Statistically Validated Component- and Indicator-Level Requirements for Sustainable Thai Homestay Businesses

: This research proposes an updated version of homestay indicators for 10 existing component-level homestay requirements. The updated indicators were aimed to replace the decade-old original indicators for Thai homestay businesses. Besides, the 31 original homestay indictors were not statistically validated. In this study, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the statistical relevancy between the updated homestay indicators and the components. The SEM analysis involved two steps: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and conﬁrmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EFA statistically regrouped the 31 updated indictors by six new homestay components. The six components and 31 updated indicators were further validated by CFA to determine the factor loadings and statistical reliability of the components and indicators. The factor loadings indicate the levels of importance that homestay guests attach to different homestay components and indicators. Therefore, Thai homestay operators should give priority to the components and indicators with high factor loadings.


Introduction
Tourism and hospitality are a major contributor to Thailand's economy, with tourism revenue accounting for 17.7% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) (Ministry of Tourism and Sports, 2019). Thailand is renowned for unique cultures, traditional cuisine, and beautiful nature [1]. Homestay is a form of hospitality and lodging where guests or visitors are afforded with opportunities to observe and experience local culture and ways of life, in addition to accommodation and basic amenities [2].
Homestay tourism offers visitors the opportunity to learn and experience local ways of life and cultures (Oranratmanee [3]. To be attractive and sustainable, homestay operation should be of small scale, flexible, and run by local community members. The determinants of the success and sustainability of homestay businesses include, e.g., homestay host family, authenticity, safety, location, accommodation, and activities [4].
According to Kontogeorgopoulos, Churyen [5], homestay is a means to monetize unused space in places of residence for economic return. In addition, homestay is a form of accommodation that combines the experiences of a family member's home and conventional lodging facilities. A study by Takran, Chartrungruang [6] found that a majority of native homestay operators failed to meet the minimum requirements or standards of homestay business due to limited access to relevant information sources.
Homestay tourism contributes to local economic betterment and strengthens social capital of the local community [7]. From the perspective of homestay guests, homestay tourism provides them with opportunities to learn and experience firsthand local cultures, customs, and livelihoods. According to Jiang [8], local cultures and ways of life play an essential role in homestay tourism development.
Cultural resources are part of the cultural heritage of destinations and are largely related to customary practices, livelihoods, and local identity [9]. Meanwhile, tourism is Sustainability 2021, 13,936 2 of 17 largely viewed as a leisure-related activity separate from local culture and traditional ways of life [10,11]. However, recent decades have witnessed the convergence of culture and tourism (i.e., culture-oriented homestay tourism) as cultural heritage has been increasingly used as unique selling propositions to attract travelers to the tourist destinations [11].
Homestay tourism is a source of income for local community members, especially in destinations with unique attractions or cultures [12]. Homestay tourism increasingly emphasizes the preservation of local ecosystems and ways of life of community members [13]. Besides, homestay tourism satisfies the unique needs of travelers who prioritize quality over quantity. Travelers increasingly attach more importance to local culture and ecosystem [14]. Active participation of local community members in homestay tourism operation and management contributes to inclusive local economic development [15].
However, if improperly regulated, homestay tourism could have negative impacts on local communities and the environment [16,17]. As a result, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand in 2011 introduced the homestay requirements or standards for Thai homestay businesses. The homestay requirements are instrumental for preservation of local ways of life and the environment [18]. The standards also provide homestay operators with guidelines to streamline the operation and administration of homestays [19,20].
The success and sustainability of homestay businesses are largely determined by the extent to which the homestay operators meet the basic requirements or standards, such as authenticity, safety, location, activities. As a result, the standards for homestay businesses would serve as a guideline for homestay operators with regard to basic requirements and expectations of homestay guests. The standards also promote collaboration between diverse groups of stakeholders [21,22].
The homestay standard of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports consists of 10 components and 31 indicators. However, the existing indicators were not statistically validated to determine their relevancy to the components. As a result, this research proposes updated homestay indicators, and statistical validation was carried out by using exploratory factor analysis. The homestay components and indicators were further validated by confirmatory factor analysis to determine the factor loadings and statistical reliability. In this research, factor loadings indicate the levels of importance that homestay guests attach to different homestay components and indicators. Table 1 tabulates the component-and indicator-level standards or requirements for homestay businesses in Thailand by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. There are 10 component-level requirements and 31 related indicator-level requirements (i.e., original indicators). The 10 components include accommodation and amenities; food and beverage; safety to life and belongings; hospitality of host and family members; travel information and tour guide; natural resources and the environment; cultural heritage and livelihood; addition of value to local merchandise; homestay operation and management; marketing communication and promotion.

