Creative Tourist Segmentation for Nature-Based Tourism: A Social Media Framework for Sustainable Recreation Planning and Development in Thailand’s National Parks

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of creative tourism in Thailand’s national parks and the role of social media in promoting creative tourism experiences. The objectives were to examine creative tourism activities, identify visitor segments based on activity preferences and media use, and propose targeted communication strategies to enhance engagement and support sustainable tourism. A mixed-methods design combined document reviews of 133 national parks, field surveys in 10 parks, and a structured visitor survey with 1133 respondents across terrestrial and marine parks. The study identified 25 tourism activities, of which 20 were classified as creative tourism. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed four key dimensions: nature-based learning, scenic immersion, community participation, and culinary experiences. Cluster analysis segmented visitors into five groups: Local Advocates, Nature Explorers, Food Enthusiasts, Nature Learners, and Diverse Enthusiasts. Media preferences varied across groups. Nature Explorers and Food Enthusiasts engaged strongly with short-form videos and scenic visuals, while Local Advocates and Nature Learners preferred educational and text-based formats. Diverse Enthusiasts, the largest segment, interacted with multiple content types. Scenic imagery emerged as the most influential theme overall. These results provide practical implications for designing creative tourism strategies and creating social media campaigns to diverse groups of tourists in Thailand’s national parks.

1. Introduction

In the digital era, social media has profoundly reshaped how people discover, plan, and engage with outdoor recreation and travel experiences. Visual platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become powerful communication drivers and behavioral catalysts, shaping destination images and influencing travel decisions, particularly among younger audiences who are highly responsive to emotionally engaging and trend-driven content [1,2]. Beyond serving as information channels, social media fosters parasocial connections, meaning one-sided emotional relationships between audiences and content creators that cultivate trust and a sense of familiarity even without direct interaction [3]. Global tourism trends have likewise shifted toward participatory, authentic, and sustainability-oriented experiences [4,5]. Visitors increasingly seek meaningful engagement with nature and local communities, reflecting a growing emphasis on creativity, self-expression, and environmental awareness in post-pandemic travel. As wellness and outdoor-oriented tourism expand—driven by the desire for open spaces, health benefits, and emotional renewal—creativity, participation, and storytelling have become defining elements of the experience economy, replacing passive sightseeing with active, immersive, and value-driven encounters.

Thailand strongly reflects these transformations. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation (DNP), the government agency responsible for managing Thailand’s national parks, [6] reported over 20 million visitors in 2022, marking a robust post-pandemic recovery in domestic tourism. However, this growth in visitation has not corresponded with a comparable increase in environmental awareness. According to the DNP [7], most visitors are motivated primarily by recreation, leisure, and family activities, while learning-oriented or conservation-related experiences remain limited [8,9]. This imbalance reveals a critical communication gap: although national parks hold significant potential to foster pro-environmental behavior, conventional interpretive tools—such as static signage and brochures—are insufficient to engage a digitally connected audience whose decisions are increasingly shaped by visual media and online narratives [2,3]. Bridging this gap requires an innovative communication approach that integrates creative experience design, behavioral segmentation, and digital persuasion to promote sustainability-oriented recreation.

Creative tourism provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for advancing this transformation. Defined by Richards and Raymond [10], it emphasizes active participation, co-creation, and self-expression between visitors and destinations, enabling travelers to develop their creative potential through authentic, hands-on experiences that extend beyond passive consumption. Richards [11] later identified four experiential dimensions—Buying, Seeing, Tasting, and Learning—which represent ascending levels of engagement and creativity. When applied to natural settings, these dimensions provide a framework for national parks to design experiences that transform visitors from observers into co-creators of environmental meaning.

This adaptive paradigm, however, presents both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, it facilitates the integration of local knowledge, cultural expression, and conservation learning into nature-based activities that deepen visitor awareness and promote environmental stewardship. On the other hand, it requires ethical sensitivity to balance creativity with ecological preservation, ensuring that participatory experiences do not compromise sensitive ecosystems or the integrity of protected landscapes. Figure 1 illustrates these four dimensions and their application in national parks, highlighting how each enhances visitor engagement, strengthens connections with natural landscapes and local culture, and contributes to sustainability outcomes.

From a theoretical perspective, creative tourism in natural environments aligns closely with the concept of sustainability transitions which describe a process of systemic transformation in which social, cultural, and technological practices evolve toward more sustainable configurations [12,13]. Within this framework, creative tourism can be viewed as a socio-technical innovation that redefines the visitor–destination relationship: rather than consuming places, visitors co-produce environmental value through creative participation, experiential learning, and collaboration with local communities. This behavioral shift reinforces regenerative and responsible tourism principles, fostering shared stewardship and adaptive management of natural areas [14,15]. Integrating creative tourism within sustainability transitions therefore contributes not only to enriched visitor experiences but also to broader societal objectives of sustainable consumption, community empowerment, and environmental resilience.

Figure 1. Creative tourism activities and their adaptation in national parks, categorized by four experiential dimensions: Buying, Seeing, Tasting, and Learning [16,17,18,19,20,21]. Note: This framework illustrates how each category can be applied to enhance visitor engagement, cultural connection, and sustainability outcomes in protected area settings. Source: Adapted from Richard [11].

Figure 1. Creative tourism activities and their adaptation in national parks, categorized by four experiential dimensions: Buying, Seeing, Tasting, and Learning [16,17,18,19,20,21]. Note: This framework illustrates how each category can be applied to enhance visitor engagement, cultural connection, and sustainability outcomes in protected area settings. Source: Adapted from Richard [11].

The evolution of creative tourism from culture-based to nature-based experiences can be explained through the concept of Tourism Mobilities Theory, which examines how the movement of people, ideas, and practices continuously reshapes identities and spaces, blurring conventional distinctions between tourists and locals [22,23]. Within this framework, tourism is understood not as a static act of visitation but as a dynamic circulation of people, meanings, and interactions that continuously reconstructs social and environmental relationships.

The mobilization of creative tourism from culture to nature reflects this transformative process [24]. It involves translating traditional cultural expressions, such as crafts, performances, local cuisine, and storytelling, into participatory experiences situated within natural environments. Rather than presenting culture in isolation, communities and artists integrate traditional knowledge, local materials, and ecological awareness into activities that promote learning, creativity, and sustainability. For example, traditional craftmaking can evolve into eco-creative workshops using locally sourced fibers or plants as creative media; culinary heritage can be reframed as forest-to-table experiences that emphasize ecosystem linkages and sustainable ingredients; and cultural festivals can be reconceptualized as eco-cultural events blending art, conservation, and community engagement to reveal the interdependence between people and nature [25].

This cultural-to-natural transition also represents a form of community mobilization, in which local residents, artists, and educators act as key agents of transformation. Through participatory design, entrepreneurship, and storytelling, they express local identity while conserving natural resources. In this sense, creative tourism functions as a mechanism for socio-ecological innovation—linking cultural creativity with conservation ethics and community empowerment. Digital storytelling and social media further reinforce this transformation by circulating narratives and visuals that connect creativity with ecological values, inspiring responsible visitation and extending the reach of sustainability communication [24,26].

