Statistically Validated Component- and Indicator-Level Requirements for Sustainable Thai Homestay Businesses
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
- Overall speaking, this study is a little isolated from the existing literature. It may due to the absence of a substantial theoretical background.
- Worryingly, the theoretical contribution of this paper is limited. This issue heavily relates to the absence of a theoretical background as I mentioned in the theoretical background section.
- I would suggest the author enhancing the logic and structure of the introduction to better justify their research motivation and state research question. Currently, the authors discussed different issues in the paragraphs of the introduction section. The connections among the issues and paragraphs are confusing.
- Currently, the arguments are rough, more logical arguments and theoretical support are needed.
Author Response
Responses to Reviewers’ Comments
Title: Statistically Validated Component- and Indicator-level Requirements for Sustainable Thai Homestay Business
Date of Revision Submission: 10/1/2021
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For ease of identification, the responses to the reviewers’ comments are in BLUE.
Response to Comments
Reviewer 1
Comment 1:
Overall speaking, this study is a little isolated from the existing literature. It may due to the absence of a substantial theoretical background.
Answer/Action: Additional theoretical background (as appeared below) has been included in the Introduction section of the revised manuscript.
P1 L29>>> Homestay tourism offers visitors the opportunity to learn and experience local ways of life and cultures (Oranratmanee (2012). 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 business include, e.g., homestay host family, authenticity, safety, location, accommodation, and activities (Secretariat, 2016).
According to Kontogeorgopoulos, Churyen, and Duangsaeng (2015), 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, Tantranont, and Somhom (2017) 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.
P3 L75>>> The success and sustainability of homestay business is 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 business 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 (Nor & Kayat, 2010; Sharma, 2020).
Comment 2:
Worryingly, the theoretical contribution of this paper is limited. This issue heavily relates to the absence of a theoretical background as I mentioned in the theoretical background section.
Answer/Action: Additional research contributions (as appeared below) have been incorporated into the Conclusion and Recommendations section of the revised manuscript.
P26 L287>>> 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.
Comment 3:
I would suggest the author enhancing the logic and structure of the introduction to better justify their research motivation and state research question. Currently, the authors discussed different issues in the paragraphs of the introduction section. The connections among the issues and paragraphs are confusing. Currently, the arguments are rough, more logical arguments and theoretical support are needed.
Answer/Action:
The Introduction section of the revised manuscript has been improved by including additional theoretical background and the research problem statement. In addition, the research contributions have been added in the Conclusion and Recommendations section.
Reviewer 2 Report
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and reflect on your paper, I think this is well structured and well written. It is a good paper.
However in my opinion, some importants details should be emphasized in order to improve the quality of the research before publishing:
- The section 2. Research Methodology the autor talck about “…data collection, respondents were asked by homestay operators for their views on the importance of different updated indicators for the success of homestays..” but, what questionnaire is used as the major research instrument?
- The description of the sample forming as well as data collection require substantial development. At least, this information must include the following: dates of research or time period of the analyzed data; description of the data collection methods; brief summary on the positive and negative methodological experience, e.g., difficulties in the implementation of the initial research concept, unpredictable organizational and methodical situations.
- Finally, the conclusion section should connect the research results with relevant literature citations for validity and reliability.
Author Response
Responses to Reviewers’ Comments
Title: Statistically Validated Component- and Indicator-level Requirements for Sustainable Thai Homestay Business
Date of Revision Submission: 10/1/2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For ease of identification, the responses to the reviewers’ comments are in BLUE.
Response to Comments
Reviewer 2
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and reflect on your paper, I think this is well structured and well written. It is a good paper.
However in my opinion, some importants details should be emphasized in order to improve the quality of the research before publishing:
Comment 1:
The section 2. Research Methodology the autor talck about “…data collection, respondents were asked by homestay operators for their views on the importance of different updated indicators for the success of homestays..” but, what questionnaire is used as the major research instrument?
Answer/Action:
The questionnaire has been provided in the Supplementary Information section.
Comment 2:
The description of the sample forming as well as data collection require substantial development. At least, this information must include the following: dates of research or time period of the analyzed data; description of the data collection methods; brief summary on the positive and negative methodological experience, e.g., difficulties in the implementation of the initial research concept, unpredictable organizational and methodical situations.
Answer/Action: Additional details related to data collection (as appeared below) have been incorporated into the Research Methodology section of the revised manuscript. Meanwhile, the research limitation (as shown further below) has included in the Conclusion and Recommendations section.
P4 L114>>> The data collection was conducted by homestay operators between Mach – 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: 13th – 15th of April.
P26 L294>>> 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.
Comment 3:
Finally, the conclusion section should connect the research results with relevant literature citations for validity and reliability.
Answer/Action: The research findings have been linked to relevant literature in the Conclusion and Recommendations section of the revised manuscript.
P26 L278>>> 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 (Hui-min, Jinging, Fan, & Shan, 2011; Karki, Chhetri, Chaudhary, & Khanal, 2019; Liu, 2006), 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 (Jamaludin, Othman, & Awang, 2012; Rasoolimanesh, Dahalan, & Jaafar, 2016; Sen & Walter, 2020), who reported that culture-oriented homestay tourism helps promote local culture and traditions and is a potential source of income of local community.