Research Methodology
The original homestay indicators have been in use for nearly a decade (since 2011). Given rapid technological advancements and changes in travelers' preferences over the past decade, modifications are necessary to remain relevant. Moreover, no statistical validation was carried out on the 31 original indicators to determine their relevancy to the 10 components.
As a result, this research proposes an updated version of homestay indicators (31 updated indicators) for 10 component-level requirements (Table 1). In the study, the updated indicators were transformed into a 31-question questionnaire (Appendix A) and validated with 337 Thai and international guests of homestays across Thailand. The questionnaire respondents were guests of a random sample of 12 homestays, all of which met the ministry's homestay standards. According to Dawson, Peppe [23], a proper sample size should be at least 10 times the total number of questions. Given that the number of questions was 31, the sample size was thus 337 homestay guests. The data collection was conducted by homestay operators between March and May 2018, which coincided with Songkran water festival in Thailand. Songkran marks the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year and the celebration covers a period of three days: 13-15 April.
In data collection, respondents were asked by homestay operators for their views on the importance of different updated indicators for the success of homestays, based on a 5-point Likert scale where 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively, denote unimportant, of little importance, moderately important, important, and very important. According to Bayraktar, Tatoglu [24]; Na-nan, Chaiprasit [25]; Ismail Salaheldin [26]; Thanvisitthpon, Shrestha [27], a measure scale could be used with self-assessment questions.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the statistical relevancy between the updated homestay indicators and the 10 component-level requirements. The SEM analysis involved two steps: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this study, the EFA statistically regrouped the 31 updated indictors by six new homestay components rather than by the original 10 components (Tables 2 and 3).
The six new components and 31 updated indicators were further validated by CFA to determine the factor loadings and reliability of the components and indicators (Table 4).
Factor loadings indicate the levels of importance that homestay guests attach to different homestay components and indicators. A high factor loading suggests that the component or indicator plays an important role in the success and sustainability of homestays.    [61]. In addition, the establishment of homestays minimally disrupt local ways of life and traditions [33,62]. Homestay tourism should also attach importance to inclusive local economic development where the majority of community members benefit from the scheme to guarantee the success and sustainability of the business [63,64]. Creating an online hub where visitors are able to make reservations for a variety of services offered by local community businesses (e.g., local transport, tour guide, tourist attractions), in addition to accommodation reservation.

Descriptions of Components Indicator ID Factor Weight Scores Descriptions of Updated Indicators
Component 4: Cleanliness, infrastructure, and the environment In satisfying the needs of homestay guests, the impact of homestay tourism on the environment and local community should be minimized.
The sustainability of tourist destinations is dependent upon environmental concerns and conservation of local stakeholders [42,68]. Construction of homestay accommodations and the operation should attach importance to eco-friendliness and long-term sustainability [69].
Moreover, use of locally-grown cooking ingredients in guests' meals should be encouraged to reduce transport-induced carbon footprint and global warming [70].     Table 1.

Results and Discussion
The factor weight scores of the 31 updated homestay indicators were greater than 0.3, given that a factor weight score >0.3 is statistically valid [57][58][59][60]. The eigenvalues of the revised six components were 6.186, 4.610, 3.997, 3.645, 3.251, and 2.666, respectively, given that an eigenvalue > 1.0 is acceptable, with the corresponding percentage of variance of 19.955, 14.872, 12.894, 11.758, 10.487, and 8.599. Table 3 presents the six EFA-validated homestay components and indicators.
In Figure 1, the factor loadings of six validated homestay components and 31 updated indicators were 0.338-0.454 and 0.554-0.993, respectively. According to Kim and Mueller [74], a factor loading greater than 0.3 is statistically significant.
In Figure 1, the factor loadings of six validated homestay components and 31 updated indicators were 0.338-0.454 and 0.554-0.993, respectively. According to Kim and Mueller [74], a factor loading greater than 0.3 is statistically significant.  Gatignon [76] and Hooper, Coughlan [77], GFI, AGFI, NFI Deltal1, CFI, IFI, and TLI should be close to 1, while RMSEA and RMR should not exceed 0.05. Table 4 presents the CFA results of the six validated components and 31 updated homestay indicators. The reliability (R 2 ) of the indicators under the 1st component were 0.444-0.986, and those under the 2nd component were 0.307-0.907. The R 2 of the indicators under 3rd and 4th components were 0.608-0.965 and 0.515-0.943. The R 2 of the indictors under 5th and 6th components were 0.435-0.961 and 0.731-0.873, given that R 2 > 0.3 is statistically acceptable. The full descriptions of the updated indicators were provided in Table 3.
The composite reliability (CR) of component 6 (stakeholder involvement strategy) was the largest (0. A high factor loading indicates the indicator that homestay guests attach considerable importance and thereby plays a crucial role in the success and sustainability of local homestay businesses. In Figure 1, the indicator C2 (action plans to preserve traditional livelihoods and local ways of life) under component 1 had the highest factor loading (0.993). Specifically, local ways of life and cultures of tourist destinations have been increasingly adopted as a differentiation strategy by many homestay businesses [33,62,64]. Cultureoriented homestay tourism helps promote local culture and traditions and is a potential source of income of local community, which in turn supports and strengthens cultural production and creativity [44,47,48].
The indicator V1 (availability of a wide selection of local merchandise for sale to visitors, and the offerings should be diverse to minimize price competition) under component 3 had the second highest factor loading (0.982). Culture-oriented homestay tourism promotes local traditions and also serves as a marketing tool to sell locally made crafts and services to visitors [66,79]. As a result, an increasing number of local tourist destinations integrate local cultures into their offerings and services to appeal to visitors' unique needs [49,50].