Building on the framework of sustainability transitions, this mobilization highlights how creative tourism functions as a mobile and adaptive system that integrates cultural heritage, environmental stewardship, and digital engagement. By integrating cultural production with ecological participation, it repositions tourism as a medium for behavioral and systemic change rather than simply leisure consumption. This perspective expands the theoretical boundaries of creative tourism, situating it within the broader context of socio-technical transitions toward sustainability.

In this context, activity-based segmentation provides a practical and theoretically grounded tool for translating creative participation into effective management and communication strategies. Understanding visitor diversity is essential for sustainable recreation planning, as tourists differ in motivations, behaviors, and levels of environmental awareness. Segmenting visitors based on their activities and engagement patterns enables managers to design targeted strategies that encourage responsible behavior, optimize resource use, and enhance overall visitor experiences. Segmentation research has evolved from traditional demographic typologies toward activity-based frameworks that emphasize observable behaviors and engagement preferences [27,28]. In creative tourism, Tan, Luh, and Kung [29] identified multiple visitor profiles—such as novelty-seekers, cultural learners, and creators—while subsequent studies [30] confirmed that activity specialization significantly influences tourists’ motivations and experiential preferences. Applying these findings to national parks allows managers to cluster visitors according to creative behaviors—Buying, Seeing, Tasting, and Learning—and to design targeted social media and educational strategies that correlate with each group’s interests and values. This behavioral insight strengthens the connection between segmentation and sustainable recreation management by aligning communication design with diverse visitor motivations. It also illustrates how differentiated strategies can promote sustainability outcomes: for instance, learning-oriented segments may respond best to educational content about conservation, while visually driven visitors may be influenced through emotional storytelling and imagery. In this strategy, segmentation functions as both a management instrument and a behavioral framework for guiding creative and sustainable engagement within national parks.

Furthermore, social media functions not only as a communication channel but also as a persuasion mechanism that shapes pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) [31] provides a conceptual foundation for understanding how digital messages influence audiences through two cognitive routes: the central route, which engages visitors through thoughtful processing of educational or interpretive content, and the peripheral route, which operates through emotional and visual stimuli such as imagery, storytelling, and influencer credibility. In sustainable tourism communication, these dual routes work synergistically to enhance awareness, shape attitudes, and foster post-visit engagement [32,33]. Integrating ELM within this framework thus explains how digital engagement can operationalize sustainability transitions—by transforming online inspiration into real-world conservation behavior. Together, the integration of creative tourism mobilization, activity-based segmentation, and digital persuasion frameworks provides both a theoretical and practical pathway for promoting sustainability-oriented recreation. It illustrates how cultural creativity, community participation, and social media engagement can collectively drive behavioral transformation and systemic change within nature-based tourism.

Despite extensive research on creative tourism and social media communication, there remains a critical lack of integrative studies that connect these frameworks within nature-based destinations. Creative tourism theory emphasizes co-creation, participation, and experiential learning as pathways to value creation and identity formation, while sustainability transition theory provides a lens for understanding behavioral and systemic change toward responsible tourism. Complementing these, digital communication models, particularly the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), explain how central (information-based) and peripheral (emotion-based) cues influence visitors’ engagement and decision-making. In this research, these theories are conceptually integrated: creative tourism provides the participatory foundation; sustainability transition outlines the transformative direction; and digital persuasion mechanisms demonstrate how social media communication can shape sustainability-oriented recreation behaviors.

Previous research has largely examined creative tourism in cultural or urban contexts, focusing on heritage, crafts, and creative economies, while studies on nature-based tourism have emphasized ecological management and visitor impacts rather than creativity, participation, or digital engagement. As a result, empirical understanding of how creative tourism can be mobilized from cultural to ecological settings remains limited. Similarly, while segmentation and social media have been widely applied in tourism marketing, few studies have explored how activity-based segmentation and digital persuasion strategies can jointly inform sustainability-oriented recreation management in protected areas.

This study addresses these critical gaps by (1) examining creative tourism activities within Thailand’s national parks, (2) identifying visitor segments based on creative activity preferences and social media engagement patterns, and (3) developing a social media–based communication framework that integrates creative tourist segmentation with nature-based tourism management to support participatory learning and promote sustainability-oriented recreation planning and development. By integrating creative tourism theory, sustainability transition concepts, and digital communication models, this research introduces a novel framework for understanding how creative participation and online engagement can drive behavioral transformation and support sustainable recreation planning. The core research question guiding this study is: How can a social media framework, informed by creative tourist segmentation, be designed to foster sustainability-oriented recreation within Thailand’s national parks? Ultimately, it aims to reposition Thailand’s national parks as dynamic platforms for creativity, education, and sustainability—bridging the gap between environmental management and digital-era visitor engagement.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Framework

The research framework consists of three main parts aligned with the study’s objectives (Figure 2), integrating the theoretical perspectives of Creative Tourism, Tourism Mobilities, Sustainability Transitions, and Digital Communication Behavior discussed in the Introduction. Together, these theories provide the conceptual basis for understanding how creativity, participation, and digital engagement can support sustainable recreation planning in Thailand’s national parks.

The first parts: Creative Tourism Activity Analysis. This part builds on Richards’ creative tourism framework, which emphasizes participatory and experience-based learning through active engagement and self-expression. In this study, creative tourism activities are defined as interactive experiences that encourage learning, cultural exchange, and personal creativity within natural environments. The analysis begins with the identification and categorization of creative tourism activities across both terrestrial and marine national parks. These activities are then analyzed and grouped into key thematic dimensions, providing a systematic understanding of the creative tourism landscape and its transition from culture-based to nature-based contexts.

The second part: Visitor Segmentation. This part focuses on identifying and clustering visitor groups based on their preferences for creative tourism activities and their patterns of media engagement. Grounded in activity-based segmentation, this step recognizes that visitor diversity—in motivations, interests, and digital behaviors—necessitates differentiated management and communication strategies. The segmentation process reveals distinct visitor profiles that represent varying levels of creative engagement and environmental awareness. Understanding these profiles enables a more targeted and effective approach to communication design and sustainable recreation management.

The third part: Strategic Social Media Communication. The third part of this research applies the ELM to develop targeted digital communication strategies for each visitor segment. By aligning content types, narratives, and media formats with the cognitive and emotional engagement routes of different visitor groups, this part illustrates how social media can serve as a powerful mechanism for both persuasion and learning. These strategies are designed to encourage participatory learning, reinforce pro-environmental behavior, and promote sustained engagement with national parks. Grounded in the sustainability transitions perspective, this integration of segmentation and digital communication offers actionable recommendations for enhancing creative tourism experiences and advancing sustainable recreation management within Thailand’s national parks.

2.2. Data Collection

This study employed a mixed-method design that combined qualitative and quantitative approaches to ensure both contextual depth and reliable results. The first part, representing the qualitative phase, identified and contextualized creative tourism activities within Thailand’s national parks through content review and field observation. The second part, representing the quantitative phase, utilized a structured questionnaire survey to segment visitors and analyze patterns of digital engagement. The results from the quantitative analysis were then interpreted in light of qualitative insights, providing a deeper understanding of how creative participation and online behavior interact within natural environments. This sequential integration between qualitative exploration and quantitative validation strengthened the overall research design by linking contextual discovery with empirical testing, thereby enhancing construct validity, methodological coherence, and practical applicability of the findings. The details of each part are described as follows:

2.2.1. Part 1: Selection of Creative Tourism Activities

This part of the study aimed to identify creative tourism activities offered within Thailand’s national parks using a two-phase approach. In the first phase, secondary data were reviewed from a range of sources, including official national park websites, social media platforms (e.g., Facebook), and previous academic studies related to creative tourism in Thailand. These exploratory reviews provided contextual insights that informed the development of a preliminary inventory of creative tourism activities and contributed to the formulation of activity-based questionnaire items in part 2, ensuring that the quantitative instruments accurately reflected real practices and visitor experiences.

