TOURISTS'PERCEPTIONS OF MALAYSIA AS A TRAVEL DESTINATION AND THEIR SATISFACTION (original) (raw)
This study contributes to tourism and marketing literature by examining the relationships among tourist destination image, satisfaction, and behavioral intention through structural equation modeling. Data were obtained from a survey of 420 foreign tourists visiting Penang, Malaysia, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The findings supported the revisiting behavioral intention model, which indicated that overall satisfaction of a tourist is reflected on the image of the tourist destination. A significant relationship was observed between overall satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, destination satisfaction indirectly affected tourist loyalty through overall satisfaction. The tourist destination image increases the perceived satisfaction and fosters the behavioral intentions of tourists. The study developed and empirically tested a conceptual model how overall image and overall satisfaction affect the willingness of tourists to revisit and to recommend a specific destination to other potential visitors. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed in the conclusion.
2015
The main aim of this research was to ascertain the image of Malaysia as a travel destination among European Tourists. The approach used in the study was to develop destination loyalty, satisfaction and destination image structural models for first-time and repeat-visit tourists. Tourist satisfaction was treated as the mediating construct. The data was collected using survey method. Structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was employed to investigate the relationships amongst the constructs in the proposed theoretical framework. The findings of the study suggested that destination image and tourist satisfaction influenced destination loyalty for both first-time and repeat-visit tourists. Tourist satisfaction was empirically proven to have a full mediating effect on the relationship between destination image and loyalty for the both groups of tourists. The study proposed that the image of nature-based tourism should become the major selling point of Malaysia as a travel destination.
Malaysia’s Perceived Image as a Tourism Destination for Gulf Countries Potential Tourists
European Journal of Business and Management, 2015
As tourism is a fickle industry, it is very important for a destination to have a strong and positive destination image from the consumer perspective, particularly the potential consumers who have no past experience with the destination. The challenge of providing high-quality tourist experiences as well as promoting tourism destination effectively becomes less difficult when managers know what their prospects think of their specific destination. Thus, this paper looks at the perceived image of Malaysia as a tourism destination from the perspective of two out of six Gulf Countries. Factors were adapted from previous literature about Malaysia image as a tourism destination and from previous studies about similar countries. Data collection was conducted from 19 February till 26 March 2010 on Saudi Arabian and Emirati potential tourists using mall intercept survey method. A total of 995 respondents were approached in both cities of Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jeddah in king...
Positioning Malaysia as a Tourist Destination Based on Destination Loyalty
Asian Social Science, 2012
This study was conducted to ascertain the image of Malaysia as a tourist destination and examines the construct's influence on tourists' destination loyalty. Questionnaires were distributed to the departing foreign tourists at two of Malaysia's international airports. The collected data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings of the study indicate that Malaysia was perceived as providing an adventurous holiday with the chance to see wildlife, nice beaches and offering a lot in terms of natural scenic beauty with good amenities. The study also suggests that there is a positive significant relationship between destination image and destination loyalty.
Antecedents and outcomes of destination image of Malaysia
The main objective of this paper is to analyse the antecedents and outcomes of destination image. Specifically, the antecedents considered are cultural values and destination source credibility; the outcomes considered are destination attachment, destination satisfaction, and revisit intention. This paper also investigates the moderating role of perceived risk between destination image and revisit intention. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on international tourists from five countries of West Asia. The key findings of this study are the mediating roles of destination image, destination attachment, and destination satisfaction and moderating role of perceived risk. The results provide evidence concerning the role of mediators and moderators of the study. Theoretical contributions are discussed, with future research suggested.
An Empirical Study of Tourist Satisfaction in Malaysia
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015
Tourism is a fast-growing business that receives global attentions. A successful tourism business brings huge benefits to host countries. In Malaysia, the study on tourism satisfaction context is still limited although Malaysian tourism industry grows rapidly. Hence, conducting more research focusing on tourist satisfaction in the Malaysian context is essential. In order to understand tourist satisfaction better, three factors, that is, experience, service quality and value that are related to satisfaction were examined in this paper. The population of the study was all tourists travelling to Malaysia. A sample was drawn using a multi-stage sampling method. A total of 301 completed and useful questionnaires were used for data analysis. The statistical analyses carried out include Pearson Correlation test and Multiple Regression analysis. The findings showed that value, experience and service quality were the three important variables that collectively contributed to tourist satisfaction level in the Malaysian context. In addition, the contribution of each individual factor on satisfaction revealed that the most influential factor is value, followed by experience. However, the service quality as an individual factor was not considered significant unless it was packed together with value and experience. Therefore, this study suggests that these three factors must be considered and the combination of all three factors must be offered as a complete package to attract many more tourists to visit Malaysia.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on tourists' perception by evaluating the relationship between destination travel attributes and tourist satisfaction. Using a sample of 140 international tourists exiting Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, the influence of travel attributes on satisfaction and the moderating effect of demographic factors in the relationship between travel attributes and tourist satisfaction were investigated. Partial Least Square (PLS), a variance based structural equation model was employed to analyse the data. The travel attributes had satisfactory predictive relevance and explained the changes in the variance of the endogenous variable tourist satisfaction. All the demographic factors considered moderated the relationship between at least one of the travel dimensions and tourist satisfaction. This study is limited with cross-sectional data.
2019
Image of a destination is one of the important determinants that influence tourists in making decision to choose a specific holiday destination. The most positive image a destination has the highest chances for it to be chosen by the tourists. This paper empirically investigates the investigates the causal relationship between Tourism Images and the international tourists’ response behaviour using Langkawi Island, Malaysia as study contextual setting. The insight of this study is obtained through questionnaire surveyed with 384 the international tourists. Through the Partial Least Square (PLS-SEM) a strong relationship between tourism images and response behaviour appeared. A country, destination and hotel image have strong impacts on international tourists’ response behaviour which relate to word of mouth, recommendation and revisit intention. The good feedback and the promising insights from the viewpoint of the international tourists is giving varying consequences, repercussion a...
The Factors of Selecting Malaysia as Tourist Destination
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015
Tourism is an emerging economic sector for Malaysia. The purpose of this study is an attempt to understand the factors that attract tourists to visit Melaka State of Malaysia. The primary data were collected through questionnaire survey on 735 tourists who visited the state of Melaka, Malaysia. This study used descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM) in order to analyze and draw the inferences. Model fit was initially tested using the overall fit and regression paths. Then the hypothesized model was analysed and modified based on the results of the analysis to find a better fit of the data and to more adequately describe the relationships between the factors. The study found that several economic, environmental, cultural and community factors have positive significant influence in attracting tourists to Melaka.
Tourist Satisfaction in Malaysia
International Journal of Business and Social Science , 2013
The tourism industry is among the most important industries capable of stimulating economic growth. In Malaysia, in 2008 alone, tourist arrivals to this country had generated national income of RM49.6 billion. This study was conducted to see whether travelers are satisfied with their visit to the country and also to highlight factors that contribute to tourist satisfaction. The results showed that the overall tourist satisfaction with their visit to the country gave the mean score of 3.74. Among factors that attracted tourist to visit the country are beautiful scenery, customs and culture, hospitality of the service providers, the quality of food and the friendliness of the locals. Continuous efforts are recommended to improve the satisfaction of the tourists because of its impact on their attitudes to revisit this country
The Image of Vietnam as a Tourism Destination for Malaysian Tourists
International Journal of Business and Management, 2014
The main objective of this study is to finding the images of Vietnam tourism destination perceived by Malaysian tourists. The study based on replies to 599 questionnaires and the secondary data. The Structure Equation Modelling was employed to identify the relationship among the variables. The result of Confirmation Factor Analysis (CFA) shows the beneficiary images of Vietnam including of "interesting history and rich culture" "delicious cuisines and friendliness". The negative images in Vietnam consists of poor transportation, poor infrastructure and cleanliness problems that challenges to tourism Vietnam destination. The study may be interesting to destination marketers, Vietnam Government and Travel Companies, especially for those developing destinations which intend to differentiate themselves from others country.
Travellers' Perceptions of Malaysia as Their Next Holiday Destination
Europe, 2010
Tourism is an integral part of many economies' services industry and is an important source of foreign exchange. The labor-intensive nature of the tourism industry also makes it an excellent generator of employment. Malaysian tourism is expected to be a significant service export with tremendous growth potential. The travel and tourism industry is also projected to contribute directly and indirectly to Malaysian GDP, so it is important to understand the image perception foreign tourists about the knowledge of Malaysia. The study found that there is a strong association between level of education and knowledge about Malaysia and the likelihood of visiting Malaysia. The higher the level of knowledge, the more likely they would visit Malaysia.
