Research on the Characteristics of Chinese Tourists Flow to Thailand: Application of the Social Network Analysis (SNA) Method

The goal of this study is to examine the characteristics of Chinese visitors visiting Thailand, determine the rules, and give a reference for Thai tourism authorities and businesses when developing marketing strategies for the Chinese market. This paper constructs the tourism flow network and takes Bangkok as the major research target. The statistical characteristics of the network are studied using the SNA method, based on the trip notes of Thailand on www.mafengwo.cn, a prominent travel website in China as the data source. The results show that: Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin occupy important positions in the network; The flow direction of Chinese tourists to Thailand mainly tends to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and Phuket Island; Grand Palace have strong tourism flow aggregation, diffusion, and control over other nodes in the whole network structure; Tom Yu Kuang has the greatest degree centrality in all Thai cuisine. The findings of the study can help relevant management departments create tourist policies and modify market strategies by developing the regular characteristics of China’s tourism flow to Thailand in the theoretical field.