The selection of national parks was guided by their high popularity among both domestic and international tourists. Ten national parks were chosen, comprising five terrestrial parks (Khao Yai, Erawan, Doi Inthanon, Khao Sok, and Khao Khitchakut) and five marine parks (Khao Laem Ya, Hat Noppharat Thara, Mu Ko Lanta, Mu Ko Similan, and Ao Phang Nga) [6] (Figure 3). Field visits to these sites allowed for direct observation and systematic documentation of creative tourism practices, ensuring contextual relevance, empirical validity, and practical applicability of the identified activities. The field survey was conducted between January and November 2024, capturing seasonal variations.

2.2.2. Part 2: Visitor Survey

Research Tools: This study applied a structured questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The questionnaire comprised four sections. The first two sections gathered demographic data and trip characteristics to describe the respondent profile and travel behavior. The third section focused on media influence, assessing how different media formats (e.g., photos, text, videos, short videos, and live streaming) and content types (e.g., conservation education, scenic imagery) impacted travel decisions. Respondents evaluated media types using a five-point Likert scale and identified relevant content themes.

The fourth section examined preferences for creative tourism activities in national parks. Respondents were asked to rate 20 activity items, identified from the findings in Part 1, using a five-point Likert scale. Content validity of the questionnaire was reviewed by three experts using the Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC), with revisions made according to their recommendations. A pilot study involving 30 participants from the target population was conducted to refine the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was determined to be 0.89, indicating a notably high level of reliability for the questionnaire. Additionally, the questionnaire received approval from the Institutional Review Board.

Sample Size and Sampling Method: Three national parks were selected for the questionnaire survey, drawn from the ten sites identified in the previous phase. According to the DNP [7], Thailand’s designated national park system comprising 109 terrestrial and 24 marine parks. To reflect the proportional distribution of the sample included two terrestrial national parks (Erawan and Doi Inthanon) and one marine national park (Mu Ko Similan). Participants were selected using a systematic sampling method, with every third group of visitors invited to participate. This interval was adopted to obtain a balanced distribution of respondents across different times of day and visitor flows, while minimizing potential bias from consecutive visitor groups (such as families or tour groups arriving together). This approach enhanced the representativeness and reliability of the collected data. Respondents were approached after completing their visit to ensure they were familiar with the available activities and to minimize response bias based on limited or incomplete experiences. To enhance the representativeness of the sample, the distribution of respondents between terrestrial and marine parks was aligned with the five-year average visitor statistics from the ten highest-performing national parks. Based on these data, approximately 54.5% of the sample was drawn from terrestrial parks (n = 618), and 45.5% from the marine park (n = 515). The minimum required sample size was calculated using Yamane’s formula, applying a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. Using the combined annual visitor population of the three selected parks in 2022 (N = 2,020,346), the minimum required sample size was estimated at approximately 400 respondents. The final sample size of 1133 exceeds this threshold, ensuring strong statistical reliability. Visitor survey was conducted between January and June 2024. Ethical approval for the study was granted by the DNP under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

To ensure data quality and reliability, trained field researchers conducted all on-site surveys using standardized procedures to maintain consistency in administration. To prevent duplicate responses and protect data integrity, only one questionnaire per travel group was accepted. Completed surveys were then screened for missing data, logical inconsistencies, and outliers prior to analysis. These data verification protocols ensured a high level of reliability and validity for subsequent analyses.

2.3. Data Analysis

2.3.1. Part 1: Identification of Creative Tourism Activities in National Parks

The data analysis for this phase involved qualitative synthesis and thematic classification. First, content from secondary sources was reviewed to identify recurring patterns, descriptions, and examples of creative tourism activities. These data were coded and organized to develop an initial inventory of activities aligned with the definition of creative tourism, emphasizing participation, cultural engagement, and learning. In the second phase, field observations from ten selected national parks were used to validate and refine this inventory. Observational data were recorded using structured field notes, photographs, and informal interviews with park staff or local stakeholders. The collected data were compared against the initial list to confirm existing activities, identify new or unlisted practices, and eliminate those no longer offered or irrelevant to the study context. To categorize creative tourism activities, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify the underlying dimensions based on respondents’ interests. Visitors rated their interest in a list of selected recreational activities using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not interested, 5 = very interested). The list of activities was developed through earlier qualitative phases and grounded in Richards’ [11] creative tourism framework. Although the four-category framework (Seeing, Learning, Tasting, Buying) was conceptually informed by prior literature, EFA was used to empirically examine the dimensional structure of tourist interest data. The extracted factors from EFA were then used to segment tourists through cluster analysis, supporting further interpretation of activity preferences and behavior patterns.

2.3.2. Part 2: Visitor Segmentation

To segment visitors based on their creative tourism preferences in Thailand’s national parks, a multi-step analytical approach was applied. This process included descriptive analysis, EFA, and cluster analysis, along with supporting inferential statistical tests (

Table 1. Analytical methods applied to identify visitor segments related to creative tourism in Thailand’s National Parks.

Analysis Component	Statistical Method	Purpose/Objective
1. Segmentation Analysis	Raw Mean-Based Clustering	To categorize tourists into distinct groups based on their major preferences for creative tourism activities.
2. Descriptive Comparison	Mean Comparison and Cross-tabulation	To examine and summarize differences in activity preferences, media usage, and content engagement across the identified segments.
3. Inferential Testing	Chi-square Test	To identify statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics and content preferences among visitor clusters.
4. Detailed Group Comparison	Post hoc Tests	To determine specific variables or items that differ significantly between individual visitor clusters.

).

• Descriptive Analysis: Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic and trip characteristics of the respondents. This included variables such as age, gender, education level, travel group type, and purpose of visit. These data provided a general profile of national park visitors and served as a contextual foundation for the segmentation process.
• Cluster Formation: To classify visitors into distinct groups, a hybrid clustering approach was applied. Traditional hierarchical and k-means procedures were first tested but produced unstable results due to the heterogeneity of visitor interests. Therefore, to ensure interpretive clarity and practical applicability for recreation management, respondents were allocated to clusters corresponding to the factor with the highest mean score among the three main factors including (1) level of interest in creative tourism activities, (2) social media use patterns, and (3) tourism characteristics, cluster analysis was applied to group individuals by their dominant interests. This approach represents a dominant-preference classification, which identifies the primary behavioral or motivational tendency of each respondent. While this method differs from traditional statistical clustering procedures, it provides a transparent and behaviorally interpretable segmentation structure that aligns with the study’s managerial objectives. To address potential limitations related to within-group variability and statistical generalizability, the classification results were validated against k-means clustering outputs, which revealed consistent segment patterns. This validation enhances methodological transparency and conceptual coherence, supporting the application of segmentation in protected area management and sustainable tourism planning.
• Comparative and Inferential Analysis: To compare segments, mean scores across media format preferences and content influence were analyzed. Media format influence was rated using a 5-point Likert scale, while content influence was measured with binary (Yes/No) responses. Chi-square tests were used to assess statistical differences in demographic and trip-related variables across clusters. Where significant associations were found, post hoc comparisons were conducted. All tests were performed at a 95% confidence level (p < 0.05), with confidence intervals reported as appropriate.

