DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES THAT ATTRACT
INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS TO VISIT PANGKOR ISLAND
KHIRUN BIN MD SHAH
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES THAT ATTRACT
INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS TO VISIT PANGKOR ISLAND
KHIRUN BIN MD SHAH
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
award of the degree of Master of Science (Tourism Planning)
Faculty of Built Environment
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
MAY 2011
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillah, thanks to Allah S.W.T bless I had successfully completed my
dissertation, title “Destination Attributes That Attract International Tourists to
Visit Pangkor Island”. I would like to express my gratitude to those who had given me
strength, guiding and supporting me in order to complete this study.
In particular, I would to express my sincere appreciation to my main dissertation
supervisor, Professor Dr. Zainab Khalifah, for encouragement, guidance, critics and
friendship. Without their continued support and interest, this thesis would not have been
the same as presented here. Without her I might not able to complete this study.
My big thanks also go to Mr. Mohamad Sharil bin Salihan, Assistant Tourism Officer of
Manjung Municipal Council and Mdm Fatimah Nor binti Abd Rahim, Assistant Public
Relation Officer of Manjung Municipal Council, for giving me such useful information
and being very helpful during interview session. Last but not least, I would also like to
thank my wife, family members and friends for being so supportive and helpful in
conducting this study.
Thank you,
v
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to identify Pangkor Island’s important destination
attributes. This study also examine how and to what extent Pangkor Island’s important
destination attributes impact on international tourists’ decision on choosing Pangkor
Island as their destination. A model adapted from Nguyen Cong Tien (2008) and Lichen
Zhou (2005) was established to express how these important attributes impact on the
selection of destination, destination image variable and through the perceived
satisfaction with important attributes, affect the intention of international tourists to
revisit Pangkor Island in the future. Data was collected from 180 international tourists
who travelled to Pangkor Island. The result of this empirical study identified 9
important attributes of Pangkor Island from the analysis of quantitative data using the
statistical techniques. Eight of these nine important attributes and destination image of
Pangkor Island were found significantly important to destination selection of
international tourists. The results also show that, the eight Pangkor Island’s attributes
revealed different importance levels in influencing tourists’ destination decision
making, formation of Pangkor Island’s overall image, and the tourists’ satisfaction level
with their trip to Pangkor Island. This study presents a clear picture of the destination
attributes that
attract
international tourists to
visit
Pangkor Island. Some
recommendations are proposed to the Pangkor Island authorities relating to tourism
promoting programs of Pangkor Island.
vi
ABSTRAK
Tujuan kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengenalpasti ciri-ciri penting
destinasi penting bagi Pulau Pangkor. Kajian ini juga menilai bagaimana dan sejauh
mana ciri-ciri penting destinasi Pulau Pangkor member kesan kepada pelancong
antarabangsa dalam memilih Pulau Pangkor sebagai destinasi pilihan percutian. Satu
model yang diadaptasi daripada Nguyen Cong Tien (2008) and Lichen Zhou (2005)
telah diwujudkan bagi menyatakan bagaimana ciri-ciri penting destinasi memberi kesan
di dalam pemilihan sesebuah destinasi percutian, pembolehubah imej destinasi serta
melalui kepuasan penerimaan mengenai ciri-ciri penting destinasi yang memberi kesan
terhadap pemilihan Pulau Pangkor sebagai destinasi percutian pada masa hadapan. Data
yang diperolehi diambil daripada 180 orang pelancong antarabangsa yang telah
melancong ke Pulau Pangkor. Hasil kajian empirikal ini telah mengenalpasti 9 ciri-ciri
penting Pulau Pangkor daripada analisis data kuantitantif dengan menggunakan teknik
statistik. Lapan daripada sembilan ciri-ciri penting dan imej destinasi Pulau Pangkor
telah dikenalpasti penting secara jelas signifikasinya sebagai destinasi pilihan bagi
pelancong antarabangsa. Keputusan itu juga menunjukkan lapan ciri-ciri Pulau Pangkor
mendedahkan tahap kepentingan yang berbeza dalam mempengaruhi pelancong
membuat keputusan pemilihan destinasi percutian, pembentukan imej keseluruhan
Pulau Pangkor, dan tahap kepuasan percutian ke Pulau Pangkor. Kajian ini
menerangkan gambaran yang jelas tentang ciri-ciri destinasi yang dapat menarik
pelancong antarabangsa ke Pulau Pangkor. Beberapa cadangan diusulkan kepada pihak
berwajib Pulau Pangkor mengenai program promosi pelancongan Pulau Pangkor.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1
TITLE
PAGE
DECLARATION
ii
SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
iv
ABSTRACT
v
ABSTRAK
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
vii
LIST OF TABLES
x
LIST OF FIGURES
xiii
INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 Background
1
1.2 Problem statement
4
1.3 Objectives of the study
7
1.4 Research question
8
1.5 Hypothesis
9
1.6 Scope of the study
10
1.7 Operational definition
10
1.8 Significance of the study
11
1.9 Limitation of the study
11
viii
2
3
4
LITERATURE REVIEW
13
2.1 Introduction
13
2.2 Push and Pull Motivational Framework
13
2.3 Destination Attribute
16
2.4 Attractive attribute of Pangkor Island
26
2.5 Tourist Satisfaction
31
2.6 Destination Image
33
2.7 Conceptual Framework
37
METHODOLOGY
39
3.1 Introduction
39
3.2 Research design
40
3.3 Population and sample size
43
3.3.1 Population
43
3.3.2 Sample size
44
3.4 Questionnaire design
45
3.5 Pilot study
46
3.6 Data collection
46
3.7 Data Analysis
47
DATA ANALYSIS
49
4.1 Introduction
49
4.2 Identify the important attributes of Pangkor Island
49
4.3 Profile of Respondent
51
4.4 Testing the Hypothesis
55
4.4.1 Testing of Hypothesis 1
55
4.4.2 Testing of Hypothesis 2
73
4.4.3 Testing of Hypothesis 3
75
ix
5
4.4.4 Testing of Hypothesis 4
76
4.4.5 Testing of Hypothesis 5
79
SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION
82
5.1 Summary
82
5.2 Discussion
89
5.3 Recommendation
92
5.4 Recommendation for future research
95
BIBLIOGRAPHY
96
APPENDIX
99
x
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO.
1.2.1
TITLE
Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Malaysia by the year
2009 and 2010
1.2.2
PAGE
5
Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Pangkor Island for the
year 2009 and 2010
6
3.2.1
Methodologies employed by previous researches
41
3.3.1.1
Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Malaysia by the year
2009 and 2010
43
3.3.1.2
Statistic of Perak hotel guest for the year 2009 and 2010
43
3.3.1.3
Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Pangkor Island for the
year 2009 and 2010
44
4.3.1
Characteristic of respondents
52
4.3.2
Respondents country of residence
53
4.3.3
Distribution of respondents by region
54
4.4.1.1
Degree of importance toward destination selection of
international tourist to visit Pangkor Island
56
xi
4.4.1.2
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (landscape)
58
4.4.1.3
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (service)
60
4.4.1.4
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (easy)
62
4.4.1.5
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (people)
64
4.4.1.6
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (safe)
66
4.4.1.7
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (relax)
68
4.4.1.8
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (weather)
70
4.4.1.9
Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (price)
72
4.4.2.1
Normality of P2Wish with destination attributes
73
4.4.2.2
R square of P2Wish with destination attributes
74
4.4.2.3
Multiple regression analysis of P2Wish with destination
attributes
4.4.3.1
74
Destination pre-image and significant importance to destination
selection
75
4.4.3.2
Destination image frequency and percentage
76
4.4.4.1
Pearson correlation coefficients
77
xii
4.4.4.2
New correlation between image and importance attributes,
controlling for demographic variables
78
4.4.5.1
Normality of P3Satisfy with destination attributes
79
4.4.5.2
R square of P3Satisfy with destination attributes
80
4.4.5.3
Multiple regression analysis of P3Satisfy with destination
attributes
5.1.1
Important attributes and their significant importance to
destination selection (DS)
5.1.2
84
Importance degree of each attributes to tourist wish to visit
Pangkor Island
5.1.3
80
85
Destination image and its significant importance to destination
selection
86
5.1.4
Correlation between attributes and pre-visit image of destination
86
5.1.5
Correlation between image and attributes, controlling for
5.1.6
demographic
87
Significance between satisfy and variables
88
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
TABLE NO.
TITLE
PAGE
1.1.1
Map of Pangkor Island
3
2.7.1
Model of Destination Selection
37
2.7.2
Proposed Conceptual Framework
38
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
The increasing growth of tourism industry is widely recognized for its
contribution to the economic development of regions and nations all around the world.
For many destinations, visitor expenditure on accommodation, food and drink, local
transport, entertainment, shopping, and others is an important pillar of their economies,
creating much needed employment and opportunities for development. In 2010,
international tourism receipts are estimated to have reached US$ 919 billion worldwide
(693 billion Euros), up from US$ 851 billion (610 billion Euros) in 2009. Worldwide,
international tourist arrivals surpassed 124 million in the first two months of 2011, up
from 119 million in the same period of 2010. Asia and the Pacific, the region with one
of the fastest growth rates in 2010, saw its pace of growth slow down (+6%), although
from a very strong performance the previous year. Results were better than expected for
Europe (+6%), boosted by the recovery of Central and Eastern Europe, and the
temporary redistribution of travel to destinations in Southern and Mediterranean Europe
due to developments in North Africa (-9%) and the Middle East (-10%). The Americas
2
(+5%) was in line with the world average, with strong results for South America and the
Caribbean, but rather weaker growth in North and Central America (World Tourism
Organization – UNWTO).
Tourism industry in Malaysia is the second largest contributor of the national
economy. In 2005 Malaysia welcomed some 16.5 million tourists, representing an
increase of more than 160% between 2000 and 2005. The number of international
tourists to Malaysia in the year of 2008 is 22.0 million compare to 20.9 million in the
year 2007. This situation helps in boosting up the tourism contribution in generating
revenue of RM49 billion for the year 2008 (Tourism Malaysia, 2009).
Revenue from the tourism industry has almost doubled between year 2001 and
2005. Malaysia's advantage as a centre for conferences, event organization, sports
facilities, exhibitions and conventions as well as its wealth in arts and crafts, shopping
and recreation must be promoted aggressively. As such, the management of the
Malaysian Tourism Board will adopt private sector business practices in order to
become more dynamic. In addition, the main programs that will be implemented by the
Government include enhancing access and facilities for tourist arrivals, and improvising
as well as maintaining amenities and infrastructure. An expenditure of RM1 billion has
been allocated for the purpose of maintenance. By the year 2010, our target is to attract
24.6 million tourists per annum (Dato Seri Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi, Ninth Malaysia
Plan 2006 – 2010)
Pangkor Island is located in Perak Darul Ridzuan state under the authority of
Manjung Municipal Council (MMC). It is located just off the coast of North West
Malaysia and it is about 300 km north from the country capital Kuala Lumpur. Pangkor
Island is about 200 km South of Penang and 70 km South-West of Perak's capital Ipoh.
The island can be access from Lumut Town Jetty by the sea and from the mini airport
located at Teluk Dalam by the air. The island is surrounded by the Dinding Straits Sea
3
and the Malacca Straits Sea. Its temperature ranges from 25-35ºC and experiences a
tropical climate with about 20,000 populations on the island itself (Manjung Municipal
Council (MMC), 2010).
The local inhabitants believed that the island was protected by the spirits, so
they called Pangkor Island the Spirit Island. Another name for Pangkor Island in the old
days was Dinding, which means 'screen' or 'partition'. This was in reference to the
position of the island as it protects the mainland's estuary. Over the years the island was
frequently visited by pirates who were roaming the seas around the island. They robbed
boats in the Straits of Malacca and hide themselves on the hills on the island. The
names of Batu Lanun or Batu Perompak meaning Pirates' Rock echo the memory of the
pirates (Manjung Municipal Council (MMC), 2010).
Figure 1.1.1: Map of Pangkor Island
4
1.2
Problem statement
The strength of the appeal of a destination to tourists is linked to the quality of
attractions it can offer to the tourists. It is the attractions at a destination that stimulate
an interest in visiting that country by providing the elements of development an image
of the destination. The attraction at the tourists’ destination also is the image that is used
to attract the potential travelers to visit the destination. It is the attractions that provide
the visitor with the essential motivation to choose a destination. In general, the demand
for the other components of travel (transport, accommodation and so on) derives from
the original stimulus that comes from the interest in experiencing the attractions.
There have been several definitions of destination. Leiper (1995) defines
destination as “places towards which people travel and where they choose to stay for a
while in order to experience certain features or characteristics a perceived attraction of
some sort”. On the other hand, according to Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert, Shepherd and
Wanhill (1998) destination is a focus of facilities and services designed to meet the
needs of the tourists (Buhalis 2000: 98). For example, a country, city, town or an area
could be called as a destination but also a cruise ship is accepted as a destination.
There are so many factors affecting destination choice process of a tourist.
Generally, these factors are grouped into two categories called “push” and “pull” factors
(Pikkemaat 2004: 88). Push factors indicate psychological factors; e.g values, motives
and personality as well as social factors; e.g. age, education, martial status. Pull factors
are destination related dimensions; these can contribute formation perceived attraction
among tourists; e.g. distance, type of area, infrastructure, size of area, type of vegetation
and activities in the destination (Lam and Hsu 2006: 590). Also, it is accepted that pull
factors (attributes) could be grouped as tangible and intangible attributes (Pikkemaat
2004: 90; Lam and Hsu 2006: 591)
5
From the point of destination attributes, Nicolau and Mas (2004: 1-34)
determine the factors affecting destination choice of the tourist. In the researches’ data
sets different operative variables were used to measure importance of destination
attributes. These variables were surface area, price, natural attributes, infrastructure,
accessibility, programmed activities, reputation of the destination, restrictions of
navigation, population of species, time of journey, entry prices, hotel size and services,
parking areas and shops.
On the other hand, Buhalis (2000: 98) pointed out that destinations comprised a
core of some components. He categorized these components into six headings and
called 6A’s framework because of first letter of each heading. Attractions represent
natural, hand-made, artificial buildings, special events. Accessibility refers entire
transportation system, terminals and vehicles. Amenities refer accommodation, catering,
retailing and other tourist services. Available packages mean pre-arranged packages by
intermediaries and principals. Activities represent all the activities could be done by
tourists while they are in the destination. Ancillary services refer to banking,
telecommunications, posts and hospitals, etc.
Table 1.2.1: Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Malaysia by the year 2009 and 2010
YEAR
TOTAL TOURIST ARRIVAL
2009
2010
23,646,191
24,577,196
Source: Tourism Malaysia
6
Table 1.2.2: Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Pangkor Island for the year 2009 and
2010
YEAR
TOTAL TOURIST ARRIVAL
2009
2010
677,952
714,144
Source: Manjung Municipal Council
According to the Tourism Malaysia data, the number of tourist arrival to
Malaysia for the year 2009 and 2010 recorded as the above Table 1.2.1. The number of
tourist arrival visit Malaysia in the year 2009 recorded 23,646,191 tourists and by the
year 2010 recorded 24,577,196 tourists. According to the Manjung Municipal Council,
the number of tourist’s arrival for Pangkor Island is shown in the Table 1.2.2. As shown
in the Table 1.2.2, the number of tourist arrival to Pangkor Island by the year 2009
recorded 677,952 tourists and by the year 2010 the number increased to 714,144
tourists.
