Social Return on Investment for a Community Tourism Information Center, Ban Thung Man Nuea, Lampang, Thailand

Abstract

The tourism industry is one of the important components for Thailand’s GDP. In 2022, the tourism industry directly contributed 2.78 percent to GDP in Thailand. The Thailand government supports the tourism industry, especially community-based tourism, because of increasing community citizen income. Ban Thung Man Nuea is one of the villages in Lampang province, Thailand. The famous product is the rice crackers, which is exported to other provinces in Thailand and overseas. The community tourism information center was established to market this town to the rest of Thailand and beyond in 2021. After three years, the social return on investment (SROI) is assessed. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the SROI of a community tourism information center in order to evaluate its value. The study found that the social return on investment (SROI) was 0.60 in the first year, 0.80 in the second year, and 1.08 in the third year. The average SROI over three years is 0.83. Despite this, 0.83 indicates that the returns pay for social services less than the cost. The findings, however, show that the investment in the community tourism information center at Ban Thung Man Nuea in Lampang, Thailand, has resulted in favorable benefit trends. It can forecast the village's future economic growth. That means the investment in the community tourism information center is worthwhile.