Tourism Typologies and Satisfaction Level of Inbound ASEAN Tourists: Perspective from Malaysia
Proceedings of the Asia Tourism Forum. 2016 - the 12th Biennial Conference of Hospitality and Tourism Industry in Asia, 2016
Currently, tourism industry is increasingly becoming a vital catalyst for several Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for its economic development and contribution towards the countries' growth. Malaysian tourism industry is no exception to this and considered as the major source and the biggest contributor towards its economic growth. Malaysia's each tourism typologies have always something new to offer for every types of inbound tourists visiting Malaysia, with a diverse and memorable experience through their tourism components. Malaysia's ASEAN tourism market sector is the biggest tourism market when compared with the rest of the world, it has reached 27 million tourist arrival per year. With its huge number of incoming tourists, Malaysia has segmented its tourism industry in four major types of tourism to offer and those are highly regarded from the beginning of Malaysian tourism industry; explicitly as gastronomical tourism, medical tourism, leisure tourism and even business tourism have their own elite way of providing satisfying experience to every individual tourists visiting Malaysia. Current research is focusing towards assessing the factors including; socio cultural environmental impacts, tourism promotion and travel motivation, those are affecting the satisfaction level of inbound ASEAN tourists in Malaysia; thus identifying how each tourism typology moderates the satisfaction level and destination loyalty that Malaysia's different tourism typologies have to offer. A self-administered quantitative survey was used to collect the data from the tourists at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed to the tourists at the departure hall of KLIA, where only 206 questionnaires were returned representing a response rate of 64%. Judgmental sampling was used to draw the sample from the inbound ASEAN tourists for this study. A Partial Least Square based Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used in this study to assess the model; further, a multi-group moderation analysis was performed to assess the influence of tourism typologies on the satisfaction and loyalty level of the tourists. The results of the study show a significant relationship between socio cultural environmental impacts; tourism promotion; travel motivation and tourist satisfaction and further with the destination loyalty. Four highly regarded Malaysian tourism typologies moderation effect were calculated through four different model stances; indicating that Malaysian leisure tourism, medical tourism and business tourism have impressive positive influence towards the ASEAN tourists' satisfaction level and their loyalty towards Malaysia a tourism destination. Whereas, the gastronomical tourism has relative influence on the satisfaction and loyalty level of the tourists. Therefore, advisedly the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) and the development of tourism Malaysia need to pay attention to develop and maintain better infrastructure and should widen the variety of gastronomical offerings so that a positive perception of Malaysia's image and value can be developed to create positive influence on the ASEAN tourists' satisfaction and their loyalty towards Malaysia as destination for a diverse tourism components offering with a memorable experience contributor within the ASEAN regions countries.
Evaluation of Destination Image among Foreign Tourists: The Case of Sarawak
The purpose of this dissertation is to ascertain the image of Sarawak as tourism destination; from the viewpoint of foreign tourists. It will be tried to determine strong and weak image components of Sarawak from foreign tourist’s point of view. Furthermore, this study tends to examine the relationship between destination image and its components, overall image, and future behavior. The aforementioned relationships were tested by data obtained from foreign tourists. According to the paper, the strong and weak cognitive image attributes of Sarawak have been determined. The study indicated that natural attractions, low crowdedness, friendly local people, safety, cleanliness, tour/excursions, hospitality and Restaurants are strong image components of Sarawak. The weak cognitive components are lack of nightlife, accessibility, shopping facilities and transportation. The study also will demonstrate the direct effect of cognitive and affective image components of Sarawak on overall image. The direct effect of overall image on tourist’s future behavior will be discussed as well. In addition, management implications are provided based on the results of the current study. Furthermore, some information regarding the limitations of this study as well as implication for future research will be presented in this dissertation.
A Qualitative Investigating Impact on Cognitive Image and Traits in Tourist Behavior from Malaysia
The tourism sector is not only fulfilling the customer's desires and needs but also is one of noticeable economical identifier for the future. Also, it can have a good role in maintaining culture, ecological, biological and life system. The Destination Management Organization (DMO) should attempt to reinforce the destination for attracting tourists, because developing tourism sector is undertaken of improving infrastructure of the destination. So, the destination can be developed by from the feedback perceptions of tourists and their satisfaction while they are using the tourism products. Another way is to analyze information from the amount of fulfilled desires and needs of tourists. In addition, the other aspect of growing tourism destination concerns tourists' image. Moreover, the image of destination should have consistency with its attributes. Applying the good strategies and high quality of tourism products which adapting the tourist life cycle or lifestyle determine t...
Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal
This study explores the memorable traveling experience (MTE) of 143 tourists from Europe and Oceanian in Malaysia. The researchers conducted a survey to investigate the factors that influence their revisit intention to Malaysia as an attractive destination. Partial least square structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS) results indicated that tourist attitudes, destination images, electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM), and perceived quality have positive and significant influences on travel intention. However, the eWOM failed to mediate the tourists’ attitudes, perceived quality, and destination image towards their revisit intentions. Keywords: eWOM, Malaysia, Memorable Travelling Experience, Revisit Intentions eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA CE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., U.K. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Associatio...
Asian Social Science, 2012
International tourism has become one of the largest and most vital economic sectors of the global economy driving huge flows of people, commodities, and capital. Tourism has been and continues to be an important foreign exchange earner to many countries in South East Asia and Malaysia is no exception. The aim of this article is to trace the factors for visiting Malaysia, image of Malaysia as a tourism destination and competitiveness of Malaysia as a tourism destination among outbound Middle East tourists to Malaysia. A survey was used to obtain data randomly from 357 outbound Middle East tourists leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). From the results, for most of the Middle East tourists, safety and security is extremely important for choosing Malaysia as a foreign country for long-haul travel. Malaysia is at the top of the list of top five countries for long-haul travel. Hospitality in Malaysia was better and excellent than many long-haul countries for the Middle East tourists, followed by natural environment. From the overall implications of this study, it could be concluded that a strong relationship between government, tourism industry players, local authorities, private agencies and businesses should be fostered to ensure that tourists' needs, especially Middle East tourists, are fulfilled. It is a known fact that Middle East tourists have a high taste. Therefore the various tourism industry players need to work hand in hand to improve all types of services provided to the Middle East tourists.