3. Results

3.1. Examining Creative Tourism Activities Within Thailand’s National Parks

3.1.1. Identification and Selection of Creative Tourism Activities

A comprehensive review of 133 national parks in Thailand, including 130 terrestrial and 26 marine parks, combined with findings from field observations, identified a total of 25 unique recreational activities. This diversification of activities reflects the ecological and functional diversity of Thailand’s protected areas. The 23 activities were reported in terrestrial national parks. The most frequently observed activities in terrestrial parks included (1) nature study along nature trail (100.00%), (2) camping (87.69%), (3) enjoying the scenic beauty of a waterfall (80.77%), (4) exploring native plant species in the park (72.31%), (5) bird watching (70.77%) and (6) observing butterflies (70.77%). In marine national parks, 21 recreational activities were recorded. The overall pattern of activity offerings was largely consistent with those observed in terrestrial parks, though with slight variations in emphasis due to the coastal and marine context. The most frequently observed activities included (1) nature study along nature trail (100.00%), (2) exploring native plant species in the park (96.15%), (3) bird watching (88.46%), (4) observing butterflies (88.46%), (5) camping (61.54%), and (6) snorkeling (65.22%). These findings indicate a strong overlap in core nature-based activities offered across both park types, with additional water-based recreation (such as snorkeling) playing a more prominent role in marine parks. The consistency of activities such as nature study, flora observation, and wildlife watching emphasizes their foundational role in passive outdoor recreation and environmental interpretation within Thailand’s protected area system.

To ensure alignment with the principles of creative tourism, a refinement process was conducted to evaluate 27 identified outdoor recreation activities. Creative tourism emphasizes active participation, experiential learning, cultural exchange, and the co-creation of value between visitors and host communities. Based on this framework, five activities, including rafting, bicycling, trail running, windsurfing, and scuba diving, were excluded from further analysis due to their emphasis on physical challenge, adventure-oriented experiences, passive entertainment, or limited cultural and educational engagement The remaining 20 activities demonstrated strong potential to foster experiential learning, cultural interaction, and meaningful visitor engagement within protected areas (

Table 2. A set of 20 recreational activities aligned with the concept of creative tourism offered in Thailand’s National Parks.

Creative Tourism Activity Spectrum
Buying	Seeing	Tasting	Learning
- Buying local products from markets near national parks - Buying souvenirs from national parks - Buying locally made products - Buying nature-inspired artwork - Buying natural products from local communities	- Watching sunrise and sunset at scenic viewpoints - Hiking to panoramic viewpoints within national parks - Enjoying scenic and unique landscapes - Participating in wildlife safaris in national parks - Exploring historical and cultural heritage sites within national parks	- Dining in a national park environment - Tasting fresh local produce - Enjoying locally brewed coffee within park settings - Participating in traditional cooking activities in national parks - Exploring traditional fishing and cooking practices in local communities	- Participating in nature-based workshops - Learning traditional crafts in park-based art workshops - Attending survival skills training in national parks - Volunteering in conservation-focused park workshops - Developing bird-watching skills through guided workshops

). These activities were classified into four thematic categories, adapted from Richards’ (2011) creative tourism framework: (1) Buying Mode—Supporting local communities through the purchase of handmade products, park-themed souvenirs, and natural goods, thereby fostering deeper cultural and economic connections. (2) Seeing Mode—Engaging with natural and cultural landscapes through scenic viewing, hiking, wildlife observation, and heritage site exploration. (3) Tasting Mode—Experiencing local culinary traditions by sampling fresh produce, enjoying locally brewed coffee, and participating in traditional cooking practices. (4) Learning Mode—Acquiring knowledge and skills through hands-on workshops, traditional craft sessions, survival training, and conservation volunteering.

These 20 activities were retained for EFA to identify the underlying dimensions of creative tourism in national park contexts.

3.1.2. Factor Analysis of Creative Tourism Activities

An EFA was conducted to examine the underlying dimensions of tourists’ interest in creative tourism activities. Participants rated their level of interest in each of the 20 activities using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not interested, 5 = very interested). The EFA revealed meaningful shifts in how items are clustered, underscoring the value of exploratory methods in identifying data-driven patterns. The resulting four dimensions served as the empirical foundation for subsequent cluster analysis, aimed at segmenting tourists based on their creative tourism preferences (

Table 3. Factor analysis of visitor interested in creative tourism activities.

Creative Tourism Activities			Exp
	Mean	Loading	Eigen Values	% of Variance	Cronbach
Group 1: Nature-based learning			10.51	52.571	0.819
- Participate in nature-based workshops	3.83	0.772
- Learn traditional crafts in park-based art workshops	3.78	0.793
- Attend survival skills training in national parks	3.73	0.862
- Volunteer in conservation-focused park workshops	3.67	0.839
- Develop bird-watching skills through guided workshops	3.60	0.900
- Explore traditional fishing and cooking practices in the local community.	3.54	0.905
Group 2: Scenic immersion			1.61	8.061	0.827
- Watch sunrise and sunset at scenic viewpoints	4.13	0.865
- Hike to panoramic viewpoints within national parks	4.02	0.893
- Enjoy scenic and unique landscapes.	4.00	0.907
- Participating in wildlife safaris in national parks	3.90	0.815
- Explore historical and cultural heritage sites within parks	3.86	0.759
Group 3: Community participation			1.43	7.128	0.845
- Shop at local markets near national parks	3.71	0.739
- Purchase souvenirs from national parks	3.56	0.823
- Purchase locally made products.	3.52	0.845
- Purchase artwork inspired by national parks	3.49	0.787
- Buy natural products from local communities	3.48	0.849
Group 4: Culinary activities			0.990	4.947	0.803
- Dining in a national park environment	3.95	0.858
- Tasting fresh local fruits and vegetables	3.90	0.830
- Enjoy locally brewed coffee within park settings	3.80	0.869
- Participate in traditional cooking activities at national parks.	3.78	0.851	10.51
Total Variance Explained and Cronbach Alpha of All items				72.707	0.862

Note: The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was 0.952, and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was significant (χ² = 16,886.683, df = 190, p < 0.001), confirming that the data were suitable for factor analysis. Using principal component extraction with Varimax rotation, four factors were retained based on eigenvalues greater than 1, together accounting for 72.71% of the total variance. Each factor exhibited strong internal reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.803 to 0.845.

). The extracted dimensions are as follows.

Group 1: Nature-based learning (α = 0.819; Eigenvalue = 10.51; 52.57% variance): This dimension includes six items related to workshops, survival skills training, birdwatching, and conservation volunteering. It reflects tourists’ interest in participatory, educational, and skill-building experiences in natural settings.

Group 2: Scenic immersion (α = 0.827; 8.06% variance): Comprising five items, this dimension emphasizes esthetic and emotionally resonant experiences such as hiking, viewing landscapes, and visiting cultural or historical sites, highlighting a preference for reflective and scenery-based recreation.

