select what suits its structure in order to develop itself as a role model accommodation for elderly tourists in Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya."