SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TOURISM RESOURCES IN UDON THANI, THAILAND: A GISBASED APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE AND COMMUNITY-ORIENTED TOURISM PLANNING
Abstract
Contemporary tourism is increasingly shifting from a volume-based model toward a quality-oriented approach that emphasizes sustainability, local identity, and the redistribution of tourism activities to secondary cities and rural areas. This study aims to quantitatively assess the spatial distribution patterns and clustering dynamics of tourism resources in Udon Thani Province using geospatial analytical techniques, including the Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI), hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*), and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE). The analysis is based on a georeferenced dataset of tourism resource points derived from field surveys and secondary spatial databases. The NNI results indicated that tourism resources in Udon Thani exhibited a statistically significant dispersed pattern (NNI = 1.5689, p < 0.001), suggesting that the observed distribution was not random but reflected underlying spatial contexts and community settlement patterns. However, hot spot analysis identified areas of significant clustering of tourism activities, particularly in Mueang Udon Thani District, as well as in parts of Ban Dung and Nam Som Districts, which hosted specialized attractions with strong drawing power. Meanwhile, the KDE analysis confirmed the role of Mueang Udon Thani District as the provincial tourism core and highlighted the potential of secondary areas to support linked cultural and community-based tourism activities. The findings provide spatial evidence to inform the delineation of tourism development zones, the design of integrated tourism routes, and the formulation of balanced and sustainable tourism policies at the provincial level. This study contributes to the growing body of cultural and community-based tourism research by providing a data-driven framework for identifying spatial heterogeneity and supporting evidence-based tourism planning in emerging secondary destinations.