The development of the tourists’ attraction at the study area is important roles to
be competitive in the tourism industry. Therefore, the identification of important
attributes of Pangkor Island and a comprehensive evaluation of these attributes about
their impacts on destination decisions of the international tourists would be of
significant to the tourism planners of Pangkor Island and assist them in tourism product
development and marketing strategies in the highly competitive international tourism
market.
7
1.3
Objectives of the study
The aim of the study is to measure the destination attributes that attract
international tourists to visit Pangkor Island:
1. To identify Pangkor Island important attributes and their degree of
importance to the selection of Pangkor Island as tourists’ destination.
2. To identify the degree of importance of Pangkor Island image to the
selection of Pangkor Island as tourists’ destination.
3. To examine the correlation between the degree of importance of each of
attributes and pre-visit image of Pangkor Island.
4. To examine the correlation between the degree of tourists satisfaction with
each of important attributes and their overall satisfaction with their trip to
Pangkor Island.
5. To investigate the level of strength of destination attributes of Pangkor
Island.
8
1.4
Research questions
As stated in the research objectives, this study will investigate and find out the study
problem or issue that been studied. Therefore it focuses on the following questions:
1. What are the important attributes of destination and which of them play
important role in attracting international tourists to visit Pangkor Island?
2. Does pre-visit image of Pangkor Island play an important role in attracting
international tourists to visit Pangkor Island?
3. How and to what extent each of the important attribute has an effect on pre-visit
image of Pangkor Island?
4. What are the strengths of destination attributes of Pangkor Island?
9
1.5
Hypothesis
Several hypotheses have bee made towards this study in order to find out the
choice of the international tourist to visit the study area for their holiday or vacation:
Hypothesis 1: Each of Pangkor Island important attributes is significantly
important to destination selection of international tourists
Hypothesis 2: The higher the degree of importance of each of destination
attributes, the stronger the tourist’s wish to visit Pangkor Island would be.
Hypothesis 3: The destination image is significantly important to destination
selection of international tourists.
Hypothesis 4: Tourist’s satisfaction with each of important attributes has
positive correlation with destination satisfaction.
Hypothesis 5: Tourists satisfaction with each of important attributes has
positive relationship with overall satisfaction with the trip.
10
1.6
Scope of the study
The framework of this research is targeted on the international tourists who visit
Pangkor Island with attempt to measure the attitude of the international tourists and
important level of destination attributes of Pangkor Island affecting decisions and
attitude of international tourists. The measurement of the study based on the expectation
and perception of international tourists prior and during their visiting the Pangkor Island
as their destination for holiday.
1.7
Operational definition
International tourist: non-Malaysian who visits Pangkor Island for holiday or
vacation.
Pre-visitation: a status when international tourist who decided to visit Pangkor Island
but not starting the trip yet.
Destination attribute: the feature or characteristic of Pangkor Island place which
attracts international tourists to visit for leisure and holiday.
Destination image: awareness of an individual tourist about the place of Pangkor Island
based on his/her perception and experience about Pangkor Island
11
1.8
Significance of the study
The significance of this study expects to bring in potential benefit to measure the
destination attributes that attract the international tourist to visit Pangkor Island. This
study also helps to investigate the level of strengths of destination attributes of Pangkor
Island. According to the objectives of this study, multifaceted understanding of
important attributes that attract international tourist to visit Pangkor Island will
contribute as a supportive tool for the Manjung Municipal Council in development and
improvement of these attributes. Multifaceted understanding of important attributes will
contribute as guidance for tourism firms in Pangkor Island in particular and all over the
country in general in offering Pangkor Island tour packages that most satisfy
international tourist’s expectation during their trips to Pangkor Island.
1.9
Limitation of the study
This section identifies the limitations of the present study.
1.
The studies only focus on the international tourists rather than
domestic tourists that visit Pangkor Island.
2.
The study’s model was tested in a specific setting and area that is
Pangkor Island.
3.
The study has utilized only the destination attributes in previous
research, discussion with research supervisor and discussion with
tourism officer from local authority. In other words, the destination
12
attributes identified in the questionnaire do not include all possible
attributes of destination.
13
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to review the concepts and theories related to the
research study. From this chapter also will discuss attributes that attract the international
tourist to visit Pangkor Island.
2.2
Push and Pull Motivational Framework
According to (Howie, 2003), tourists motivation play a major role in destination
choice and are responsible, in the aggregate, for the observed destination life cycle,
notably the desire to ‘move on’ when a destination becomes too popular or deteriorating
14
in quality. They move on to ‘new’ destination, in turn initiating the tourist destination
life cycle in these ‘new’ areas.
According to Nguyen (2008), the push-pull framework provides a simple and
intuitive approach for explaining the motivations underlying tourist behavior.
According to the literature on the push and pull, push indicates that people are initially
pushed by internal desires or emotional factors of the tourists such as the need for
escape, knowledge, relaxation, prestige, safety and security, adventure and so forth.
They are then pulled by external factors that attract the tourist to travel to the
destination such as natural and historical attractions, expenditure, sport and outdoor
activities, etc. This push and pull factors play an important roles in the tourist decision
making of destination selection for their holiday and being discuss in this study for
examine the factor attracting tourist to visit the destination.
The pull factors of a tourist destination refer to a combination of facilities and
services made up of a number of multidimensional attributes that all contribute to the
attractiveness of the destination for a particular individual in a choice situation (Hu and
Ritchie, 1993). Travelers’ perceptions of the extent to which a destination will be able
to fulfill their particular holiday requirements are reflected in the attractiveness of the
destination. Once the decision to travel has been taken, it is the pull factors which
attract the individual to a particular destination (Oh et al, 1995). Pull factors come forth
as a result of the attractiveness of a destination according to the traveler’s perceptions
(Uysal and Hagan, 1993) and these are the factors that motivate him or her when
planning a holiday (Goossens, 2000). Therefore, destination attributes are of survival
importance in pulling international tourists to particular destinations for their holiday
destination of choice.
According to Lubbe (1998), people’s motivations to travel begin when they
become aware of certain needs and perceive that certain destinations may have the
15
ability to serve those needs. As such, academics argue that the investigation of travel
motivations to a particular area is viewed as a critical variable to develop a successful
marketing program to satisfy tourists’ needs and expectations (Crompton, 1979; Cha et
al. 1995; Jang & Wu, 2006). An understanding of tourist motivations for visiting a
particular destination can help tourism marketers manage more appropriate marketing
programs and attract more tourists to visit the area (Jang & Cai, 2002; Jang & Wu,
2006; Beh & Bruyere, 2007).
According to the literature, the examination of push and pull motivations
provides a useful framework to better understand tourists’ motivations to visit a
particular destination. Tourism marketers should realize the importance of push factors
which are driving forces for people to travel. At the same time, they should understand
that tourists’ perception toward a destination is a measure of that destination’s ability to
attract tourists. Knowing what motivates people to travel (push factors) by offering the
products (pull factors) that match those needs will enable destination marketers to better
satisfy travelers’ needs and wants (Cha et al. 1995; Zhang et al., 2004; Jang & Wu,
2006). The results from push and pull motivations will help them plan and execute
effective marketing related-activities such as product development, packaging and
advertisement (Jang & Cai, 2002; Jang & Wu, 2006).
The ‘‘push’’ and ‘‘pull’’ factors and their importance in shaping tourist
motivations were emphasized in Crompton’s (1979) study. Most authors accept this
model highlighted by Crompton. ‘‘Push’’ factors are intangible factors that pushes a
tourist away from home, while ‘‘pull’’ factors are tangible characteristics pulling
tourists towards the destination, referring to what makes a destination attractive for
potential visitors’ including historical and cultural resources, beaches, and
accommodation (Andreu, Bigne´, & Cooper, 2000). These factors are relevant in the
current study, as they provide a framework for understanding tourist motivations. Other
studies (e.g., Dann, 1977; Kozak, 2002) have relied on this framework (push and pull
16
factors), and have been discussed below in order to provide the background on which
this study is based.
2.3
Destination Attribute
Attributes are those dimensions of a product that define a given consumption
experience. They represent the building blocks that consumers use to make product
judgments and form purchase decision (Johnson and Gustafsson, 2000). They are at the
center of quality improvement and customer satisfaction (Anderson and Mittal, 2000).
Accordingly, attribute-related research holds the interest of both practitioners and
theoreticians. As a practical concern, managers wish to make diagnostic observations of
a consumer’s product or service experience by assessing attribute performance and
prioritizing efforts to improve them according to each one’s relative importance
(Martilla and James, 1977; Mittal et al., 1998). Theoretically, we question how
attribute-related information is incorporated into the consumer’s decision process and
how attribute performance influences satisfaction judgments (Griffin and Hauser, 1993;
Slack, 1994; Sampson and Showalter, 1999; Matzler et al., 2003). Martilla and James
(1977) first suggested that we consider both attribute performance and importance in
defining the contribution an attribute makes toward one’s satisfaction. Although we
seem to have had little trouble in defining and measuring attribute performance, we
have yet to develop a consensus regarding how to best conceptualize attribute
importance. At a more simplistic level, we may define importance as the extent to
which an attribute is able to impact one’s sense of satisfaction.
Destinations are places where tourism has developed spontaneously or has been
actively encouraged. That passive or active process is influenced by the prevailing
17
social, cultural, environmental, economic and political contexts within the place in
which it develops, as well as by the purposeful drivers of the business and other
agencies that wish to develop tourism for their own specific commercial or other
reasons. Also, it is fundamental to the concept of the tourist destination that tourism
generally not the sole industry or economic activity of the area identified as a
destination; tourism must be integrated into the general development pattern (Howie,
2003). Tourism is an activity at a specific areas so called destination where its offers
various interesting and attracting activities to the tourists. Destinations are crucial factor
that determine the number of visitation of tourists to the area as the choice of
destination selection for holiday.
According to Howie (2003), he stated that a study by Gunn (1988) suggested
that all destinations share certain common characteristics and that recognition of this
would facilitate their design and development. He also referred to the work of
Mathieson and Wall (1987) who listed key characteristics of destinations as below:
Natural environmental features and processes
Economic structure and economic development
Social structure and organization
Political organization
Level of tourist development
The destination attraction are the primary determinants if destination
attractiveness. They are main reasons why people visit certain destination. Destination
attractions include all form of visitor attraction’s that pull tourists to a destination.
Without destination attractions there could be no tourism to talk about because no one
would travel to a place without anything special interest. Being primary determinants
entails that destination attraction has a direct positive association with destination
attractiveness (Vengesayi, 2008).
18
According to Cakici and Harman (2007) in their research stated that there are
several definitions of destination. They stated Leiper (1995) defines destination as
“places towards which people travel and where they choose to stay for a while in order
to experience certain features or characteristics a perceived attraction of some sort”. On
the other hand, according to Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert, Shepherd and Wanhill (1998)
destination is a focus of facilities and services designed to meet the needs of the tourists
(Buhalis 2000:8). For example, a country, city, town or an area could be called as a
destination but also a cruise ship is accepted as a destination.
They also added the point of destination attributes, Nicolau and Mas (2004: 134) summarized 17 data sets. These researches were conducted to determine factors
affecting destination choice of the tourist. In the research data sets different operative
variables were used to measure importance of destination attributes. These variables
were surface area, price, natural attributes, infrastructure, accessibility, programmed
activities, reputation of the destination, restrictions of navigation, population of species,
time of journey, entry prices, hotel size and services, parking areas and shops.
According to Fallon and Schofield (2006), they listed 22 attributes in their study
pre-visit importance and post-visit importance ratings namely personal safety,
cleanliness, things to see and do, accommodation, something for everyone, theme parks,
customers service, restaurant offering value for money, shopping facilities, weather,
goods at bargain prices, rest and relaxation, friendliness of local, variety of restaurants,
road signs, access to pool, car-hire service, nightlife, natural/wildlife attraction and
trails, local bus services, cultural/historic attraction and trails, and sport facilities. All
the attributes are being examined the level of importance in the study with regards of
pre-visit and post-visit.
19
Further research study done by Cakici and Harman (2001), in their research of
‘importance of destination attributes affecting destination choice of Turkish
birdwatchers’, they pointed out 6 important attributes namely attraction, accessibility,
amenities, available packages, activities and ancillary services. Attraction constitutes 4
items namely nature, interesting places, shopping and local food and entertainment.
Accessibility constitutes 4 items namely easy accessibility, quality of roads, parking
facilities and drive time. Amenities constitutes 5 items namely food and beverage
outlets, accommodation facilities, shopping for birding, souvenir sellers and rental car
companies. Available packages constitutes 3 items namely bird guiding services,
packaged tour organized by travel agent and travel agent organizing special interest
tours. Activities constitutes 8 items and it is divided into three section namely nature
based activities (seeing natural life, butterfly watching, and seeing natural flowers), bird
related activities (seeing different bird species, and hearing voice of different bird
species) and other activities ( taking photographs of natural life, fishing, and rafting).
Ancillary services constitute 3 items that is security services, health services and bank
services (24 hours).
According to Barros, Butler and Correia (2008) in their study of ‘heterogeneity
in destination choice: Tourism in Africa. Their study analyzes the Portuguese tourist
choice process in relation to an emerging destination—Africa. The empirical study was
conducted among Portuguese tourists by means of a mixed logit model. In this study the
attributes of the destination that may lead the tourist to the decision of travel includes a
list of pull motives measured by a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = totally disagree, 7 =
totally agree). They list out 19 attributes to be studied in their research and the pull
motives were included namely: landscape, natural environment, cultural attractions,
nightlife, sports equipment, transport, lodging, weather, accessibility, beaches,
gastronomy, security, distance, shopping facilities, relaxing atmosphere, social
environment, hospitality, different ethnic group, and standard of living. These attributes
are being examine in order to find out the importance each of the attributes towards the
20
decision making process in selecting the travel destination. Some of the attributes will
be study and examine in this study in the scope of Pangkor Island itself as tourist
holiday destination.
According to Crompton and Love (1995) in their festival research study, the
attributes were used to measure quality of performance at the festival. There are 18
attributes were designed to measure four domains: generic features which embraced
those that are characteristic of most festivals (6 items); specific entertainment features
of festival (5 items); information sources, comprised of printed program, street maps,
and information booths (3 items); and comfort amenities, which related to overall
comfort of the festival participant (4 items).
According to Litvin and Ng Sok Ling (2001), they pointed out 10 attributes in
their study of ‘Destination Attribute Management Model: an empirical application to
Bintan, Indonesia’ namely beaches, resort staffs, sea sports, sightseeing, nature, resorts,
food, activities, entertainment and transportation. These attributes being test to find out
the travel consumer's view of the each component of the attributes of Bintan Resorts
and comment on the specific implications. The study designed to highlight those
destination attributes visitors and potential visitors consider important in creating their
destination image and to measure success in delivering, either as experience or
expectation. These studies only focus on the Singaporean respondent as they are the
major tourist to Bintan as their destination choice of holiday.