Conclusions and Recommendations
This research proposed an updated version of homestay indicators associated with 10 component-level homestay requirements to replace the 31 original indicators for homestay businesses in Thailand. The original indictors have been in use for nearly a decade, and no statistical validation was carried out to determine the relevancy to the 10 components. The existing 10 components were accommodation and amenities; food and beverage; safety to life and belongings; hospitality of host and family members; travel information and tour guide; natural resources and the environment; cultural heritage and livelihood; addition of value to local merchandise; homestay operation and management; marketing communication and promotion.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the statistical relevancy between the updated homestay indicators and the components. The SEM analysis involved two steps: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this research, the EFA statistically regrouped the 31 updated indictors by six new homestay components instead of by the original 10 components. The six new homestay components were congruence with local ways of life and inclusive local economic development; homestay operation and hospitality management; roles of local stakeholders in homestay tourism longevity; cleanliness, infrastructure, and the environment; local identity and carrying capacity of homestay; stakeholder involvement strategy.
The six components and 31 updated indicators were further validated by CFA to determine the factor loadings and reliability of the components and indicators. A high factor loading suggests that the particular indicator plays an important role in the success and sustainability of homestay tourism and local community. The CFA results revealed that the indicators C2 (action plans to preserve traditional livelihoods and local ways of life) and V1 (availability of a wide selection of local merchandise for sale to visitors, and the offerings should be diverse to minimize price competition) had the highest (0.993) and second-highest factor loadings (0.982).
The findings indicated that homestay guests attached considerable importance to both homestay indicators. As a result, Thai homestay operators should take into consideration local cultures and ways of life in the formulation and implementation of their business plans. Furthermore, the research findings are consistent with [33,62,64], who found that homestay businesses increasingly adopt the local ways of life and cultures as the differentiation strategy to attract visitors. The findings are also consistent with [44,47,48], who reported that culture-oriented homestay tourism helps promote local culture and traditions and is a potential source of income of local community.
The research findings are expected to contribute to improvement in homestay operation in Thailand as the owners could refer to the resulting factor loadings to identify the requirements or standards that are currently inadequate or lacking in their homestay operation. The shortcomings could then be addressed by immediate and long-term action plans, with priority given to the homestay indicators with high factor loadings. Moreover, the statistically validated homestay indicators could be further developed into a standardized checklist to evaluate and grade homestay businesses in terms of the extent to which they satisfy the homestay standards.
In this current research, the homestay indicators were validated by using a sample of 337 homestay visitors who stayed in a homestay in the central region of Thailand. To address the issue of limited geography, future research will cover several geographical regions and longer periods of data collection (from three months to one year). In addition, future participating homestay operators will be offered a brief training session to avoid incomplete and incorrect data collection.
Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest:
The author declares no conflict of interest.

A1
In addition to functionality and provision of basic amenities, guests' privacy should be taken into consideration in the accommodation layout. A2 Cleanliness, accessibility, and guest-centered hospitality A3 Proper sanitation procedure and ecologically friendly sewage management A4 Common area on the premises where homestay guests could observe or partake in traditional ways of life of the local community, in addition to relaxation. F1 Types of dishes and cooking ingredients F2 Provision of clean drinking water and appliances for modern living F3 Environmentally friendly and clean food containers and tableware F4 Provision of traditional cooking utensils and local condiments (with instruction), in addition to clean food preparation area and modern kitchen utensils S1 Availability of first aid kit S2 Provision of security for guests and their belongings R1 Warm and cordial reception by homestay host and family members as well as by local community members for the long-term sustainability of homestay business

R2
Multisector collaboration (i.e., homestay host, other local businesses and community members) to create activities that promote local culture and traditional ways of life T1 Travel information and local destination highlights with community consensus and seasonal updates T2 Local community oriented travel activity that respects traditional ways of life

T3
Provision of tour guides with knowledge of local community. The aim is to create economic opportunities for community members, including developing new skills, finding jobs, and starting new businesses. Availability of a wide selection of local merchandise for sale to visitors, and the offerings should be diverse to minimize price competition.

V2
Procedure that engages local government and community members in value creation and addition to local merchandise

M1
Forming an alliance of homestay operators with organizational structure and specific duties for representative members M2 Establishment of board of directors (BOD) for the alliance, and the board should consist of representatives from the local community.

M3
Duties and responsibilities of BOD

M4
Inclusive distribution of economic gain from homestay tourism in proportion to effort and contributions

M5
Creating an online hub where visitors are able to make reservations for a variety of services offered by local community businesses (e.g., local transport, tour guide, tourist attractions), in addition to accommodation reservation.

M6
Itemized price list of offerings and services to minimize dispute and build trust P1 Adoption of offline and online media platforms for marketing communication to promote homestay tourism and tourist destinations in the local community

P2
Marketing communication strategy that emphasizes inclusivity (i.e., all stakeholders contribute to the strategy formulation) and evaluation of the strategy effectiveness Any suggestion.