Group 3: Community participation (α = 0.845; 7.13% variance): This factor relates to engagement with local economies, including shopping for and purchasing locally made goods. It reflects both economic support and symbolic interaction with host communities.

Group 4: Culinary activities (α = 0.803; 4.95% variance): This dimension captures interest in food-related experiences, including tasting local cuisine, enjoying regional coffee, and participating in traditional cooking practices, indicating a preference for gastronomic and cultural immersion.

The findings from the EFA reveal four distinct dimensions of tourist interest in creative tourism activities within Thailand’s national parks: (1) Nature-based Learning, (2) Scenic Immersion, (3) Community Participation, and (4) Culinary Activities. Based on the results, the Nature-based learning factor accounts for 52.57% of the total variance, representing the largest proportion of explained variance. This dominant dimension suggests that educational and interpretive experiences form the core orientation of visitor engagement in national parks. The strong explanatory power of this factor underscores the growing significance of knowledge acquisition, environmental understanding, and experiential learning as central components of nature-based recreation, reflecting a shift toward more mindful and purpose-driven visitor experiences. Collectively, these dimensions provide valuable insights into the evolving preferences of park visitors and highlight a broader transformation from passive sightseeing to more interactive, experience-centered recreation. The extracted dimensions span a continuum of engagement—from active participation (e.g., workshops, volunteering, cooking) to reflective experiences (e.g., landscape viewing, cultural site visits)—supporting prior research that modern outdoor recreation increasingly integrates learning, cultural discovery, and personal growth rather than focusing solely on physical challenge or escapism [34]. The coexistence of both action-oriented and contemplative activities demonstrates that Thailand’s national parks cater to diverse visitor expectations—an essential consideration for future programming, interpretation, and infrastructure development that balances engagement, education, and conservation.

3.2. Visitor Segments Based on Creative Activity Preferences and Social Media Engagement Patterns

3.2.1. Demographic Profiles of Respondents

Demographic Profiles: According to the 1133 survey respondents, the sample was predominantly female (72.69%), followed by male (22.33%) and individuals identifying as LGBTQ+ (4.98%). A majority of respondents (55.25%) were classified as Generation Z (born approximately 1997–2012), with Generation Y (Millennials) accounting for 37.86%. In terms of regional background, most respondents (75.55%) were from non-local areas, indicating that the sample largely comprised domestic tourists traveling from outside the selected national parks. Regarding education background, 66.46% held at least a bachelor’s degree, while 5.36% had qualifications above that level. Income data showed that 64.78% earned below the national average, 24.45% were at the average, and 10.8% earned above it, reflecting a broad representation of middle- to lower-income visitors.

Trip Characteristics: The primary motivation for travel was relaxation (82.32%), followed by visiting new places (47.68%) and spending time with family (40.46%). Popular activities included photography (75.60%) and sightseeing (68.03%). Most respondents traveled with friends (48.90%) or family (43.95%), reflecting a preference for shared travel experiences. The majority were first-time visitors (61.3%). In terms of trip duration, the most common were 1-day trips (31.51%), followed by 3 days/2 nights (27.27%) and 2 days/1 night (23.83%), indicating a tendency toward short to medium-length visits. Travel decisions were most influenced by recommendations from friends (51.37%) and online influencers (40.60%), while traditional sources such as travel agents and offline media played a minimal role, highlighting the increasing impact of digital platforms on travel behavior.

Media Influence: The results indicate that visual and audiovisual formats had a stronger influence on national park travel decisions than text-based content ($\overline{X}$ = 3.02, SD = 1.14). Formats with highest influence include photos ($\overline{X}$ = 4.06, SD = 0.90), streaming content ($\overline{X}$ = 4.01, SD = 0.87), and short videos ($\overline{X}$ = 3.96, SD = 0.92). This highlights the persuasive impact of visually rich and emotionally engaging media, underscoring the role of visual storytelling in tourism communication. Regarding content types, scenic media emerged as the most influential, with 80.14% of respondents reporting it affected their decision to visit parks. Educational content, such as tutorials and cultural information, followed at 56.13%. In contrast, promotional materials (37.42%) and park mission messaging (30.19%) were seen as less impactful. These findings suggest that tourists are more receptive to engaging, visually driven content than to formal or institutional messaging.

Preferences for Creative Tourism Activities: Based on the 20 selected activities, watching the sunrise and sunset at scenic viewpoints received the highest average preference score ($\overline{X}$ = 4.13, on a 5-point scale), followed by hiking to panoramic viewpoints within national parks ($\overline{X}$ = 4.02, SD = 0.893) and enjoying scenic and unique landscapes ($\overline{X}$ = 4.00, SD = 0.907). When analyzed by category, visitors expressed the greatest interest in scenic immersion ($\overline{X}$ = 3.84, SD = 0.735), followed by culinary-based activities ($\overline{X}$ = 3.88, SD = 0.788), nature-based learning and conservation engagement ($\overline{X}$ = 3.70, SD = 0.784), and community participation ($\overline{X}$ = 3.55, SD = 0.730). These results suggest a strong preference for immersive experiences in natural settings, complemented by interest in cultural and participatory activities related to food and learning.

3.2.2. Visitor Segmentation and Behavioral Profiles

Clustering Visitors Based on Creative Tourism Preferences: A cluster analysis was conducted using standardized scores derived from the four creative tourism activity groups identified through the EFA. The analysis categorized respondents into five distinct visitor clusters based on their patterns of interest in creative tourism experiences within national parks (

Table 4. Distribution of mean scores for visitor interest across four creative tourism activity groups in Thailand’s National Parks.

Group of Creative Tourism Activity	Cluster					F	p-Value
	Local Advocates	Nature Explorers	Food Enthusiasts	Nature-Based Learners	Diverse Enthusiasts
Nature-based learning	3.38	3.41	3.57	4.00	3.95	31.66	0.000
Scenic immersion	3.50	4.28	3.79	3.58	4.04	33.56	0.000
Community participation	3.96	3.31	3.42	3.38	3.74	26.48	0.000
Culinary activities	3.38	3.53	4.31	3.56	4.03	56.39	0.000
Frequency	70	289	232	86	456
%	6.18	25.50	20.48	7.59	40.25

). These clusters reflect diverse motivations and preferences for engaging in outdoor recreational activities. The five clusters are described as follows:

Cluster 1: Local advocates (6.18%): Representing the smallest segment, this group exhibited the highest interest in community participation ($\overline{X}$= 3.96), particularly activities supporting local products and handicrafts. Their moderate interest in other activity types suggests a focused preference for community-centered tourism experiences.

Cluster 2: Nature explorers (25.50%): This group showed a strong preference for scenic immersion ($\overline{X}$ = 4.28), including hiking, wildlife viewing, and photography. Their relatively lower interest in community or food-based activities highlights a nature-oriented tourism profile focused on outdoor recreation.

Cluster 3: Food enthusiasts (20.48%): This cluster demonstrated the highest interest in culinary-based activities ($\overline{X}$ = 4.31), such as local cuisine, cooking workshops, and tasting regional specialties. Their secondary interests in nature and community activities reflect a tourism preference centered on gastronomy.

Cluster 4: Nature-Based Learners (7.59%): A smaller segment, these visitors prioritized nature-based learning ($\overline{X}$ = 4.00), showing a strong inclination toward educational and skill-building activities like survival training, conservation workshops, and birdwatching. Their interest reflects a deeper engagement with environmental learning.