According to Quintal and Polczynski (2010), they stated in their study towards
factor influencing the tourists revisit intention, the perceived attractiveness (PA) (Um et
al., 2006), quality (Atilgan et al., 2003), value (Sanchez et al., 2006) and low risk
(Aqueveque, 2006) of a holiday destination can influence repeat visitations,
contributing to increased employment and modern infrastructure (Darnell and Johnson,
21
2001). On the other hand, negative occurrences that pose as high risk such as bad
weather, poorly organized events and negative word-of-mouth can distort perceptions of
the holiday destination, resulting in tourists opting to travel to other destinations
(Formica, 2002).
Further discussion in their study stated the understanding of the attributes that
make a destination attractive can assist Destination Management Organizations in
identifying what attracts tourists to return to a holiday destination (Um et al., 2006).
They list out 16 attributes namely: accommodation, activities, food and beverage,
service, safety of activities, cleanliness of beaches, uniqueness of landscape, wineries,
cottage industries, climate, accessibility, availability of public transport, parking
facilities and space, general infrastructure, travel information, and signs and indicators.
All these attributes are being survey using designed questionnaire for undergraduate and
postgraduate of Western Australia university student.
According to Crouch (2008) he stated in a CAUTHE conference that to measure
attributes determinance (Myers and Alpert, 1968), we adopted the method proposed by
Armacost and Hosseini (1994) for computing attribute determinance. In order to
establish which of the n attributes have a determinant impact on destination
competitiveness, the criterion employs use of the sampling distribution of the attribute
determinance measures with a one-tailed significance test and a 95 % confidence level
(type I error of 0.05) to determine which of the attribute determinance measures is
statistically significantly greater than average. Thus each determinance measure is
compared to the grand mean by this significance test to establish which determinance
measures are statistically significantly greater than the average. Ten of the 36
destination competitiveness attributes were found to have attribute determinance
measures significantly greater than average. In descending order of significance, these
are the ten destination competitiveness that being study by the Crouch namely:
Physiography and Climate; Culture and History; Mix of Activities; Tourism
22
Superstructure; Awareness/Image; Special Events; Entertainment; Infrastructure;
Accessibility; Positioning/Branding.
According to Babic-Hodovic, Mehic, Kramo, and Resic (2010) in the study of
tourist’s perception of destination attributes of Bosnia Herzegovina, they stated it is
very important to identify the level of destination attributes tourists evaluate and the
level of their satisfaction with those attributes. This is the first step in the process of
creating destination image and brand. Their study attempted to identify level of tourists
satisfaction with destination attributes identified as the element of tourism functional
system (Dobre, Rusković, Čuvljak, 2004):
o
Information component – promotional system (destination image and
perception, promotion and marketing, information and publicity)
o
Tourists – where do they come from and their characteristics (location
characteristics, interests of specific activities and cultural background)
o
Complete infrastructural capacities for traveling to and at the destination
(traveling to destination, between different tourist sites, and to the
accommodation capacities)
o
Tourism destination attractiveness (everything tourists want to see,
traveling stimulus, expected value)
o
Tourism services (accommodation, food, shopping facilities…)
Based on the studies they generated 8 synthetic attributes for their research study. These
attributes include urban amenity, hotel accommodation, security conditions, tourist
sites/attractions, tourist information, customs & immigration, hospitality. These
attributes mainly focus towards the tourist’s perception in visiting Bosnia Herzegovina.
According to Huh (2002), he stated that Andersen, Prentice and Guerin (1997)
researched the cultural tourism of Denmark. They chose several attributes, such as
23
historical buildings, museums, galleries, theaters, festivals and events, shopping, food,
palaces, famous people (writer…), castles, sports, and old towns. They identified the
important attributes as being castles, gardens, museums, and historical buildings, when
tourists made a decision to visit Denmark. Historical attributes also being study in this
research of Pangkor Island as the destination also offers historic element as attraction to
the tourists.
According to Jonsson and Devonish (2008) they stated that Kozak (2002) tested
the factor structure of this measure and found that it comprised four dimensions of
motives: cultural motives, pleasure-seeking/fantasy-based motives, relaxation-based
motives, and physical motives. Cultural motives (3 items) involve cultural reasons for
visiting the destination (e.g., ‘‘I visit Barbados to meet the local people’’). Pleasureseeking motives (4 items) involve reasons based on the need to find pleasurable and
enjoyable experiences in the destination (e.g., ‘‘I came to Barbados to seek
adventure’’). Relaxation-based motives (4 items) are based on the need to find peace,
tranquility, and relaxation in the destination (e.g., ‘‘I came to Barbados to be
emotionally and physically refreshed’’). Physical motives (3 items) are based on the
need to find opportunities to be physically active during one’s stay in the destination
(e.g., ‘‘I came to Barbados to engage in sports’’). This measure was scored on a 7-point
Likert scale similar to that of Kozak (2002): 1 = not important at all, 2 = very
unimportant, 3 = slightly unimportant, 4 = neither important nor unimportant, 5 =
slightly important, 6 = very important and 7 = extremely important.
According to Omerzel (2006), he indicates that Poon (1993) suggested four key
principles which destinations must follow if they are to be competitive: put the
environments first, make tourism a leading sector, strengthen the distribution channels
in the market place and build a dynamic private sector. Go and Govers (1999), in a
study of conference site selection, measured a destination’s competitive position
relative to other destinations along seven attributes – facilities, accessibility, quality of
service, overall affordability, location image, climate and environment, and
attractiveness. In any case, these attributes are based specifically on the conventions
24
sector of tourism. Physiography, culture and history, market ties, activities and events
are examples of those resources. Furthermore, Crouch and Ritchie (1999) expanded the
model on supporting factors and resources as secondary effective sources of destination
competitiveness, and particularly on destination policy, planning and development and
on the destination management.
Further discuss by Omerzel (2006), a model was developed in a collaborative
effort by researchers in Korea and Australia (Dwyer, Livaic and Mellor 2003). The
model displayed brings together the main elements of destination competitiveness as
proposed by tourism researchers. The determinants are classified under six main
headings:
• Inherited Resources
• Created Resources
• Supporting Factors and Resources
• Destination Management
• Situational Conditions
• Demand Conditions
Inherited resources can be classified as Natural and Cultural. The Natural
Resources include physiography, climate, flora and fauna etc. The culture and heritage,
like the destinations’ history, customs, architectural features, and traditions enhance the
attractiveness of a tourism destination. Created Resources include tourism
infrastructure, special events, entertainment, shopping and any available activities. The
category Supporting factors and Resources provides the foundations for a successful
tourism industry. They include general infrastructure, quality of services, hospitality,
and accessibility of destination.
Omerzel also indicates that Ap and Crompton (1993) profiled four levels of
reactions by residents to tourism activities. The first level is embracement, which
25
describes a euphoric stage where residents hold very positive attitudes toward tourists
and their impact. Tolerance is next and describes residents who are positive on some
impacts and negative on others. Adjustment, the third level, is where residents have
learned to cope with tourists. The last stage describes a community where residents
leave when tourists arrive. Resident’s attitudes toward tourism activities are important
in maintaining and sustaining the tourism resources of the destination.
According to Smith and Deppa (2009), they stated that Kahn and Meyer (1991)
described utility-preserving attributes and utility enhancing attributes. The first
designated attributes with greater potential of reducing overall satisfaction when
performance is low, whereas the second designated utility enhancing attributes or those
factors more likely to enhance overall satisfaction at higher levels. More recently,
Chowdhary and Prakash (2005) identified qualifying factors and vantage factors.
Qualifying factors were described as attributes that are minimally necessary in order for
a product to be maintained as competitively viable, while vantage factors are more
highly sought after by customers and serve to competitively differentiate a service
provider. Other models suggested a third type or “hybrid” attribute but these are
attributes that simply display characteristics of the other two types, attributes that are
relevant at both lower and higher levels of performance and able to impact both
satisfaction and dissatisfaction (Cadotte and Turgeon, 1988; Johnston, 1995; Kano,
1984; Mittal, 2000). Further study by Smith and Deppa also indicates that there are 21
attributes to be examined namely: hotel, hotel help, restaurant variety, restaurant
quality, restaurant price, employee help, cleanliness, safety, events, scenery, culture,
history, wildlife, adventure, shopping, climate, solitude, nightlife, access, travel
information, and locals.
According to Haahti (1986), she stated in her study with sample size of 681
respondents, there are 8 destination attributes being study namely: culture and history,
landscape (beautiful scenery and natural attractions), entertainment, price (e.g cost,
26
good value for money), sport, safety (personal safety at the destination), local people
attitude toward visitors and accessibility (information available). Whereas, similarly a
study by Phillip (1993) indicates only 4 destination attributes namely: culture and
history, landscape, services (shopping, accommodation, food and transportation), and
entertainment.
2.4
Attractive Attribute of Pangkor Island
Pangkor Island is located in Perak Darul Ridzuan state under the authority of
Manjung Municipal Council (MMC). It is located just off the coast of North West
Malaysia and it is about 300 km north from the country capital Kuala Lumpur. Pangkor
Island is about 200 km South of Penang and 70 km South-West of Perak's capital Ipoh.
Pangkor Town, the main town on Pangkor Island, is located on the east coast of the
island. It is a small own and only have one street. There's a range of souvenir shops,
dried seafood shops, coffee shops and few restaurants along the street.
On the east side of Pangkor Island there are three fishing villages facing the
mainland: Sungai Pinang Kecil, Sungai Pinang Besar and Kampong Teluk Kecil. Many
of the houses are traditional and some are build in the sea on stakes. In Sungai Pinang
Kecil, there is Hai Seng Hin Satay Fish Factory that produces and supplies the dried
seafood product to the mainland. The villages offer a closer look at life of the average
Chinese fisherman and their family. The women are ready with knives and baskets to
prepare their catch when their husbands come home with their catch. The catch are then
dried in the sun and later soaked in a sweet, spicy sauce.
27
The Fu Lin Kong Temple is a famous Taoist temple in Pangkor Island. The
temple has been build at the foot of Pangkor Hill in the village of Sungai Pinang Besar.
It has a nice garden partly build on the hillside. There is a miniature 'Great Wall of
China' to admire. From the roof visitors will see the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. Kali
Amman Temple is located at Sungai Pinang Kecil and it is the largest and the only
Indian temple of any significance on the island. It is noted as one of the two Indian
temples in Malaysia that have the entrance the shrine of the goddess Kali, facing the
sea. The temple has a short staircase that descends to the sea where worshippers are
required to cleanse themselves before entering the hall for worship. Next to the Kali
Amman Temple, there are grave site of several notable Dutch residents of Pangkor
Island in the past, including Edgware G. Howell, Patrick de Souza and W.A. Seaton.
The over 100 year’s tombs are buried only halfway in the ground and have a small altar
next to them.
Just south of Pangkor Town lies Kampong Teluk Gedung. There is the historical
of the Dutch Fort. It was built on year 1670 and used for storing tin. The Dutch used to
fort as a stronghold against local Malays and pirates. Today only some of the fort's
foundations are left. The Dutch Fort is located just at the entrance to Tiger Rock of
where there is a hotel: Tiger Rock.
Just located next to the Dutch Fort is Batu Bersurat. It means literally 'the stone
of inscriptions'. The stone is a large granite boulder and has the inscription ‘1743
I.F.CRALO’ and the initials ‘VOC’ (Veerenigde Oostindische Compagnie - The Dutch
East India Company), and the image of a tiger. The story behind it is that a child, who
played by the rock, disappeared with no trace and was, presumed that a tiger had taken
the child. However the villagers at Pangkor Island said that it wasn’t the tiger that had
taken the boy, but rather the angry Malays, who wanted to rid Pangkor of the Dutch.
The Dutch chiseled this incident on the stone depicting the Malays as a tiger.
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Pangkor Island also sites for nature activities to the tourists such as jungle
trekking and flora fauna observation. Trekking up Tortoise Hill and around the town of
Sungai Pinang in Pangkor Island will take tourists to the highest peak of the island,
where tourists can enjoy panoramic views of the ocean, countryside and lush forests.
The trails of Tortoise Hill are also habitats and home to dozens of plants, flowers, birds
and animals. Tourists will walk past Pasir Bogak beach, an idyllic destination for those
who love to watch and experience the sunset.
Pangkor Laut is a privately owned island located three miles off the West Coast
of Malaysia along the Straits of Malacca. This piece of paradise has been 2 million
years in the making, and here tourists will find one of the world’s premier resorts
nestling in the shade of forest giants as old as the land. Of the island's 300 acres, only a
fraction has been developed to house the Resort and its eight Estates. Wooden buildings
blend seamlessly into the forest as if nature had been the architect dictating how walls
curve around foliage, and roofs open up to allow trees to continue on their journey to
the sky.
The Village Seafood Restaurant is a Chinese seafood restaurant establishment
recommended by the most locals. Daddy's Cafe is another food establishment located at
Coral Bay, and it is Pangkor's only on-the-beach restaurant. One of the favorite’s choice
for breakfast among the local and visitors, is the restaurant opposite of the Kheng Hai
Chuan Fishery shop, to be recognized by the bird nests attached to the name board. The
restaurants serve excellent Hokkien noodles, also known as prawn noodles (mee
udang), mostly known as famous hawker food from Penang Island.
The Pangkor Island is very popular for seaside activities such as sun bathing,
BBQ, diving, fishing, snorkeling, kayaking, windsurfing and recently parasailing which
29
offers visitors a great bird's eye view of the Island. The island has very clear waters and
is an excellent venue for water-skiing and sea-sports. Pangkor Island enjoys a yearround equatorial and tropical climate with a temperature range of 20° C – 35° C. The
days are warm and the nights are cool. Rainfall is copious and fairly evenly distributed
throughout the year. The rain is mostly convectional – the rain clouds are built up by
rising warm air currents and the rains descend in a downpour that normally lasts an hour
or two.
Accommodation is easily available, ranging from luxury hotels, chalets to the
more Spartan comforts of 'attap' huts and camping sites. From the 5-Star
accommodation resort to the budget chalet are offer throughout the years for the tourists
locally and internationally. Several numbers of accommodation offers are follows (1)
Pangkor Island Beach Resort, (2) Coral Bay Resort, (3) Anjungan Beach Resort, (4)
Puteri Bayu Beach Resort, (5) Teluk Dalam Resort, (6) Pangkor Laut Resort, (7) Coral
View Beach Resort, (8) Seaview Hotel, (9) Havana Beach Resort, (10) Tiger Rock, (11)
Horizon Inn, (12) Vikri Beach Resort, (13) Nipah Bay Villa, (14) Teluk Rubiah Beach
and Golf Resort, (15) Pangkor Puteri Resort, (16) Golden Beach Hotel, and (17)
Pangkor Village Beach Resort
Popular sea activities in Pangkor Island included swimming, snorkeling, windsurfing, water skiing, an exhilarating ride on jet skiing, banana boat or fly with the
winds on a parasail and deep sea fishing. The island has very clear waters and is an
excellent venue for water-skiing and sea activities. Other than that, kayaking also one of
the popular activities offers for the tourists as they can experience kayaking at the sea
around the island. Besides that, island hoping and beach volleyball also available at the
island. The nearby islands of Pangkor Island are Pulau GIam (Giam Island), Pulau
Mentagor (Mentagor Island) and Pangkor Laut Island. Shuttle service to Pangkor Laut
Island is readily available from the Pangkor Island and Lumut Jetty and takes between
10 and 30 minutes. Several activities can be done at the nearby island such as island
30
hoping and snorkeling. In fact, the Giam Island is the most popular sites for snorkeling
activities among the local and the international tourists. Easily accessible, Pangkor Laut
is a terrific playground for swimming, waterskiing, parasailing, and picnicking. Luxury
and prestige accommodation is also available on the island for those who need a true
island escape and experiencing the magnificent sunset.
