Analysis of the island tourism environment based on tourists' perception—A case study of Koh Lan, Thailand

Abstract Island tourism is an important part of marine tourism and has developed into an important part of international tourism consumption. The island tourism environment is the foundation for the sustainable development of island tourism. This paper takes Koh Lan as the research area to conduct a questionnaire survey among international tourists to understand their perception of the tourism environment of the island based on descriptive analysis and cross-analysis. The results show that tourists in the tourism environment of the island have obvious behavioral characteristics. 66.7% of the tourists are interested in the island through friends and networks; 76.9% of them travel together with their families and friends more than once; more than 56% of them stay for one day causing the low willingness of these tourists; the homestay is the favorite accommodation option for those who choose to stay; 51.5% of tourists choose to eat at the hotel, and 92.7% of visitors spend less than US $500; 24.2% of the time is used to visit Tawaen Beach, which is the most popular tourist attraction on the island; visitors of different ages and genders have different preferences when choosing travel activities; beach leisure is a favorite activity for tourists. The study evaluates tourists' satisfaction with the tourism environment of the island. More than 90% of the tourists expressed satisfaction with the experience of visiting the island. This evaluation reflects the deficiencies and directions for improvement of the tourism environment of the island and provides inspiration for the development of international island tourism.