Cluster 5: Diverse enthusiasts (40.25%): As the largest segment, this group expressed consistently high interest across all four activity types, particularly in scenic immersion ($\overline{X}$ = 4.04) and culinary activities ($\overline{X}$ = 4.03). This broad enthusiasm suggests a well-rounded tourist profile that is highly receptive to diverse creative tourism offerings within national parks.

Additionally, statistical testing confirmed significant differences in creative tourism interests across the five clusters. These findings express the heterogeneity of visitor preferences and highlight the opportunity for national parks to develop targeted programs and interpretive strategies. By recognizing the unique interests of each cluster, national parks can design more inclusive, engaging, and sustainable tourism experiences that enhance visitor satisfaction while supporting conservation and local community goals.

The characteristics of visitors in each cluster: Based on visitors’ preferences for creative tourism activities combined with their behavioral profiles,

Table 5. In-depth profiles of the five visitor clusters based on creative tourism preferences, media use, and demographic and trip characteristics in Thailand’s National Park.

Cluster		Creative Activities Interest	Media Preference	Trip Character
1.	Local Advocates	- Community-based activities - Lower engagement in other dimensions	- Text-based and photo media content - Educational orientation	- Influenced by friends and online influencers - Visit primarily for relaxation and photography - Prefer one-day trips with friends or family - Mostly first-time visitors
2.	Nature explorers	- Nature exploration - Moderate interest in food-related activities	- Photos and short videos - Visual-experiential preference	- Primarily influenced by online influencers and personal motivation. - Visit mainly for relaxation, photography, and sightseeing - Prefer one-night trips with friends - Mostly first-time visitors
3.	Food enthusiasts	- Strongest interest in food-based activities - Moderate interest in nature and community themes	- Scenic media and streaming formats - Low engagement with text content	- Primality influenced by friends, with less influence from family. - Visit mainly for learning about nature and escaping routine - Prefer one-day trips with friends - Mostly first-time visitors
4.	Nature learners	- Strongest interest in nature-based learning - balanced but lower interest in other areas	- Text and conservation-focused content - Slightly higher preference for text and conservation-focused media	- Primarily influenced by friends, with less influence from family. - Visit mainly for learning about nature and escaping routine - Prefer one-day trips with friends - Commonly first-time visitors
5.	Diverse enthusiasts	- Broad interest across all dimensions. - Particularly in nature and food	- Active across photo, streaming, and short videos - Multi-format responsiveness	- Predominantly influenced by friends and online sources. - Visit for relaxation and escape - Prefer short trips with friends or family - Mostly first-time visitors

presents an in-depth profile of five visitor clusters identified through their creative tourism preferences, preferred media formats, and trip characteristics.

The results reveal distinct patterns in visitor characteristics, creative tourism interests, and media preferences across the five identified clusters. In terms of creative tourism interests, each group exhibited unique preferences. Local advocates focused strongly on community-based activities, such as supporting local products and crafts. Nature explorers prioritized outdoor recreation and scenic immersion, while Food enthusiasts showed the highest interest in culinary experiences, including local cuisine and cooking workshops. Nature-Based Learners gravitated toward educational and conservation-themed activities, such as survival training and birdwatching. Meanwhile, Diverse enthusiasts showed high interest across all activity types, particularly in nature and food, making them the most broadly engaged segment. These differences express the variety of motivations driving visitors’ participation in creative tourism within national parks. Media preferences also varied by group, with a strong overall trend toward visual content. Photos, short videos, and streaming media were consistently more influential in shaping travel decisions than text-based content. Nature explorers, Food enthusiasts, and Diverse enthusiasts showed a clear preference for visual and experiential media formats, indicating a desire for immersive storytelling and engaging imagery. In contrast, Local advocates and Nature-based learners demonstrated more interest in text-based and educational media, suggesting a preference for detailed, informative content. Across all groups, influence from friends, online influencers, and personal motivation played a significant role in shaping travel behavior, highlighting the importance of peer networks and digital engagement in promoting creative tourism.

4. Discussion

This study advances the understanding of creative tourism within nature-based settings by integrating visitor segmentation with patterns of digital media engagement. The findings reveal that diverse groups of national park visitors express distinct creative motivations, activity preferences, and communication behaviors, highlighting the interaction in which creativity, learning, and technology intersect in outdoor recreation. By situating these results within existing theories of creative experience, digital persuasion, and generational behavior, the discussion interprets the theoretical and managerial significance of these patterns. The following sections elaborate on (1) theoretical contributions and extensions of the creative tourism framework, (2) digital engagement, media effects, and generational influences, (3) methodological reflections and research limitations, and (4) practical and managerial implications for creative tourism development in protected areas.

4.1. Theoretical Contributions and Extensions of the Creative Tourism Framework

This section highlights the theoretical contributions of the study, explaining how the integration of creative tourism theory, sustainability transition concepts, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) extends understanding of visitor behavior and engagement in nature-based destinations. The study contributes to the growing literature on creative tourism, digital communication, and outdoor recreation by empirically identifying five visitor segments, including Local Advocates, Nature Explorers, Food Enthusiasts, Nature Learners, and Diverse Enthusiasts, within Thailand’s national parks based on preferences for creative activities and media engagement. These patterns affirm the value of activity-based segmentation in protected area tourism (McKercher et al. [28]; Stemmer et al. [30]) and provide practical guidance for developing visitor-centered, resource-sensitive experiences.

The results further demonstrate that the concept of creative tourism, traditionally applied to cultural and urban settings, can be successfully extended to nature-based and protected area environments. The identified activities, such as nature learning, scenic immersion, local food experiences, and community participation, reflect Richards’ [11] participatory, skill-based, and sensory-rich framework. Within this context, national parks can foster creativity through guided trekking, forest cooking, craft workshops, and conservation volunteering, encouraging reflection, learning, and cultural appreciation beyond conventional recreation.

Importantly, the study highlights how creative tourism preferences intersect with media-consumption behaviors. Experience-oriented visitors (Nature Explorers and Food Enthusiasts) engage more with visual and audiovisual content, while learning-oriented groups (Local Advocates and Nature Learners) prefer educational, text-based materials. These relationships align with the ELM, where cognitively involved audiences process messages through central, interpretive routes, and emotionally driven groups respond to peripheral cues such as imagery, tone, and storytelling. Statistically significant differences across content types—particularly Scenic Media (p = 0.003), short-form videos (p = 0.019), and streaming formats (p = 0.031)—underscore the importance of multimodal communication that combines emotional resonance with cognitive depth.

Extending foundational studies from European and East Asian contexts [11,35], this research advances the creative tourism framework by demonstrating how creative engagement operates in natural landscapes—an area that remains underexplored [15,36,37,38]. By incorporating social media engagement and persuasion theory, the study addresses a critical gap in understanding how digital experiences shape creative participation in protected areas. The findings show that creative tourism functions as a mechanism for sustainability, where participatory and experience-based engagement fosters environmental learning, emotional connection, and cultural appreciation—key drivers of cognitive, affective, and behavioral change. Integrating the ELM into this framework illustrates how both informative conservation messages and emotionally appealing storytelling can promote pro-environmental behavior. Collectively, these contributions extend creative tourism scholarship beyond its cultural and urban origins, positioning it as a transformative approach for sustainability in protected areas that strengthens stewardship and supports management and policy goals.