Of all the Malaysian Islands, Pangkor Island has still some beautiful and quiet
beaches. Teluk Nipah and Pantai Pasir Bogak have attractions as the banana boats,
kayaks and jet-ski available. Also it's possible to rent a boat to go around the island and
enjoy snorkeling activities at Giam Island in front of Teluk Nipah. Pantai Pasir Bogak
(Pasir Bogak Beach) is a few kilometers away from Pangkor Town on the West side of
the island. It has been described as 'the biggest swimming pool in the world'. The water
is shallow and crystal clear. Of all the Pangkor beaches, Teluk Nipah or Nipah Bay is
the most beautiful. This beach is located a few kilometers north Pantai Pasir Bogak. The
beach is secluded and is able to maintain its natural beauty. Unlike other beaches, it has
corals, sea cucumber and bird lovers can find the hornbill (Burung Enggang) on this
beach.
Due to its geography location, the waves of Pangkor Island are surprising gentle
on the shore while the immediate waters are shallow at most parts, allowing children to
snorkeling in relatively safety. Colorful marine fish, large and small, sometimes in
shoals, flit about the reefs and jetty pillars, impatiently waiting for food tossed into the
water by visitors, churning the surface into frenzy when they do so. The waters around
the island promise snorkelers good visibility at about 16 meters. Magnificent coral reefs
hugging the shoreline afford views of pink and green parrot fish and turquoise moon
wrasses, darting around brain coral, stag horn coral, boulder coral, feather stars and sea
fans.
31
Modern and well maintained ferry services and seaports are available to make
transportation in Pangkor easier. The ferry service is provided by the Duta Pangkor and
Mesra Ferry Services that connects Lumut and Pangkor. The ferry fare is RM10.00 for a
return ticket. The beach front is really the prime nightspot of Pangkor Island, with a
seafood BBQ area for open-air dining served by a series of restaurants and bistros that
line its side.
According to Mr. Mohamad Sharil Bin Salihan, the Assistant Tourism Officer of
Manjung Municipal Council, Pangkor Island has become the main attraction to tourists
due to its beaches and unique cluster of island because of its beautiful surroundings.
Pangkor Island is very well known for the white sand beaches, crystal blue waters and
also water sport activities like canoeing, jungle treks, kayaking, bright stars, snorkeling
and jet-skiing. Apart from that, this island is full of beautiful corals and also remarkable
marine lives that can be see at Giam Island and Mentagor Island (in front of Teluk
Nipah).
By matching destination attributes in literature with those in the context of
Pangkor Island through review the commercial literature, the study will research 10
attractive attributes of Pangkor Island, namely (1) culture and history, (2) landscape, (3)
tourism services, (4) relaxation, (5) climate, (6) price, (7) safety, (8) local people’s
attitude toward visitors, (9) special events, (10) easy access, (11) friendliness, and (12)
water activity.
2.5
Tourist Satisfaction
32
Tourism satisfaction is related to tourism behavior because it can determine
whether the initial travel motivation has been fulfilled; if a tourist is motivated to visit a
destination and the experience is what they had hoped for, they will be satisfied (Dunn
Ross and Iso-Ahola 1991; Mannell and Iso-Ahola 1987). By satisfying the tourist,
destination managers has a strong potential to create a repeat customer which brings a
steady source of income with limited extra marketing expenditure (Manente 2000;
Oppermann 2000; Swarbrooke and Horner 1999). Further, Yoon and Uysal (2005) did
not seek to segment tourists into groups with similar motivations. There is little
evidence to determine whether tourists with similar push and pull motivations are
similarly satisfied with the tourism experience.
According to Huh (2002), tourist satisfaction is important to successful
destination marketing because it influences the choice of destination, the consumption
of products and services, and the decision to return (Huh, 2002). He also stated in his
study that (Pizam, Neumann, and Reichel, 1978) have been used to used to measure
tourist satisfaction with specific tourism destinations. In particular, expectancydisconfirmation has received the widest acceptance among these theories because it is
broadly applicable. Pizam and Milman (1993) utilized Oliver’s (1980) expectancydisconfirmation model to improve the predictive power of travelers’ satisfaction. They
introduced the basic dynamic nature of the disconfirmation model into hospitality
research, while testing part of the original model in a modified form. In order to assess
the causal relationship between two different disconfirmation methods, they employed a
regression model with a single “expectation – met” measure as the dependent variable,
and 21 difference–score measures as the independent variables.
According to Nguyen (2008) in his study the understanding of tourist
satisfaction is of utmost importance for the tourism industry, especially because of its
effect on their future economy (e.g. Petrick 2003). Chon (1989) defined that tourist
satisfaction is based on the goodness of fit between expectation about a destination
33
(previous destination image) and the perceived evaluative experience in the destination
(what tourists see, feel, and achieve in the destination experience). Chon and Olsen
(1991) discovered a goodness of fit correlation between tourists’ expectations about
their destination, and tourists’ satisfaction. Then, after tourists have bought the travel
service and products, if the evaluation of their experience of the travel product is better
than their expectations, they will be satisfied with their travel experience.
In the tourism literature, tourist satisfaction has been assessed though various
theories and models: expectancy/disconfirmation (Oliver, 1980), equity (Oliver and
Swan, 1989), importance/performance, and perceived overall performance (Tse and
Wilton, 1988). Due to the close relationship between the level of tourist satisfaction and
future behavior, the performance of a destination’s products and services should be
evaluated through satisfaction measurement. According to Kozak (2000), it seems
unclear which model is best suited to a particular destination marketing situation. The
measurement and management of tourist satisfaction in destination marketing should
improve the methodological weaknesses of past research.
2.6
Destination Image
The most frequently cited definition for destination image is: ‘the sum of beliefs,
ideas and impressions that a person has of a destination’. This involves an individual’s
mental picture of a place based on their knowledge and other global impressions. The
image, a person has of a tourist destination is a function of various points of reference.
Information obtained from friends, relatives or media sources also contributes to our
final picture. In addition, of course, our image of a destination is shaped through any of
our own tourist experiences. Image is an evaluative (e.g. ‘good/bad’, ‘true/false’) and
34
multi-dimensional construct. Therefore the attributes of image can be grouped
according to various components. Destination image is more cognitive and involves
subjective knowledge of a destination (e.g. expensive, exotic, urban, cold, and
developed) and therefore its evaluation may vary from one person to another. The
tourist’s attitude towards a destination also includes an element of strong emotional
attachment (e.g. exciting, fun). The evaluation of destination image includes some
element of emotional attachment; the question arises as to what extent the overall view
of a destination is emotional (Ekinci, 2003).
According to Phau, Shanka, & Dhayan (2010), destination image is defined to
comprise of the image characteristics of a destination that subsequently influence
tourist’s decision to visit particular vacation destinations. It has three main construct
that entails a constant building and modification of images that are conceived at various
level, namely:
(1) organic;
(2) induced; and
(3) modified induced.
The relative saliency of image attributes associated with history, heritage and
culture in shaping the perceptions of places as tourism destinations. Such images tend to
have been formed over a long period of time and result from exposure to
communication processes largely outside marketing’s core sphere of influence such as
education, literature and the arts. Images formed in this way are referred to in this paper
as organic images (Hankinson, 2004).
According to Howie (2003), an ‘organic’ image is created largely through
informal or passive consideration of a place – conversations with friends or family or
35
half-remembered magazine articles or television programmes over a lifetime. More
purposefully created images of destination – ‘induced’ images – is the result of
advertising in tourist brochures designed to promote one destination (Howie, 2003).
According to Litvin and Ng (2000) destination image, a flexible term requires
each author to either craft or select from a growing body of tourism literature a
definition which best fits present research needs. They stated that Echtner and Ritchie
(1993) have extensively surveyed and documented destination image literature. They
have concluded that image is one of the most important components of product
positioning and that an effective positioning strategy is essential for marketing tourism
products. In their study they also stated that Milman and Pizam (1995) have indicated
that destination image is the visual or mental impression of a place held by the general
public. Their research recognizes that different consumers will have different images,
influenced by their progression through three stages of awareness: (1) no awareness, (2)
awareness and (3) familiarity through trial. Their conclusions were that familiarity with
the destination resulted in a more positive image, while, to their surprise, awareness
versus non-awareness failed to correlate (Litvin & Ng, 2000).
According to Pan and Li (2011) in their research, the notion of image has been
widely used by marketing and behavioral science scholars to refer to people’s
perception of a product, store, or corporate entity (Hampton et al. 1987; Jain and Etgar
1976; Spector 1961). Tourism researchers applied this idea to destination studies, and
expanded the image definition to “include the perceptions or impressions a person has
of a place” (McClinchey 1999, p. 9). As Alcaniz and colleagues (2009, p. 716) put it,
tourism destination image “consists of all that the destination evokes in the individual;
any idea, belief, feeling or attitude that tourists associate with the place.” Researchers
have suggested that tourists’ overall tourism destination image may be composed of two
or three dimensions: tourism destination image contains a cognitive and an affective
component, with the former being the physical properties of a place, and the latter
36
referring to the tourists’ feeling and evaluation of a destination. Some researchers
(Gartner 1996; Pike and Ryan 2004) argue that there is a third dimension, conative
image, which reflects the behavioral aspect (e.g., intention to visit) of one’s destination
perception (Pan & Li, 2011).
Notably,
Echtner
and
Ritchie
(1991;
1993)
presented
a
particular
conceptualization of TDI, which has been widely cited (Stepchenkova and Morrison
2008). Their three-dimensional framework of tourism destination image incorporates
three mutually overlapping continuums: (1) attribute-holistic continuum: tourism
destination image comprises both the perceptions of individual attributes of a
destination and the holistic impression; (2) functional-psychological: each image
component contains directly observable (functional) and abstract (psychological)
characteristics; and (3) common-unique: tourism destination image may range from
common traits and features that can be used to compare all destinations to those unique
to very few destinations.
Studies on destination image trace back to the early 1970s with Hunt (1975)
influential work examining the role of image in tourism development. In a review of the
literature from 1973 to 2000, Pike (2000) identifies 142 destination image studies
exploring a variety of areas such as the role and influence of destination image in
consumer behavior, image formation, and destination image scale development.
Interestingly, research on destination image goes beyond the academic community and
is of equal relevance to destination marketers (Baloglu and Brinberg, 1997). However,
much attention to the study of destination image primarily lies in the latter influence on
tourists’ behaviors. For example, in a review of 23 frequently cited destination image
studies, Chon (1990) finds that the most popular themes emerging from these studies
are the role and influence of destination image on traveler’s behavior and satisfaction.
The image of a destination influences tourists’ choice processes, the evaluation of that
destination and future intentions (Bigné, Sanchez, & Sanchez, 2001).
37
2.7
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of the study is based on consumers’ motivation
theory, e.g. consumers’ motivation is one of most important determinants of consumer
behavior (Lichen, 2005, Swarbrooke & Horner, 2001: 169). From a broad perspective, a
destination can be seen as a product or service, and tourists as consumers. Therefore,
the process of tourists’ destination selection is similar to the process of consumers’
purchasing decision. The process of consumers’ purchasing decision is very complex,
and so is the tourists’ destination selection.
Tourist’s decision
on destination
selection
Perception of a
destination’s
important attributes
(Source: Adapted from Lichen Zhou, 2005)
Figure 2.7.1: Model of Destination Selection
According to the research by Lichen (2005) and Nguyen (2008), it can be
concluded that tourists’ perceptions of a destinations’ important attributes may
significantly impact on their decision on destination selection. It may also significantly
impact on the formation of an overall image of the destination, and in turn, influence
their decision on destination selection. The model of destination selection (Figure 2.7.1)
can be reshaped into Figure 2.7.2, as follows:
38
Destination
attributes
Destination
selection
Destination image
Pre-visitation
Attribute
satisfaction
Destination image
Post-visitation
Overall
Satisfaction
Destination
revisit intention
(Source: Adapted from Nguyen, 2008)
Figure 2.7.2: Proposed Conceptual Framework
Figure 2.7.2 is the proposed conceptual framework model of destination
selection for this research study. This proposed conceptual framework is adapted from
the Nguyen (2008) model of destination selection. This model is divided into two
sections that are pre-visitation and post-visitation. Pre-visitation is constitutes the
destination attribute supported by the destination image that influence the destination
selection of the tourist. Whereas, post-visitation constitutes the attributes satisfaction
leads to overall satisfaction during the visitation at the destination supported by
destination image that influence the tourist destination revisit intention.
39
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction
This chapter presents the research methodology of the research study in
determining the destination attributes that attract international tourists that visit Pangkor
Island. The methodology consist of the following steps:
(1) research design;
(2) population and size;
(3) questionnaire design;
(4) pilot study;
(5) data collection; and
(6) data analysis
40
3.2
Research design
Research design is not related to any particular method of collecting data or any
particular type of data. Any research design can, in principle, use any type of data
collection method and can use either quantitative or qualitative data. Research design
refers to the structure of an enquiry: it is a logical matter rather than a logistical one.
Research needs to be structured in such a way that the evidence also bears on alternative
rival explanations and enables us to identify which of the competing explanations is
most compelling empirically.
According to Nguyen (2008), he stated that a study cited by Bryman (2004);
Davis and Sutton (2004); and Alghamdi (2007), a quantitative research is associated
with the deductive approach, while qualitative research is associated with the inductive
approach. Deductive research sets out to ‘test’ a hypothesis, while inductive research
sets out to explore a field. In this regards, deductive research requires a greater degree
of pre-emptive structure in the process of data collection. If the researcher seeks to test a
hypothesis, he or she will want to measure the relationship between different variables.
Inductive methods are exploratory, seeking to build accounts of what is going on from
the data collected; this does not require the establishment of pre-set measures and
method of counting. Therefore, the quantitative approach will be employed for the
purpose of this study.
Table 3.2.1 demonstrates the destination attributes which were employed in
methodologies of previous researchers.
41
Table 3.2.1 Methodologies employed by previous researchers
Reference
Type of Methodology
Technique for the generation of attributes
Hunt (1975)
Structured:
Tourism experts
- 20 attributes
Researcher’s judgment
- 7 and 5 point Sem. Diff.
