SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVELERS TO THAILAND

Montakan Chubchuwong

ABSTRACT: Currently, international companies often include corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their overseas business trips. In Thailand, several destination management companies (DMC) and other tourism service suppliers provide CSR programs to meet the requirements of international business groups. However, the characteristics and patterns of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities do not yet seem to have been studied. The paper examines the characteristics and patterns of CSR activities that are offered to international business travelers, and the impacts on their trip satisfaction. In-depth interviews were used to extract the opinions of eight key informants who are directors and managers of local tour operators and destination management companies. The instrument comprises a semi-structured questionnaire with 13 open-ended questions and one question to obtain the respondents’ profiles. The interviews were held in Bangkok from March to November 2016. The results reveal the characteristics and patterns of business travelers’ SR activities and related problems.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, business travel, Thailand tourism, destination management company