4.2. Digital Engagement, Media Effects, and Generational Influences

This section focuses on digital engagement and generational influences, emphasizing how different audiences process sustainability messages across media formats and how these insights can guide communication strategies in protected areas. The predominance of Generation Z respondents provides an important context for interpreting digital behavior patterns. Gen Z travelers, known for their high digital literacy and social media fluency, favor authentic, visually stimulating, and interactive content, aligning with global research on youth digital engagement in tourism [13,39]. Their preference for emotionally engaging and visually rich storytelling reflects the shift from static, text-based communication toward dynamic and participatory media in nature-based tourism. Consequently, media formats such as short-form videos, livestreams, and interactive stories effectively sustain attention and evoke emotional involvement.

From a theoretical perspective, these generational tendencies align closely with the ELM [31], which proposes two primary routes to persuasion. Gen Z travelers are more likely to process messages through the peripheral route, responding to imagery, tone, narrative rhythm, and esthetic appeal rather than detailed factual argumentation. In contrast, older generations—such as Millennials and Generation X engage through the central route, favoring reflective and evidence-based reasoning supported by interpretive and educational content. This distinction helps explain why younger audiences respond more strongly to emotionally charged visuals and short-form media, whereas older groups prefer text-based, documentary, or infographic content that encourages deeper cognitive elaboration.

Strategically, sustainability communication in protected areas should be generation-responsive and media-diverse. For Gen Z audiences, strategies emphasizing visual storytelling, real-time interaction, and gamified experiences are most effective in creating initial emotional engagement. However, to build enduring pro-environmental attitudes, communication should adopt a hybrid persuasion approach—gradually guiding young audiences from emotional resonance to analytical reflection by embedding factual insights and participatory learning within visually appealing content. For Millennial and Gen X visitors, educational infographics, interpretive narratives, and long-form digital content remain effective for fostering reflective understanding and long-term environmental commitment.

Overall, the dominance of Gen Z respondents in this study may have amplified the emphasis on visual and emotionally engaging content, yet it also highlights the evolving landscape of digital engagement in tourism. The results highlight the need for multi-generational digital strategies that balance emotional resonance for younger audiences with interpretive depth for older cohorts. Designing communication that integrates emotional, cognitive, and experiential dimensions across multiple media formats can enhance both visitor engagement and sustainability learning outcomes, aligning protected-area communication with the broader goals of creative and responsible tourism development.

4.3. Methodological Reflections and Research Limitations

Several methodological limitations should be noted. Firstly, the selected sites focused on national parks with high visitation levels, which may overrepresent mainstream tourists while underrepresenting niche markets such as highly motivated creative tourists who prefer less-visited or alternative destinations. Secondly, the findings are based on participants’ self-reported preferences and perceived media influence, which may be affected by recall bias or social desirability, thus limiting the accuracy of behavioral interpretations. Finally, while this study examined both content type and media format, their combined or interactive effects were not analyzed, potentially overlooking more nuanced insights into how content design influences tourist decision-making.

Future research should therefore consider longitudinal approaches to capture how visitor motivations and media preferences evolve over time within a rapidly changing digital landscape. Broader social and environmental factors, such as post-pandemic recovery, climate change awareness, and technological innovation, are reshaping how people engage with outdoor recreation and nature-based experiences. Expanding research beyond high-visitation national parks to include lesser-known, community-managed, or ecotourism areas across different ecological zones would also provide a more holistic view of creative tourism opportunities and visitor diversity. Moreover, exploring the interaction between content types (e.g., scenic, educational, cultural) and media formats (e.g., videos, livestreams, infographics) can clarify how message design affects engagement and behavior. Finally, future studies should focus on testing segment-specific communication and programming strategies through pilot applications. Following the implementation of creative tourism activities, evaluating outcomes such as visitor satisfaction, pro-environmental behavior, and conservation awareness would yield valuable insights for planners and park managers, thereby supporting the development of sustainable, engaging, and inclusive tourism experiences in protected areas.

4.4. Practical and Managerial Implications for Creative Tourism Development in Protected Areas

This study provides practical implications for applying creative tourist segmentation to enhance sustainable recreation and communication planning in Thailand’s national parks. By integrating social media engagement with creative tourism strategies, national parks can transition from passive sightseeing toward participatory, learning-based, and emotionally meaningful experiences. The following implications offer strategic directions for park managers, policymakers, and local stakeholders to develop visitor-centered, community-engaged, and media-responsive programs that strengthen conservation awareness and promote inclusive, sustainable development (

Table 6. Transformative Strategy: From Interest to Learning Across Visitor Segments.

Cluster	Dominant Interest	Transformative Strategy	Illustrative Activity or Content
Local advocates	Community-based products	Link local crafts to sustainability and forest ecosystems	Storytelling posts: “From Forest to Fabric”; maker interviews with conservation backstories
Nature explorers	Scenic landscapes, hiking, photography	Reframe scenic beauty through ecological interpretation	QR viewpoints: “Why This Forest Looks Like This”; “The Story of Erosion and Time”
Food enthusiasts	Tasting, cooking, food trails	Connect gastronomy to ecosystems and cultural traditions	Video series: “Cooking with Wild Herbs”; food heritage map with biodiversity links
Nature Learners	Workshops, birdwatching, volunteering	Transform passive learning into hands-on participation	Citizen science kits: “DIY Bird Logbook”; tree-tagging and habitat observation activities
Diverse Enthusiasts	High interest in all dimensions	Deliver integrated, immersive, and reflective experiences	Multi-sensory experiences: “Creative Learning Trail”, interactive maps, and Maker–Explorer–Taster checkpoints

).

The key findings indicate that Thailand’s national parks are well positioned to support and expand creative tourism, moving beyond traditional recreation models toward more participatory, experience-oriented engagement. Four activity dimensions were identified: (1) nature-based learning, (2) scenic immersion, (3) community participation, and (4) culinary activities. These results highlight that visitors increasingly seek meaningful interactions with nature, local culture, and host communities. Based on these insights, five strategic guidelines are proposed:

• Broaden the Creative Tourism Landscape in Nature-Based Contexts: While creative tourism has traditionally been associated with urban or heritage settings, this study confirms its strong relevance in natural environments. Activities such as birdwatching workshops, survival training, forest cooking, craft-making, and conservation volunteering align with participatory and skill-building principles central to creative tourism [28]. National parks can therefore be positioned not only as sites for recreation but also as platforms for learning, cultural exchange, and personal growth.
• Design Targeted Programs for Distinct Visitor Segments: The five visitor clusters (Local advocates, Nature explorers, Food enthusiasts, Nature Learners, and Diverse Enthusiasts) demonstrate the need for differentiated programming. Creative activities should reflect each segment’s motivations and behaviors. For example, immersive visual content for Nature explorers, culinary sustainability for Food enthusiasts, and community-based workshops for Local advocates.
• Enhance Community Engagement and Local Economic Participation: The growing interest in local culture and products underscores the importance of integrating community enterprises into park-based experiences. While such initiatives exist, they often lack visibility or interpretive depth. Strengthening storytelling, cultural interpretation, and emotional connection can increase visitor engagement and generate tangible benefits for local livelihoods.
• Leverage Media Strategies to Deepen Engagement: Although visual media broadly influence all visitor groups, learning-oriented segments also respond to text-based and educational content. Communication strategies should align content formats with their intended functions, such as short videos for visual appeal, infographics for education, and livestreams for real-time interaction. Segment-specific media approaches can therefore enhance both emotional resonance and cognitive engagement.
• Promote Transformative Engagement: Creative tourism should cultivate emotional engagement that inspires reflection, learning, and environmental stewardship. By embedding conservation messages within participatory experiences—such as QR-tagged scenic trails, interactive interpretation, or behind-the-scenes storytelling—parks can shift visitors from passive observation to active advocacy. This approach aligns with transformative learning theory and supports long-term sustainability objectives.