Scale
Crompton (1977)
Structured:
General reading material, brochures
- 18 attributes
Consumer interview (N=36)
- 7 point Sem. Diff. Scale
Goodrich (1977)
Structured:
Tourism experts
- 10 attributes
Travel brochures
- 7 point Likert Scale
Crompton (1979)
Structured:
General reading material, brochures
- 30 attributes
Consumer interview (N=36)
- 7 point Sem. Diff. Scale
Pearce (1982)
Structured:
Modified Kelly Repertory Grid technique
- 13 attributes
- 6 point Likert Scale
Haahti & Yavas
Structured:
Literature review
(1983)
- 10 attributes
Focus group of travel agents
- 9 Likert Scale
Crompton and
Structured:
General reading material, brochures
Duray (1985)
- 28 attributes
Consumer interview (N=100)
- 5 point Sem. Diff. Scale
Kale & Weir
Structured:
(1986)
- 26 attributes
Not discussed
- 7 point Likert Scale
Phelps (1986)
Structured:
- 32 attributes
- Check list of attributes
Researcher’s judgment
42
Tourism Canada
Structured:
(1986-1989)
- 29 attributes
Not discussed
- 5 point Likert Scale
Gartner & Hunt
Structured:
Tourism experts
(1987)
- 11 attributes
Researcher’s judgment
- 5 point Sem. Diff. Scale
Richardson &
Structured:
Used attributes from Tourism Canada
Crompton (1988)
- 10 attributes
Vacation Patterns Survey
- 4 point Comparative Scale
Gartner (1989)
Structured:
Not discussed
- 15 attributes
- 5 point Likert Scale
Calantone et al.
Structured:
(1989)
- 13 attributes
Not discussed
- 7 point Likert Scale
Reilly (1990)
Unstructured:
Not Applicable
- Open-ended questions
Source: Echtner & Ritchie (2003)
Based on literature mentioned above, the technique for creation of attributes for
this study is based on literature review, travel materials, pilot sample, researcher’s
judgment and tourism experts. The structured questionnaire is employed. The
communication approaches selected are both “survey via personal interview” and “selfadministered survey”.
43
3.3
Population and sample size
3.3.1 Population
Different researchers have defined a population in different ways. Population
refers to the entire group of people, event, or things of interest that the research wishes
to investigate (Sekaran, 2003). The target population of this research study is
international tourists aged 18 years old and above who visited Pangkor Island for
holiday and vacation. The population of this study is based on the number of tourist’s
arrivals to Pangkor Island by the year of 2010 (refer Table 3.3.1.2). The source is based
on the data from Tourism Malaysia and the Manjung Municipal Council.
Table 3.3.1.1: Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Malaysia by the year 2009 and 2010
YEAR
TOTAL TOURIST ARRIVAL
2009
2010
23,646,191
24,577,196
Source: Tourism Malaysia
Table 3.3.1.2: Statistic of Perak hotel guests for the year 2009 and 2010
YEAR
2009
2010
TOTAL HOTEL GUESTS
2,523,029
2,224,232
Source: Tourism Malaysia
44
Table 3.3.1.3: Statistic of visitor/tourist arrival to Pangkor Island for the year 2009 and
2010
YEAR
TOTAL TOURIST ARRIVAL
2009
2010
677,952
714,144
Source: Manjung Municipal Council
Table 3.3.1.3 show the statistic of the tourist arrival to Pangkor Island for the
year 2009 and 2010. The number of tourists visiting Pangkor Island is 677,952 visitors
in the year 2009 and 714,144 visitors in the year 2010. This number will be the
population for this study in accessing and gathering the data about the international
tourists who visit the Pangkor Island.
3.3.2 Sample size
A sample is a subset of the population. It comprises some members selected
from it. Some elements of the population would form the sample (Sekaran, 2003).
Sampling is the process of selecting a sufficient number of elements from the
population. Sampling helps the researchers in collecting data and information needed
for the study. For the purpose of this study, it was determined that only international
tourist that visit Pangkor Island should be considered. Only 180 international tourists
managed being survey for this study that visit Pangkor Island for holiday destination.
The data collection of the research survey conducted on the period of February and
March 2011. The surveys were conducted mainly at the Lumut Jetty as the main access
point to Pangkor Island after respondent visit the destination. The Lumut town area
itself also one of the location for research survey in managing the data collection.
45
3.4
Questionnaire Design
A questionnaire is a preforrnulated written set of questions to which respondents
record their answers, usually within rather closely defined alternatives (Sekaran, 2003).
A structured questionnaire is the principle means used for collecting data by means of a
survey designated population or sample (Baker, 2003). This study therefore employs
structured questionnaire as main instrument and self-administered questionnaire as an
additional survey instrument to maximize the overall probability of response in data
collection. The questions in questionnaire are produced based on a literature review and
particular destination characteristics of Pangkor Island.
The procedure in which 10 attributes were identified is incorporated into study
questionnaire. In this research, the questionnaire is divided into three parts: part one
obtains general information about respondents on their current trip. Part two consists of
three sections: section A requires respondents to rate the attributes of Pangkor Island’s
in terms of importance level. Destination attributes consist of 9 items. A 5-point Likert
scale is used as response format for the importance of each attributes with scale anchors
‘not important at all’ (1) and ‘very important’ (5). Section B requires respondents to rate
their wish to visit Pangkor Island. Section C relates to perception of international
tourists about pre-visit image of Pangkor Island.
Part three consist of seven sections: section A requires respondent to rate the
attributes of Pangkor Island’s in term of satisfaction level. A 5-point Likert scale is used
as response format for the satisfaction of each attributes with scale anchors ‘not
satisfied at all’ (1) and ‘very satisfied’ (5). Section B requires respondent to rate the
satisfaction of the trip to Pangkor Island. Section C requires respondent to rate the post
image of Pangkor Island. Section D requires the respondent to rate intention to revisit
the destination. Section E requires respondent to rate recommend the destination to
46
other people. Section F, G and H are open-ended question that requires the respondent
to share their thing they like during holiday, opinion for improvement and other
comment or suggestion about Pangkor Island. Sample of questionnaires are show in
Appendix 1.
3.5
Pilot study
A pilot study is a small scale preliminary study conducted before the main
research in order to check the feasibility or to improve the design of the research. In this
study, the pilot study for the first version of the questionnaire will be conducted and
distributed to five colleagues to check how they understand the questions. A formal
discussion session also being conducted with research supervisor for this study in order
to identify the destination attributes of Pangkor Island to be survey. Afterward,
questionnaire was revised to be the final one and ready for collecting data.
3.6
Data collection
The target population sample for this research is international tourists who
arrived in Pangkor Island to experience their vacation and holiday. Therefore, the direct
approach to international tourists was the main method during the entire research.
Therefore, the Lumut Jetty and Marina Island Jetty were main places to collect data. In
addition, hotels were also the favorites to approach international tourists where they
stay during their vacation and holiday. Furthermore, the Pangkor mini airport, located at
47
the Teluk Dalam, where some tourists arrive via air also a suitable choice for data
collection for this study. The data collection will be conducted on the month of March
and April 2010.
3.7
Data analysis
The data collected is reviewed to discard unusable questionnaires, coded and
keyed into a database using an appropriate statistical method. The quantitative analysis
is employed to measure both destination satisfactions of international tourists visiting
Pangkor Island and post visit image of Pangkor Island after the trip, as well as evaluate
important degree of each attributes to destination selection of tourists. Generally, the
quantitative analysis employed to test hypotheses of this study using the following
statistical technique:
1. Frequencies and percentages are used with demographic variables in order to
describe the sample.
2. Mean scores are applied to examine the importance degree of destination
attributes and image to destination selection. Group mean scores with t-test and
F-test (One-way ANOVA) are also applied to compare average (means) among
different groups of demographic variables.
3. Pearson correlation is used to test the correlation between each of important
destination attributes and destination image.
48
4. With refer to 5-point likert scale, it can be divided into 5 equally likely ranges,
equal to 0.8 each [width of the range = (max/min)/level = (5-1).5 = 8]. It means
items with scores fall between the ranges of:
4.21 – 5.00 are considered as very important
3.41 – 4.20 are considered as important
2.61 – 3.40 are considered as neutral
1.81 – 2.60 are considered as not important
1.00 – 1.80 are considered as not important at all
49
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
4.1
Introduction
This chapter present principal finding from the primary research and discusses
the results obtained through primary data collection as below:
(1) Identify the important attributes of Pangkor Island;
(2) Profile of respondents; and
(3) Testing of hypotheses.
4.2
Identify the Important Attributes of Pangkor Island
50
The process of identifying the holiday attributes or characteristics considered
important to international tourists to Pangkor Island is implemented using the
triangulation of primary and secondary methods (Nguyen, 2008; Lichen, 2005; Tribe
and Snaith, 1998; Jenkins, 1999). Secondary research is conducted in the form of a
review of both relevant academic literatures, while primary research is conducted
through surveying a focus group that travels much to Pangkor Island.
In the first step regarding secondary research through reviewing previous
studies, there are twelve attributes drawn for the research purpose of the study. By
matching destination attributes in literature with those in the context of Pangkor Island
through review the commercial literature, the study will research 12 attractive
destination attributes of Pangkor Island, namely (1) culture and history, (2) landscape,
(3) tourism services, (4) relaxation, (5) climate, (6) price, (7) safety, (8) local people’s
attitude toward visitors, (9) special events, (10) easy access, (11) friendliness, and (12)
water activity. These twelve destination attributes play an important role in attracting
international tourist to visit Pangkor Island. Not all of them, however, are equally
important. Therefore, the identification of important attributes is necessary to find out
the influence of each attribute on international tourists decision to visit Pangkor Island.
To modify the destination attributes in order to apply to the specific tourism
characteristics of Pangkor Island for this study, the discussion with research supervisor
was being held. Finally, after discussion with the tourism experts at the area that is Mr
Mohd Sharil Salihan and Madam Fatimah Noor, Officers from Manjung Municipal
Council, there are 9 attributes that are considered to be important and are believed to
contribute to the identification of Pangkor Island as a holiday destination choice for the
international tourists. These 9 identified destination attributes of Pangkor Island consist
of (1) landscape (e.g. beautiful scenery and natural attraction), (2) culture and history
(e.g. history, fort, art and way of life of local people), (3) tourism services (e.g.
shopping, accommodation, food & beverages and transportation), (4) easy to get
51
tourism information, (5) friendliness of local people, (6) safety, (7) relaxation (e.g.
beautiful beaches, resorts, sunbathing), (8) climate (e.g. weather), and (9) reasonable
price (e.g. good value of money). These nine destination attributes are employed in the
questionnaire survey for this study.
4.3
Profile of Respondent
The demographic characteristics of gender, age, education, visitation status, and
trip purposes were included in this discussion in an effort to provide a descriptive
profile of the survey respondents. Table 4.3.1 present the summary of findings which
was obtained by running frequencies on the survey data. Other characteristic presented
in Table 4.3.2 is distribution of this sample population by country.
A total of 180 respondents were interviewed, from the Table 4.3.1 there are 90
respondents or 50 percent, reported were male and other 90 respondents or 50 percent
were female. From the survey conducted, the respondent’s age group ranges from 20 to
29 year were the highest at a level of 37.3 percent, followed by the group age ranges of
30 to 39 year with 36.1 percent, group age ranges of 40 to 49 year with 11.7 percent,
followed by the group age of above 50 year at 10 percent and the least was 5 percent for
the group age below 20 year. It can be seen in the Table 4.3.1 that there were 70.6
percent of the respondents are well educated with level of education of respondents are
tertiary education, followed by secondary education at the level of 10.6 percent,
followed by primary education at the level of 12.2 percent and the least was no formal
education at the level of 6.7 percent. Regarding the visitation status, the majority of
respondents indicated that this is their first trip to visit Pangkor Island, accounting for
75 percent, whereas only 25 percent reported have visited Pangkor Island before or
52
repeat visitors. In term of the purposes of the trip, respondents in this study were
predominantly or majority were on holiday with 92.2 percent, followed by VFR (visit,
friend and relatives) at the level of 3.9 percent, then business at the level of 3.3 percent
and the least were MICE (meeting, incentive, conference, exhibition) at the level of 0.6
percent.
Table 4.3.1 Characteristics of respondents
Variables
Response
Frequencies
Percentage (%)
categories
Gender
Age
Education
Visitation status
Trip purposes
Male
90
50.0
Female
90
50.0
Below 20
9
5.0
20 - 29
67
37.2
30 - 39
65
36.1
40 - 49
21
11.7
Above 50
18
10.0
Tertiary education
127
70.6
Secondary education
19
10.6
Primary education
22
12.2
No formal education
12
6.7
Yes (repeat visitor)
45
25.0
No (1 time visitor)
135
75.0
Holiday
166
92.2
Business
6
3.3
MICE
1
0.6
VFR
7
3.9
st
53
Table 4.3.2 Respondents country of residence
Country
Frequencies
Percentage (%)
France
19
10.6
Netherlands/Holland
18
10.0
Sweden
17
9.4
Germany
16
8.9
UK/Britain
14
7.8
Singapore
12
6.7
USA
11
6.1
Uzbekistan
8
4.4
Australia
7
3.9
Iran
7
3.9
Argentina
5
2.8
Lithuania
5
2.8
Russia
4
2.2
Thailand
4
2.2
Sudan
3
1.7
Finland
3
1.7
Denmark
3
1.7
Taiwan
3
1.7
Ukraine
2
1.1
Nigeria
2
1.1
Japan
2
1.1
Greece
2
1.1
Vietnam
2
1.1
Pakistan
2
1.1
India
2
1.1
Indonesia
2
1.1
Canada
1
0.6
Turkey
1
0.6
Bolivia
1
0.6
New Zealand
1
0.6
Philippines
1
0.6
180
100
54
With reference to geographical distribution of respondent of this study, the data
was based on the countries where interviewees are living and the summary of findings
is demonstrated in the Table 4.3.2. It can be seen that in the Table 4.3.2, it’s indicated
that the France constituted the highest of the respondent namely 19 respondent or 10.6
percent, followed by the Netherland/Holland constituting 18 respondent or 10 percent.
The Sweden and Germany tourists accounted at 9.4 percent and 8.9 percent
respectively.
The findings also showed that the tourists from United Kingdom (UK),
Singapore, USA and Uzbekistan fell within the range from 4.4 percent to 7.8 percent.
Two national international tourists coming from Australia and Iran share the same
proportions with 3.9 percent, respondent from Argentina and Lithuania with 2.8
percent, and respondent from Russia and Thailand with 2.2 percent. Several national
international tourist coming from Sudan, Finland, Denmark and Taiwan share the same
proportions with 1.7 percent, respondent from Ukraine, Nigeria, Japan, Greece,
Vietnam, Pakistan, India and Indonesia share the same proportions with 1.1 percent, and
the respondent from Canada, Turkey, Bolivia, New Zealand and Philippines with 0.6
percent.
Table 4.3.3 Distribution of respondents by region
Country
Frequencies
Europe
Scandinavia
ASEAN
Middle East
Others
USA
Asia
Africa
81
23
21
15
15
11
9
5
Percentage
(%)
45%
13%
12%
8%
8%
6%
5%
3%
55
Table 4.3.3 indicates the percentage of the respondent’s country of in this study
based on their region. It shows that the European region has the highest number of
tourists visiting Pangkor Island at 45%. This number is followed by the Scandinavian
and ASEAN region at 13% and 12%. This is followed by the Middle East and Others at
8%, USA at 6%, Others Asian country at 5% and the least is the Africa region at 3%.
