MUTELU’S PHENOMENON: IS THE TRAVEL MOTIVATION OF THAIS INFLUENCED BY THEIR BELIEFS AND FAITH?

Abstract

This paper attempts to study the key factors that influence Thai travelers’ decision to make trips to religious, sacred, holy, or Mutelu sites. The reason for choosing this topic stems primarily from my experience in the travel industry and the challenges that travel companies faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides that, Mutelu is a phenomenon trend that has grown rapidly year after year since 2020, with travel programs dealing with beliefs and faith selling the best. This study will focus on Thai travelers who believe in religious, sacred, holy or Mutelu sites. Research methodology is data collection via an online questionnaire survey with 125 target respondents. The result of this research shows that the three most significant internal factors that influence travelers to visit such sites are needs and wants, personal belief and faith, and travel experience. For the three most significant external factors that influence travelers to visit such sites are family or friend, famous persons, and attractive programs. The benefit of this research is to help travel agents and destination management companies in better comprehending the variables that affect travelers' motivation. Companies must adjust their programs in order to obtain advantages over competitors, particularly in the future's highly competitive travel industry.