Regenerate Post COVID-19 Tourism with Smart Tourism Application (Moh Poie Rembau - Let’s Go to Rembau) as the Next Cultural Tourism & Travel Destination in Malaysia (original) (raw)

2021, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

The outlook for the tourism sector in Malaysia remains highly uncertain. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to hit hard in which by 2022 the domestic tourism is expected to decrease by around 80%. To regenerate our local tourism income, a smart tourism application known as 'Moh Poie Rembau' or Let's Go to Rembau has been developed to strengthen the domestic tourism industry. Rembau, Negeri Sembilan is a tourist destination with a huge tourism potential that includes rich culture, heritage, buildings, and gastronomy. However, the culture of Rembau has different attractions for tourists due to lack of and disorganized information on tourism developments, supporting facilities, tourism objects, and visitor information about the locals. Many undiscovered places are worth visiting, but many are unaware of their existence due to the lack of tourism information. This research aims to identify the feedback on the importance of smart tourism application use on smartphones. This application is designed to attract travelers to choose Rembau as their next destination plan. A cross-sectional survey of the 14-item instrument was adapted and distributed online to a total of 150 smartphone users in Klang Valley during the first week of March 2021. Most of the users have high and positive responses towards this product. The findings supported the idea that smart tourism applications can give impact users' intention to use. The results also improved our knowledge and understanding that this application can be a part of the tourism approach in promoting Rembau as one of the tourism attractions. The application will provide information about tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping attractions, and other facilities with just one click away. This study is beneficial and significant for the researchers, tourism agencies, media practitioners, and the public to maintain digital technology and travel in line.