4.4
Testing of Hypotheses
4.4.1 Testing of Hypotheses 1
The first objective of this study is to determine the degree of importance of the
ten attributes to the selection of Pangkor Island as the destination of international
tourists. Firstly, the research examined the significant importance of each of nine
important attributes (hypotheses 1), then identify the importance degree of each
attributes to international tourists desire to visit Pangkor Island as their destination.
Hypothesis 1: Each of Pangkor Island’s important attributes is significantly
important to destination selection of international tourists.
In order to examine the significant importance of each nine important attributes,
namely (1) landscape (P2Landscape), (2) culture and history (P2Cul-His), (3) tourism
services (P2Service), (4) easy to get tourism information (P2Easy), (5) friendliness of
local people (P2People), (6) safety (P2Safe), (7) relaxation (P2Relax), (8) climate
(P2Weather), and (9) reasonable price (P2Price), the mean scores were employed.
56
Table 4.4.1.1 contains the mean score of the important level for each attribute.
The higher mean score, the greater the degree of the important level achieved. It can be
found that the mean values of eight important attributes (P2Relax, P2Weather, P2Safe,
P2People, P2Price, P2Landscape, P2Service and P2Easy) were significantly at level of
agreement “very important” and “important”. Whereas destinations attribute P2Cul-His
was not significantly in term of important degree to destination selection. This is
surprising result because these nine destination attributes are supposed to be important
to destination selection of Pangkor Island. Therefore, attribute P2Cul-His is removed
from further analysis in this study. In other word, eight destination attributes are
considered significantly important to the selection of destination of international tourists
to visit Pangkor Island.
Table 4.4.1.1 Degree of importance toward destination selection of international
tourists to visit Pangkor Island.
Min
Max
Mean
Standard
Level of
Deviation
agreement
P2Relax
1.00
5.00
4.4000
0.78818
Very important
P2Weather
2.00
5.00
4.2722
0.87056
Very important
P2Safe
1.00
5.00
4.0667
0.84958
Important
P2People
1.00
5.00
3.9778
0.87775
Important
P2Price
1.00
5.00
3.9444
0.90141
Important
P2Landscape
1.00
5.00
3.7111
0.84885
Important
P2Service
1.00
5.00
3.6389
0.96742
Important
P2Easy
1.00
5.00
3.5056
0.98308
Important
P2Cul-His
1.00
5.00
3.3944
1.03296
Neutral
N = 180, 5-point Likert scale (1=unimportant, 5=very important)
57
Further analysis to determine whether there are significant differences in
importance degree of destination attributes between group of demographic variables,
namely gender (P1Gender), education (P1Education), visited or not visited (P1Visit),
and purpose of trip (P1Purpose). The analysis of t-test was performed based on question
P2A1 to P2A9 and question P11, P14, P15, and P16. There are two assumption tested
before conducting t-test approach. They are normal distribution and homogeneity of
variance. The normal distribution is based on satisfied level of Kurtosis and Skewness
range within from -1.0 to +1.0. The homogeneity of variance is based on satisfied level
of Levene’s test with greater than level of significance (0.05).
Hypothesis 1a: Important attribute of landscape is significantly important
to destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.2 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) was satisfied except for the P1Education – primary education group
and P1Purpose – VFR group. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.966), P1Education – primary
& no formal (.420), P1Visit (.045) and P1Purpose – holiday & business (.726) were
greater than 0.05, the requirement for homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this,
Levene’s test probability of P1Education – tertiary & secondary (.003) and P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was
not satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent
Groups T-Test was employed for P1Education – tertiary & secondary and P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR.
58
Table 4.4.1.2 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (landscape)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Mean
Skewness
0.966
-0.747
Female
3.722
0.835
0.314
-0.382
3.748
0.745
-0.271
-0.138
education
Primary
education
No
formal
3.368
1.116
-0.514
-0.569
3.955
0.950
3.266
-1.369
3.417
1.084
1.361
-0.516
Yes
3.600
1.009
0.464
-0.772
No
3.748
0.789
0.328
-0.352
Holiday
3.787
0.789
0.236
-0.359
Business
2.833
0.753
-0.104
0.313
MICE
3.667
0.577
0.000
-1.732
VFR
2.714
1.380
-2.090
-0.359
education
(Levene
t-test
test)
0.867
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
3.700
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Standard
Sig.
(2-tailed)
0.966
-0.175
0.861
0.003
1.927
0.056
0.420
1.502
0.143
0.045
-1.014
0.312
0.726
2.908
0.004
0.000
0.871
0.417
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.2 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Landscape between two
groups of P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 2.908, p=0.004
-
There was no significant difference in P2Landscape between two
group of P1Gender, P1Education –
tertiary & secondary,
P1Education – primary & no formal, P1Visit, and P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR
59
Hypothesis 1b: Important attribute of service is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.3 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender, both group of P1Education, P1Visit and both group of
P1Purpose was satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.897), P1Education – tertiary &
secondary (.126), P1Education – primary & no formal (.404), P1Visit (.953) and
P1Purpose – holiday & business (.775) were greater than 0.05, the requirement for
homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability of P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was
not satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent
Groups T-Test was employed for P1Purpose – MICE & VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.3 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Service between two groups
of P1Education – primary & no formal t(180) = 2.700, p=0.011
-
There was a significant difference in P2Service between two groups
of P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 2.736, p=0.007
-
There was no significant difference in P2Service between two group
of P1Gender, P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Visit, and
P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
60
Table 4.4.1.3 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (service)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
0.137
-0.744
Female
3.533
0.939
-0.049
-0.432
3.646
0.947
0.156
-0.599
education
Primary
education
No formal
3.474
1.172
-0.558
-0.623
4.000
0.816
0.228
-0.577
3.167
0.937
-0.298
0.412
Yes
3.644
0.957
-0.726
-0.352
No
3.637
0.974
0.160
-0.639
Holiday
3.713
0.932
0.436
-0.687
Business
2.667
0.817
-0.300
0.857
MICE
3.333
1.155
0.000
-1.732
VFR
2.857
1.215
-0.057
1.147
education
(Levene
t-test
test)
0.989
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
3.744
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
Sig.
(2-tailed)
0.897
1.469
0.144
0.126
0.715
0.476
0.404
2.700
0.011
0.953
0.044
0.965
0.775
2.736
0.007
0.000
-0.660
0.534
61
Hypothesis 1c: Important attribute of easy is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.4 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender, both group of P1Education, P1Visit and both group of
P1Purpose was satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.841), P1Education – tertiary &
secondary (.141), P1Education – primary & no formal (.911), P1Visit (.357) and
P1Purpose – holiday & business (.300) were greater than 0.05, the requirement for
homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability of P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was
not satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent
Groups T-Test was employed for P1Purpose – MICE & VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.4 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Easy between two groups of
P1Gender t(180) = 3.187, p=0.002
-
There was a significant difference in P2Easy between two groups of
P1Education – primary & no formal t(180) = -2.442, p=0.020
-
There was no significant difference in P2Easy between two group of
P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Visit, P1Purpose – holiday &
business and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
62
Table 4.4.1.4 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (easy)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
0.113
-0.537
Female
3.278
0.960
0.358
-0.588
3.512
0.999
0.393
-0.640
education
Primary
education
No formal
3.474
1.219
-0.783
-0.241
3.273
0.703
-0.762
-0.442
3.917
0.793
-1.261
0.161
Yes
3.622
0.912
0.510
-0.663
No
3.467
1.006
0.149
-0.466
Holiday
3.518
0.949
0.457
-0.554
Business
2.833
0.753
-0.104
0.313
MICE
4.000
1.732
0.000
-1.732
VFR
3.571
1.512
-0.197
-1.000
education
(Levene
Sig.
t-test
test)
0.958
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
3.733
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
(2tailed)
0.841
3.187
0.002
0.141
0.151
0.880
0.911
-2.442
0.020
0.357
0.919
0.359
0.300
1.730
0.086
0.000
0.884
0.411
63
Hypothesis 1d: Important attribute of people is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.5 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender, P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Visit and both
group of P1Purpose was satisfied. P1Education – primary & no formal was not
satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.471), P1Education – primary & no formal (.103),
and P1Purpose – holiday & business (.489) were greater than 0.05, the requirement for
homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability of P1Education –
tertiary & secondary (.037), P1Visit (.025) and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR (.000) was
less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was not satisfied. Therefore,
the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent Groups T-Test was
employed for P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Visit and P1Purpose – MICE &
VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.5 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2People between two groups
of P1Education – tertiary & secondary t(180) = 2.036, p=0.044
-
There was no significant difference in P2People between two group
of P1Gender , P1Education – primary & no formal, P1Visit,
P1Purpose – holiday & business and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
64
Table 4.4.1.5 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (people)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
1.234
-1.015
Female
3.889
0.827
0.545
-0.519
4.055
0.800
0.145
-0.478
education
Primary
education
No formal
3.632
1.116
0.275
-0.771
4.045
0.899
5.603
-1.828
3.583
1.084
-1.153
0.001
Yes
3.822
1.029
-0.028
-0.675
No
4.030
0.819
1.089
-0.717
Holiday
4.024
0.850
1.246
-0.834
Business
3.333
1.033
0.586
0.666
MICE
4.667
0.577
0.000
-1.732
VFR
3.143
0.900
-1.817
-0.353
education
(Levene
Sig.
t-test
(2tailed)
test)
0.922
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
4.067
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
0.471
1.362
0.175
0.037
2.036
0.044
0.103
1.333
0.192
0.025
-1.376
0.171
0.489
1.962
0.051
0.000
1.931
0.102
65
Hypothesis 1e: Important attribute of safe is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.6 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender – female, P1Education – secondary, P1Education –
primary, P1Purpose – business was not satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.826),
P1Education – tertiary & secondary (.344) and P1Purpose – holiday & business (.179)
were greater than 0.05, the requirement for homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this,
Levene’s test probability of P1Education – primary & no formal (.000), P1Visit (.000)
and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the
homogeneity of variance was not satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not
assumed” formula for Independent Groups T-Test was employed for P1Education –
primary & no formal, P1Visit and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.6 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Safe between two groups of
P1Visit t(180) = -3.112, p=0.002
-
There was a significant difference in P2Safe between two groups of
P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 4.221, p=0.000
-
There was no significant difference in P2Safe between two group of
P1Gender, P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Education –
primary & no formal and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
66
Table 4.4.1.6 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (safe)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
0.588
-0.901
Female
4.033
0.867
2.066
-1.123
4.142
0.753
0.400
-0.694
education
Primary
education
No formal
3.895
1.049
2.324
-1.386
4.045
0.722
2.121
-0.903
3.583
1.443
-1.215
-0.417
Yes
3.733
1.116
-0.024
-0.775
No
4.178
0.711
0.505
-0.651
Holiday
4.165
0.737
0.604
-0.736
Business
2.833
1.169
2.552
1.586
MICE
3.333
0.577
0.000
1.732
VFR
3.143
1.574
-1.162
-0.682
education
(Levene
Sig.
t-test
(2tailed)
test)
0.835
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
4.100
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
0.826
0.525
0.600
0.344
1.261
0.209
0.000
1.252
0.220
0.000
-3.112
0.002
0.179
4.221
0.000
0.000
-0.085
0.935
67
Hypothesis 1f: Important attribute of relax is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.7 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender – female, P1Education – secondary and P1Purpose –
business was not satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.925), were greater than 0.05, the
requirement for homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability
of P1Education – tertiary & secondary (.004), P1Education – primary & no formal
(.013), P1Visit (.000), P1Purpose – holiday & business (.021) and P1Purpose – MICE
& VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was not
satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent Groups
T-Test was employed for P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Education – primary
& no formal, P1Visit, P1Purpose – holiday & business and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.7 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Relax between two groups of
P1Visit t(180) = -2.207, p=0.029
-
There was a significant difference in P2Relax between two groups of
P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 5.887, p=0.000
-
There was no significant difference in P2Relax between two group of
P1Gender, P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Education –
primary & no formal and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR
68
Table 4.4.1.7 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (relax)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
0.765
0.124
-1.079
Female
4.367
0.814
3.038
-1.542
4.457
0.664
-0.410
-0.831
Secondary
education
Primary
education
No formal
4.316
1.157
3.148
-1.901
4.455
0.739
-0.320
-0.999
3.833
1.193
-1.446
-0.392
Yes
4.178
1.093
0.365
-1.134
No
4.474
0.644
-0.347
-0.836
Holiday
4.494
0.687
1.128
-1.240
Business
2.833
0.408
6.000
-2.449
MICE
4.667
0.577
0.000
-1.732
VFR
3.429
1.272
1.947
-1.137
education
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
4.433
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
Sig.
(Levene test)
Sig.
t-test
(2tailed)
0.925
0.566
0.572
0.004
0.770
0.442
0.013
1.880
0.069
0.000
-2.207
0.029
0.021
5.887
0.000
0.000
1.155
0.292
69
Hypothesis 1g: Important attribute of weather is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.8 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Education – primary and P1Education – no formal was not
satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.337), P1Education – tertiary & secondary (.085),
and P1Purpose – holiday & business (.183) were greater than 0.05, the requirement for
homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability of P1Education –
primary & no formal (.000), P1Visit (.014), and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR (.000) was
less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was not satisfied. Therefore,
the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent Groups T-Test was
employed for P1Education – primary & no formal, P1Visit, and P1Purpose – MICE &
VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.8 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Weather between two groups
of P1Education – tertiary & secondary t(180) = 3.189, p=0.002
-
There was a significant difference in P2Weather between two groups
of P1Visit t(180) = -3.086, p=0.002
-
There was a significant difference in P2Weather between two groups
of P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 3.697, p=0.000
-
There was no significant difference in P2Weather between two group
of P1Gender, P1Education – primary & no formal and P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR.
70
Table 4.4.1.8 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (weather)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
0.845
0.778
-1.114
Female
4.278
0.900
0.188
-1.056
4.402
0.737
-0.120
-0.920
Secondary
education
Primary
education
No formal
3.789
1.032
-0.649
-0.550
4.273
0.767
2.351
-1.225
3.667
1.497
-2.230
-0.289
Yes
3.933
1.095
-0.741
-0.731
No
4.385
0.753
0.207
-0.985
Holiday
4.372
0.777
0.897
-1.155
Business
3.167
1.169
-0.446
0.668
MICE
4.333
1.155
0.000
-1.732
VFR
2.857
0.900
-1.817
0.353
education
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
4.267
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
Sig.
(Levene test)
Sig.
t-test
(2tailed)
0.337
-0.085
0.932
0.085
3.189
0.002
0.000
1.570
0.126
0.014
-3.086
0.002
0.183
3.697
0.000
0.000
0.149
0.887
71
Hypothesis 1h: Important attribute of price is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists.
Table 4.4.1.9 shows that the assumption of normality (kurtosis and Skewness
from -1.0 to +1.0) for P1Gender, both groups P1Education, P1Visit, and both groups
P1Purpose was satisfied. Levene’s test of P1Gender (.640), P1Education – tertiary &
secondary (.091) and P1Purpose – holiday & business (.805) were greater than 0.05, the
requirement for homogeneity was satisfied. Contrary to this, Levene’s test probability
of P1Education – primary & no formal (.005), P1Visit (.001), and P1Purpose – MICE &
VFR (.000) was less than 0.05, meaning that the homogeneity of variance was not
satisfied. Therefore, the “equal variances not assumed” formula for Independent Groups
T-Test was employed for P1Education – primary & no formal, P1Visit and P1Purpose –
MICE & VFR.