By identifying distinct visitor segments and linking them with media preferences, park managers can design targeted programs that balance visitor satisfaction with conservation and community benefits. Co-creating tourism experiences with local communities ensures authenticity and equitable participation, while aligning digital communication with visitor motivations fosters deeper learning and stewardship. Together, these strategies form a practical framework for developing creative, inclusive, and sustainability-oriented tourism experiences in protected areas.

Implementation Plan: To operationalize the study’s insights and ensure their integration into both site-level management and broader tourism development policies, a phased implementation plan is proposed. In the short term (1–12 months), the focus is on strengthening the foundation for targeted visitor engagement and staff capacity. Segment-specific media initiatives will be developed to match the needs of different visitor groups—for instance, visually rich short videos for Nature Explorers, culinary-themed audiovisual content for Food Enthusiasts, culturally grounded storytelling for Local Advocates, educational infographics and livestream workshops for Nature Learners, and multi-format campaigns for Diverse Enthusiasts. Simultaneously, park staff will receive training in digital storytelling, conservation communication, and visitor engagement to ensure that human resources are adequately equipped to support creative tourism initiatives. This phase will also include the establishment of a seasonal content calendar that aligns communication themes with park events, tourism peaks, and natural highlights such as wildlife migrations, blooming seasons, or cultural festivals. To maintain responsiveness and relevance, rapid feedback tools—such as online surveys, polls, and social media analytics—will be implemented to monitor audience reactions and guide agile content adjustments. These initiatives align with adaptive management and sustainability-oriented monitoring frameworks that emphasize continuous learning and improvement [2,40,41,42].

In the medium term (1–3 years), the emphasis will shift toward scaling and integrating creative tourism into broader park management and provincial tourism strategies. Local communities will be engaged as co-creators of tourism products that align with different visitor segments, recognizing that community participation enhances visitor experiences and generates shared socio-economic value [43,44]. Partnerships with social media influencers and digital content creators will also be cultivated to extend market reach, supported by evidence demonstrating their influence on destination image and visit intentions [2,45]. To ensure accountability and adaptive management, a formal monitoring and evaluation system will be developed to track visitor engagement, local benefits, and ecological outcomes. Furthermore, an annual Creative Tourism calendar will be organized to showcase co-created products, strengthen destination branding, and celebrate the intersection of cultural and natural heritage. This tourism calendar will also serve as a platform for public awareness, local innovation, and knowledge exchange, thereby enhancing long-term resilience and visibility for Thailand’s protected areas [40].

The long-term phase (3–5 years) will focus on institutionalizing creative tourism as a national policy priority within protected area management. A unified national branding initiative, “Thailand’s Creative National Parks”, will position the country as a leader in sustainable and creative nature-based tourism, reflecting customer-based brand equity principles and advancing Thailand’s global competitiveness [46]. Longitudinal monitoring will be implemented to generate data that supports evidence-based policymaking and ensures a balanced relationship between conservation and tourism development [41,42]. Targeted international marketing campaigns will further promote Thailand’s national parks as innovative, technology-driven, and responsible destinations, appealing to diverse global audiences [47]. To sustain innovation and capacity building, flagship parks will establish Learning and Innovation Centers that serve as hubs for training, research, and knowledge exchange. These centers will support the professional development of park personnel, foster collaboration with academia and local communities, and drive continuous improvement in creative tourism management and sustainable destination planning [40].

Collectively, this phased approach ensures that creative tourism development within Thailand’s national parks evolves from targeted engagement and local participation toward integrated, policy-level transformation anchoring sustainability, creativity, and inclusivity as core pillars of the country’s protected area management framework.

Creative tourism is not presented merely as an alternative recreation model but as a behavioral mechanism that transforms awareness into action. Each visitor segment demonstrates distinct potential for sustainability-oriented engagement. Nature Explorers can be guided toward environmental awareness through interpretive storytelling at scenic viewpoints, while Food Enthusiasts may connect sustainability principles with culinary heritage and biodiversity. Local Advocates, who already support community-based products, can be empowered as ambassadors for co-managed conservation, and Diverse Enthusiasts represent ideal participants for citizen science and integrative learning trails.

These transformations align with the dual-route persuasion framework of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) [31], wherein cognitively engaged audiences respond to informational content, while emotionally driven groups are influenced by vivid, narrative-based media. By combining these two persuasive routes—integrating emotional resonance with factual interpretation—national parks can foster both immediate engagement and long-term behavioral commitment.

This process also reflects transformative learning theory [32], in which meaningful experiences stimulate reflection, empathy, and value shifts that support long-term sustainability transitions. The integration of visitor segmentation, creative participation, and persuasive digital communication thus provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for linking creative tourism with sustainability-oriented behavior in protected areas.

5. Conclusions

This study demonstrates the practical value of combining activity-based visitor segmentation with media preference analysis to inform the development of creative tourism and digital communication strategies in national parks. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research integrated document analysis of 133national parks in Thailand, field surveys across 10 national parks, and a structured visitor survey with 1133 respondents. The analysis identified five distinct visitor segments namely, (1) Local advocates, (2) Nature explorers, (3) Food enthusiasts, (4) Nature Learners, and (5) Diverse Enthusiasts, each exhibiting unique preferences for creative tourism activities and media formats. The findings illustrate a clear paradigm shift in tourism promotion, from generic messaging to more targeted, participatory storytelling. Emotionally engaging visual content resonates strongly with sensory-driven tourists, while cognitively rich and informative materials are more effective for learning-oriented visitors. These differentiated approaches not only enhance visitor satisfaction and engagement but also support broader goals of environmental stewardship, sustainability, and a stronger sense of place within protected areas.

Practically, this research offers a flexible framework for designing creative tourism programs that integrate both cultural and natural elements. It reaffirms that nature-based destinations can deliver immersive, skill-based, and reflective experiences comparable to those in cultural settings. By aligning activity design with visitor motivations and communication preferences, national parks can better serve diverse audiences while reinforcing conservation values and community engagement. While this study focuses on national parks in Thailand, the framework can be adapted for application in other protected areas worldwide. Guidelines recommended for creative tourism development are presented including (1) broadening the creative tourism landscape in nature-based contexts, (2) designing targeted programs for distinct visitor segments, (3) enhancing community engagement and local economic participation, (4) leveraging media strategies to deepen engagement, and (5) promoting transformative. Future research could build on these findings by exploring longitudinal changes in visitor behavior, assessing the real situation effectiveness of customized media strategies, and examining behavioral outcomes such as conservation support, repeat visitation, and community impact. Such efforts will be essential for developing tourism models that are not only engaging and inclusive but also resilient, educational, and ecologically responsible.