The research findings demonstrated in Table 4.4.1.9 reveals that:
-
There was a significant difference in P2Price between two groups of
P1Purpose – holiday & business t(180) = 3.833, p=0.000
-
There was no significant difference in P2Price between two group of
P1Gender, P1Education – tertiary & secondary, P1Education –
primary & no formal, P1Visit and P1Purpose – MICE & VFR.
72
Table 4.4.1.9 Group means values, assumption testing and t-test (price)
Grouping
Grouping
variable
level
P1Gender
Skewness
-0.226
-0.694
Female
3.833
0.903
0.035
-0.505
3.961
0.830
-0.577
-0.349
education
Primary
education
No
formal
3.842
1.167
0.610
-1.066
4.045
0.785
-1.319
-0.083
3.750
1.357
-1.721
-0.508
Yes
3.844
1.127
-0.514
-0.676
No
3.978
0.815
-0.476
-0.379
Holiday
4.012
0.851
0.163
-0.629
Business
2.667
0.817
-0.300
0.857
MICE
4.333
0.577
0.000
1.732
VFR
3.286
1.254
-1.099
0.682
education
(Levene
Sig.
t-test
(2tailed)
test)
0.891
Secondary
P1Purpose
Kurtosis
4.056
education
P1Visit
Deviation
Sig.
Male
Tertiary
P1Education
Mean
Standard
0.640
1.662
0.098
0.091
0.548
0.585
0.005
0.808
0.425
0.001
-0.859
0.392
0.805
3.833
0.000
0.000
1.279
0.248
73
4.4.2 Testing of Hypotheses 2
Hypothesis 2: The higher the degree of importance of each of destination
attributes, the stronger the tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island would be.
In order to determine a correlation between importance degrees of each of eight
attributes (independent variables) and the aspiration of tourists to visit Pangkor Island as
their destination, labeled as P2Wish (dependent variable), the Multiple Regression
Analysis using the method of stepwise multiple regression was performed.
Table 4.4.2.1 Normality of P2Wish with destination attributes.
Skewness
N
Statistic
Std.
Error
Kurtosis
Statistic
Std.
Error
P2Landscape
180
-0.572
0.181
0.628
0.360
P2Service
180
-0.568
0.181
-0.061
0.360
P2Easy
180
-0.515
0.181
0.197
0.360
P2People
180
-0.759
0.181
0.779
0.360
P2Safe
180
-1.012
0.181
1.339
0.360
P2Relax
180
-1.326
0.181
1.748
0.360
P2Weather
180
-1.074
0.181
0.412
0.360
P2Price
180
-0.584
0.181
-0.159
0.360
P2Wish
180
-2.139
0.181
2.685
0.360
74
The findings in Table 4.4.2.1 show that the skewness and kurtosis of eight
attributes are within the acceptable range for normality (-1.0 to +1.0) except one
attributes. It shows that the assumption of normality is satisfied for P2Landscape,
P2Service, P2Easy, P2People, P2Safe, P2Relax, P2Weather and P2Price. The
assumption of normality of P2Wish was not satisfied.
Table 4.4.2.2 R square of P2Wish with destination attributes
Model
1
R
Adjusted R
Std. Error of
R
Square
Square
the Estimate
.257(a)
0.066
0.061
0.65593
a. Predictors: (Constant), P2People
Table 4.4.2.3 Multiple regression analysis of P2Wish with destination attributes
Unstandardized
Standardized
Coefficients
Coefficients
Model
1
Std.
B
Error
(Constant)
2.545
0.227
P2People
0.198
0.056
Beta
0.257
t
Sig.
11.187
0.000
3.548
0.000
75
Table 4.4.2.2 and Table 4.4.2.3 provide the summary of multiple regression
model of P2Wish with destination attributes. The R square (.066) in the Table 4.4.2.2
indicates that a positive correlation exits between the predictor variables and the
dependent variable, P2Wish. It shows that about 6% of the variance in P2Wish was
predicted from the combination of eight predictor variables. Table 4.4.2.3 shows raw
(unstandardized) coefficient, the standardized coefficient (beta weights), the t values,
and the significance level for each of the variables with alpha level of 0.05. In the Table
4.4.2.3 indicates that only the P2People attributes are more important that the other
attributes in predicting the strength level of tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island.
4.4.3 Testing of Hypotheses 3
Hypothesis 3: The destination image is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists. This character is not significantly
different in the demographic groups.
Table 4.4.3.1 Destinations pre-image and significant importance to destination
selection.
P2Pre-Image
N=180
Min
Max
Mean
1.00
3.00
2.7278
Standard
Deviation
0.67543
76
Table 4.4.3.2 Destination image frequency and percentage
Percent
Frequency
(%)
Beautiful and peaceful island
23
12.8
Cultural and historic island
3
1.7
154
85.6
Nature paradise and sea
paradise
N=180
This hypothesis was tested using mean score based on question P1DestinationImage with frequencies test. The result reported in Table 4.4.3.1 show that the mean
score were 2.7278. The frequency score show in the Table 4.4.3.2 summarized that the
highest is nature paradise and sea paradise (85.6%), beautiful and peaceful island
(12.8%) and the least is cultural and historic island (1.7%).
4.4.4 Testing of Hypotheses 4
Hypothesis 4: Importance degree of each destination attributes has a
positive correlation with pre-visit image of destination.
In order to examine the hypothesis, this study employ question P2B to measure
Pangkor Island’s image as the perception of the international tourists before they visit
Pangkor Island (labeled as P2Pre-Image). The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was
applied to investigate one-to-one correlation between image of Pangkor Island before
77
tourist’s visitation and the importance degree of each nine attributes. The results are
summarized in Table 4.4.4.1.
Table 4.4.4.1 Pearson correlation coefficients
P2Pre-Image
Important attributes
Pearson's
Sig.
correlation
(2-tailed)
P1Relax
0.111
0.137
P1Weather
0.127
0.090
.285(**)
0.000
P1People
0.046
0.537
P1Price
0.067
0.373
P1Landscape
0.057
0.448
P1Service
0.020
0.793
P1Easy
-0.086
0.251
P1Safe
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). N = 180
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). N = 180
From the research findings in Table 4.4.3.1, it can be seen that P2Pre-Image was
statistically significant with only the important attributes of P1Ssafe (p=.000). The other
seven attributes are not significant to the correlation.
Further test for new correlation between P1Pre-Image and the importance level
of each of the eight attributes, controlling for P1Gender, P1Age, P1Education, P1Visit
and P1Purpose, were conducted using the procedure of partial correlation. The result are
summarized in Table 4.4.4.2
78
Table 4.4.4.2 New correlation between image and importance attributes,
controlling for demographic variables.
P1Gender
P1Age
P1Education
P1Visit
P1Purpose
R
sig
R
sig
R
sig
R
sig
R
sig
P2Landscape
0.422
0.000
0.425
0.000
0.416
0.000
0.420
0.000
0.405
0.000
P2Service
0.434
0.000
0.432
0.000
0.430
0.000
0.432
0.000
0.391
0.000
P2Easy
0.219
0.003
0.210
0.005
0.211
0.005
0.216
0.004
0.219
0.003
P2People
0.483
0.000
0.482
0.000
0.477
0.000
0.475
0.000
0.450
0.000
P2Safe
0.446
0.000
0.446
0.000
0.444
0.000
0.441
0.000
0.395
0.000
P2Relax
0.408
0.000
0.408
0.000
0.406
0.000
0.402
0.000
0.350
0.000
P2Weather
0.372
0.000
0.372
0.000
0.371
0.000
0.365
0.000
0.297
0.000
P2Price
0.392
0.000
0.388
0.000
0.387
0.000
0.385
0.000
0.355
0.000
p <0.05, sig. (2-tailed)
The result from the p-values in Table 4.4.3.2 above, it is evident that there were
significant changes in the correlation between P2Pre-Image and P2Landscape,
P2Service, P2Easy, P2People, P2Safe, P2Relax, P2Weather and P2Price, after being
separately controlled for P1Gender, P1Age, P1Education, P1Visit and P1Purpose. It
means that these controlling variables significantly accounted for the relationships
between P2Pre-Image and these eight important attributes in this study.
79
4.4.5 Testing of Hypotheses 5
Hypothesis 5: Tourists satisfaction with each of important attributes has
positive relationship with overall satisfaction with the trip.
In order to determine a correlation between importance degrees of each of eight
attributes (independent variables) and the tourists satisfaction visit Pangkor Island as
their destination, labeled as P3Satify (dependent variable), the Multiple Regression
Analysis using the method of stepwise multiple regression was performed.
Table 4.4.5.1 Normality of P3Satify with destination attributes.
N
P3Lanscape
P3Service
P3Easy
P3People
P3Safe
P3Relax
P3Weather
P3Price
P3Satisfy
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
Skewness
Kurtosis
Std.
Std.
Statistic
Statistic
Error
Error
-0.449 0.181
0.137
0.360
-0.271 0.181 -0.320 0.360
0.058
0.181 -0.031 0.360
-0.275 0.181 -0.517 0.360
-0.596 0.181 -0.209 0.360
-0.997 0.181
0.931
0.360
-1.114 0.181
0.682
0.360
-0.628 0.181
0.237
0.360
-0.155 0.181
0.745
0.360
The findings in Table 4.4.5.1 show that the skewness and kurtosis of eight
attributes are within the acceptable range for normality (-1.0 to +1.0). It shows that the
assumption of normality is satisfied for P3Landscape, P3Service, P3Easy, P3People,
P3Safe, P3Relax, P3Weather, P3Price and P3Satify.
80
Table 4.4.5.2 R square of P3Satisfy with destination attributes
Model
1
R
R
Square
Adjusted
R
Square
.545(a)
0.297
0.259
Std.
Error of
the
Estimate
0.56341
Table 4.4.5.3 Multiple regression analysis of P3Satisfy with destination
attributes
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
B
1
(Constant)
P3Lanscape
P3Service
P3Easy
P3People
P3Safe
P3Relax
P3Weather
P3Price
p < 0.05
1.618
0.234
0.032
0.141
0.113
-0.097
0.127
-0.056
0.100
Std.
Error
0.291
0.067
0.070
0.065
0.072
0.073
0.071
0.065
0.064
Standardized
Coefficients
t
Sig.
5.568
3.476
0.455
2.154
1.561
-1.339
1.787
-0.866
1.566
0.000
0.001
0.650
0.033
0.120
0.182
0.076
0.388
0.119
Beta
0.293
0.043
0.181
0.135
-0.119
0.157
-0.076
0.129
Table 4.4.5.2 and Table 4.4.5.3 provide the summary of multiple regression
model of P3Satify with destination attributes. The R square (.297) in the Table 4.4.5.2
indicates that a positive correlation exits between the predictor variables and the
dependent variable, P3Satify. It shows that about 30% of the variance in P3Satify was
predicted from the combination of eight predictor variables. Table 4.4.5.3 shows raw
(unstandardized) coefficient, the standardized coefficient (beta weights), the t values,
and the significance level for each of the variables with alpha level of 0.05. In the Table
81
4.4.5.3 indicates that the P3Lanscape and P3Easy are more important than the
P3Service, P3People, P3Safe, P3Relax, P3Weather and P3Price attributes in predicting
the strength level of tourists satisfaction of Pangkor Island.
82
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1
Summary
The main purpose of this study is to examine and investigate the motivations of
international tourists that relate to the important attributes of destination, Pangkor
Island. The research was conducted with the aim of achieving five objectives of the
study. The focus of the research was placed on the important attributes of destination in
the context of Pangkor Island and their correlation and relationship with destination
selection, pre-visit image of destination, destination attribute satisfaction, post-visit
image, tourist’s opinions and suggestion, and international tourist’s intention to revisit
Pangkor Island. In order to perform analysis, nine important destination attributes were
identified namely Landscape, Culture-History, Service, Easy, People, Safe, Relax,
Weather and Price based on literature review from past research, research discussion
with supervisor, research discussion with tourism expert officers and also individual
adjustment. These important destination attributes are the main focus of this study to
examine the influencing factors that attract international tourists to visit Pangkor Island.
83
A model adapted from Nguyen Cong Tien (2008) and Lichen Zhou (2005) was
established to express how important attributes impact the selection of destination and
through the perceived satisfaction with important attributes, affect the intention of
international tourist to revisit Pangkor Island in the future. With regards to statistical
procedures, the analysis of quantitative data was applied using the statistical techniques,
namely frequencies and percentages, mean score, group mean score, t-test, Pearson
correlation, simple and multiple linear regressions.
The following sections discuss the objectives and the findings of the study after
the data analysis being tabulated. Table 5.1.1 shows that two attributes namely Relax
and Weather were considered as “very important”. It also shows that six other attributes
namely Safe, People, Price, Landscape, Service and Easy were considered as
“important”. Culture-History attribute was not important to the selection of destination
from the perspective of international tourists. As a result, eight attributes were
significantly accepting the Hypothesis 1, whereas the Culture-History was rejecting the
Hypothesis 1 from the data analysis in this study.
Hypothesis 1: Each of Pangkor Island’s important attributes is significantly
important to destination selection of international tourists.
84
Table 5.1.1 Important attributes and their significant importance to destination
selection (DS)
Level of
Hypothesis
H1
H1
H1
H1
H1
H1
H1
H1
H1
Description of H1
Mean
Relax is significantly important to
DS
Very
4.4000
Weather is significantly important
to DS
3.9778
Important
Accept H1
3.9444
Important
Accept H1
3.7111
Important
Accept H1
3.6389
Important
Accept H1
3.5056
Important
Accept H1
3.3944
Neutral
Reject H1
Service is significantly important
to DS
Easy is significantly important to
DS
Culture-Historic is significantly
important to DS
Accept H1
Accept H1
Landscape is significantly
important to DS
Accept H1
Important
Price is significantly important to
DS
important
Result
4.0667
People is significantly important to
DS
important
Very
4.2722
Safe is significantly important to
DS
agreement
N = 180, 5-pont Likert scale (1= not important at all, 5= very important)
85
Hypothesis 2: The higher the degree of importance of each of destination
attributes, the stronger the tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island would be.
Table 5.1.2 Importance degree of each attributes to tourist wish to visit Pangkor
Island
People
Wish
0.000**
**p≤ 0.01, *p≤ 0.05
Table 5.1.2 indicates that only the People attributes are more important that the
other attributes in predicting the strength level of tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island. It
shows that the local people of Pangkor Island are friendly towards the tourists that visit
the island for holiday and vacation. The tourists are attached and attracted towards the
warm welcome and hospitable attitude of the local people at the destination and this
attributes were very important to them for holiday decision making and destination
selection. Word of mouth regarding the friendliness of the local people can be major
medium or channel of promotion the destination as tourist might suggest and
recommend to their friends and relative about Pangkor Island and also factor influence
the tourists revisit intention to the destination.
86
Hypothesis 3: The destination image is significantly important to
destination selection of international tourists. This character is not significantly
different in the demographic groups.
Table 5.1.3 Destination image and its significant importance to destination
selection
Level of
Hypothesis
H3
Description of H3
Mean
Pre-Image is significantly important
to destination selection
2.7278
agreement
Important
Result
Accept
H3
Table 5.1.3 indicates that Pre-Image is significantly important to the choice of
destination of international tourists. The result of the Hypothesis 3 are accepted and
supported for this study.
Hypothesis 4: Importance degree of each destination attributes has a
positive correlation with pre-visit image of destination.
Table 5.1.4 Correlations between attributes and pre-visit image of destination.
Safe
Pre-Image
● sig (2-tailed) < 0.01
0.000
87
From the findings in the Table 5.1.5, it can be seen that Pre-Image was
statistically significant with the Safe attributes only. The other destination attributes
were not significantly with the Pre-Image. From the Table 5.1.5, it shows that there
were significant changes in the correlations between Pre-Image and Landscape, Service,
Easy, People, Safe, Relax, Weather and Price, after being separately controlled for five
demographic variables (Gender, Age, Education, Visit and Purpose)
Hypothesis 4 is supported and is rewritten as follow: Importance degree of each
important attributes (Landscape, Service, Easy, People, Safe, Relax, Weather and Price)
has a positive with pre-visit of destination.
Table 5.1.5 Correlations between image and attributes, controlling for
demography
Gender
Age
Education
Visit
Purpose
Landscape
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Service
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Easy
0.003
0.005
0.005
0.004
0.003
People
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Safe
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Relax
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Weather
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Price
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
● p <0.05, sig. (2-tailed)
88
Hypothesis 5: Tourists satisfaction with each of important attributes has
positive relationship with overall satisfaction with the trip.
Table 5.1.6 Significance between Satisfy and variables
Satisfy
Landscape
Easy
0.001
0.033
● p < 0.05
Table 5.1.6 indicates that the Landscape and Easy are more important than the
Service, People, Safe, Relax, Weather and Price attributes in predicting the strength
level of tourist’s satisfaction of Pangkor Island.
Hypothesis 5 is supported and is rewritten as follow: Tourists satisfaction with
each of important attributes (Landscape and Easy) has positive relationship with overall
satisfaction with the trip.
89
5.2
Discussions
The intent of this study is to explore what motivates international tourist to make
travel decisions by the external forces of the destination, in other words, what makes
Pangkor Island as a destination attractive to international tourists.
The study has to identify 9 important destination attributes of Pangkor Island as
a destination consisting of Landscape, Culture-History, Service, Easy, People, Safe,
Relax, Weather and Price. However, eight of them (excluding Culture-History) play
significant important roles in the process of making decision of international tourists to
select Pangkor Island as their holiday destination. Therefore, these eight important
attributes would be significant to managerial implication for the case of Pangkor Island.
This study revealed that important attributes of Pangkor Island that influence the
international tourists to visit the destination are the landscape of the island, services
offered to the tourists, easy accessibility to the island, the friendliness and attitude of
local people, safety during the visitation, seek relaxation, enjoy the weather and also
value for money of goods, food and activities. The culture and history of the monument,
tomb, fort and historical aspect are not important attributes compared to others since
most of the tourists visit Pangkor for holiday.
The second finding is that although eight important attributes of Pangkor Island
were significantly important for international tourists to choose Pangkor Island to travel,
the importance degree was different among the eight attributes in strength level of
tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island which is measurement for tourists decision making
of selecting Pangkor Island as their destination. According to Dann (1977), the
destination attributes were “pull” factors between motivation and destination choice.
The characteristics of the destination attributes affect visitor’s choice (Moutinho,
2000).In the survey it indicates that People attributes are the only attributes that are
more important in term of destination selection of international tourists.
90
The third finding is related to destination image of Pangkor Island. The research
found that the pre-visit image of Pangkor Island can be summarized that the highest is
nature paradise and sea paradise (85.6%), beautiful and peaceful island (12.8%) and the
least is cultural and historic island (1.7%). This findings is based on the survey that
been conducted among the international tourists that visit Pangkor Island. Most of
respondent want to enjoy the nature and also the sea at the destination since Pangkor
have beautiful beaches and also forest reserved nearby. An untouched green hill forest
provides opportunity and chance to the tourists in experiencing and exploring the forests
with adventure activities such as jungle tracking and hiking.
The fourth findings with regard to the relationship between tourists satisfaction
degree with each of Pangkor Island attributes and destination satisfaction. It can be
found out from the survey that the tourist’s satisfaction with each of attributes
(Landscape, Service, Easy, People, Safe, Relax, Weather and Price) contributed
importantly to overall satisfaction with the trip after they travelled Pangkor Island.
From this study it also indicates that 99 respondents (55%) were satisfied with the trip
and 18 respondents (10%) were very satisfied with the trip in Pangkor Island.
According to Kozak and Rimmington (2000), tourists are likely to revisit and
recommend the destinations with which they are satisfied with the attributes that
destinations offered. According to Huh (2002), it indicates that Light (1996) reported a
case study of the characteristics of visitors to a special event (in this case historical reenactments) at a heritage site (Carephilly Castle) in South Wales. In Light’s study, most
visitors were satisfied with the cultural/heritage destination. This satisfaction leads
tourists to expand the length of stay and visit it again.
The last findings of this study are regarding the intention to revisit the
destination and recommend to their friends and relatives for future destination choice.
In this study it can be found out that 73 respondents (40.6%) answered “yes” and 93
respondents (54%) answered “maybe” have intention to revisit the destination. It also
91
can be found that 167 respondents (92.8%) will recommend to friends and relatives
about the Pangkor Island. This study also found out the most things that respondent like
during their trip at Pangkor Island. There are 45 respondents (25%) like the “weather”
during their trip, 39 respondents (21.7%) like the “water sport activity” such as
snorkeling, swimming, etc and 36 respondent (20%) like the “beaches” at Pangkor
Island. Weather play important factor that attract international tourists to visit Pangkor
Island since its offered suitable climate condition compared to the origin country of
respondents.
This study also revealed respondent opinion for improvement about Pangkor
Island; 59 respondents (32.8%) respond on the “cleanliness” of the island, 42
respondents (23.3%) respond about “improve facilities”, 21 respondents (11.7%)
respond on “improve restaurant and services”, and others opinion. This study also
revealed of the comment and suggestion of Pangkor Island where the 59 respondents
(32.8%) comment Pangkor Island as “nice island”, 42 respondents (23.3%) comment
“improve tourists facilities” at Pangkor Island and 35 respondents (19.4%) comment
“nice people and friendly” on Pangkor Island. Respondent of the study are more aware
on environmental and physical aspect at the destination whereby they highly indicates
about cleanliness, improve tourists facilities, beaches and also services at the
destination.
92
5.3
Recommendations
The result of this empirical study presents a clear picture of the destination
attributes that attract international tourists to choose Pangkor Island as their destination
and addresses how this destination attributes are influenced by demographic variables.
It further clarifies how satisfaction with each of destination attributes affects overall
satisfaction with the trip and post-visit image of destination.
In this study it revealed that eight destination attributes of Pangkor Island
(landscape, service, easy, people, safety, relax, weather, price) and image of Pangkor
Island are important for the selection of Pangkor Island as tourists holiday destination.
The people attributes are more important than other seven attributes in predicting
tourists wish to visit Pangkor Island. Therefore, the Manjung Municipal Council or
Tourism Malaysia Perak could use these destination attributes in designing tourism
promotion programs to attract international tourists to visit Pangkor Island. Developing
and designing special promotion programs through the Manjung Municipal Council or
Tourism Malaysia Perak website and portal about the Pangkor Island.
The findings of this study also found out that all of destination attributes
(landscape, service, easy, people, safety, relax, weather, price) have direct effects on the
tourists satisfaction with the trip. The result reveals that overall satisfaction and postvisit image have an influence on intention of revisit. The tourism planners, operators
and tourism firms can plan and develop for smart marketing strategy in fulfill the
international tourists need and satisfactions. As such, the use of different promotional
tools (e.g., public relations, media advertising) can play a vital role in creating and
maintaining a destination’s distinctive personality (Hosany, Ekinci and Uysal, 2007).
The tourism planners, operators and firms can offered special price or discounted price
package during the off-season period to the tourists. Special price offer should be
93
implemented for the group package with offering more attractive activities at the island
and more tourism arrangement for examples accommodation, food and beverage, island
hoping tour and snorkeling in one price.
The tourism and local authority of Pangkor Island also should look into new
methods or mechanism in maintaining the cleanliness of the sea, beaches and
surrounding of the destination since the study identify that cleanliness issue were major
concern from the respondents. The local authority can conduct the Recycle Program at
the major hotel and accommodation establishment at the Pangkor Island in maintaining
cleanliness of the sea, beaches and surrounding. Besides that cleanliness awareness
program such as talk program and cleanliness campaign, should be conducted towards
the local community, tour operators and other local institutions at the areas. Other than
that, improving the tourist facilities, food establishment and tourism services at the
destination also important to attract more tourists thus sustaining the Pangkor Island
destination image. However, attributes more controllable such as the quality of the
transportation on the island and the range of available activities are areas that could be
improved (Litvin and Sok Ling, 2001).
The finding of this study also show that the ‘‘people” attributes more important
than other attributes in term of destination selection. The “people” were the local people
friendliness and hospitality attitude towards the foreign tourists at the destination. The
tourism planners and tourism firms should take this into considerations in developing or
exploring more about the local people of Pangkor Island through their way of lives,
activities, culture and customs to be promoted in the tour programs or tour packages.
Chon (1991) has suggested that in order to enhance traffic from a target market the
destination design advertising that focuses on features of the destination that have been
shown to be positively perceived by the target market. The unique of traditional local
fishermen settlement and culture can be one of the influence factor for new tourism
attraction beside the friendliness and hospitable of local community. Developing new
94
activities with the local people of Pangkor Island in the tour packages can be a new
attraction to the tourists such as visit fishermen settlement, conduct the FAM trip to the
fishermen settlement and experiencing the traditional fish catching at the seashore.
Another approach is developing the attributed-based benefit segmentation in marketing
strategies of the destination to the tourists. According to Ahmed, Barber and Astous
(1998 cited in Jang et al., 2002, pp. 367-368), benefit segmentation is an appropriate
approach for defining destination segments and developing marketing strategies
because it identifies travelers’ motivations and the satisfaction of what they need and
want from their travel trips. Furthermore, several scholars argue that benefits
segmentation is helpful in designing vacation packages, activity programming,
promotional messages and advertising (Frochot & Morrison, 2000).
Developing smart partnership can be made with collaboration between local
authority and all tour operators (hotels, recreation operator, food establishment, etc) at
the Pangkor Island areas in maintaining and sustaining the environment of the island
such as beaches and seaside. A special awareness program can be developing such as
‘big cleaning day’ or ‘cleanliness campaign’ that involves the entire tour operator with
the local authority. They also can adapted the ‘Project Revive Program’ for cleaning the
beaches that involves the NGO’s, institutions, local authority and also other
international bodies.
95
5.4
Recommendations for future research
The research suggests the following recommendation for future research:
1. With regard to generalization, the future studies are recommended the
replication of this study in the context of other destinations.
2. Future studies could be applies to other island destinations using a similar
research method so that a competitive analysis in different destination can be
explored.
3. Future studies need more refinement in selecting destination attributes since
some respondent felt some ambiguity in the questionnaire items.
96
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APPENDIXES
QUESTIONNAIRE OF DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES THAT ATTRACT
INTERNATIONAL TOURIST TO VISIT PANGKOR ISLAND, PERAK
My name is Khirun bin Md Shah, student of Master in Science Tourism Planning,
University Technology Malaysia. I am conducting the above study to fulfill the partial
requirement of the master program. The information you provide will help me to get some
ideas pertaining to my study on the related issues. I assure you that the responses will be
kept strictly confidential.
The purpose of this study is to examine the destination attributes that attract
international tourists to visit of Pangkor Island, Perak. There are three parts in this
questionnaire. Part 1 is on general information, Part 2 is on before travel to destination and
Part 3 is on after visit the destination.
If you have any questions regarding this study, kindly contact me at 019-3348005. I believe
that you can provide us with vital information that will eventually assist me to complete the
study. Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.
PART 1
(General Information)
Please tick below as appropriate:
2.
a) Male
b) Female
Your nationality (country): ________________________
3.
Age:
1.
Gender:
a) below 20
b) 20 – 29
c) 30 – 39
d) 40 – 49
e) Above 50
a) Tertiary education
b) Secondary education
c) Primary education
d) No formal education
e) Others (please specify) ___________________________
4.
Education:
5.
Have you visited Pangkor Island before? :
a) Yes
b) No
6.
Your main purpose of visit to Pangkor Island?
a)
Holiday
100
b)
Business
c)
MICE (Meeting, Incentive,Conference & Meeting)
d)
Visit friends and relatives
e)
Others ______________
PART 2
(Before travel to Pangkor Island)
The following statements might explain the reasons you travel to Pangkor Island. Please circle the
appropriate answer.
Unimportant
Of little important
Moderately important
Important
Very Important
A.
1.
I want to visit Pangkor Island’s landscape (e.g.,
beautiful scenery and natural attractions).
1
2
3
4
5
2.
I want to understand about culture and history (e.g.,
history, fort, arts and way of life of local people).
1
2
3
4
5
3.
I want to experience tourism services in Pangkor
Island (e.g., shopping, accommodation, food &
beverages and transportation).
1
2
3
4
5
4.
I visit Pangkor Island because it is easy to get tourism
information to plan my trip.
1
2
3
4
5
5.
I want to experience the friendliness of local people
towards tourists
1
2
3
4
5
6.
I feel safe when visiting Pangkor Island
1
2
3
4
5
7.
I want to relax (beautiful beaches, resorts, sunbathing,
etc)
1
2
3
4
5
8.
I like the weather (e.g. pleasant weather)
1
2
3
4
5
9.
I visit Pangkor Island because of reasonable price
(e.g., good value of money)
1
2
3
4
5
Statement
B.
Before you travel to Pangkor Island, how strong was your wish to visit Pangkor Island?
Very Not Strong
Not Strong
Neutral
Strong
Very Strong
1
2
3
4
5
101
Before you travel to Pangkor Island, how was the image of Pangkor Island in your mind?
a)
b)
c)
Beautiful and peaceful island
Cultural and historic island
Nature paradise, sea paradise
B.
Not Applicable
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Not Satisfied
Statement
Moderately satisfied
PART 3
(After visiting Pangkor Island)
After you visited Pangkor Island, how were you satisfied with each of following statements? Please circle the
appropriate answer.
Not Satisfied at all
A.
C.
1. My satisfaction with Pangkor Island’s landscape
(e.g., beautiful scenery and natural attractions).
1
2
3
4
5
2. My satisfaction with culture and history (e.g.,
history, arts and way of life of local people).
1
2
3
4
5
3. My satisfaction with tourism services in Pangkor
Island (e.g., shopping, accommodation, food &
beverages and transportation).
1
2
3
4
5
4. My satisfaction with the easy access to tourism
information in Pangkor Island
1
2
3
4
5
5. My satisfaction with the attitude of Pangkor
Island’s people toward tourists
1
2
3
4
5
6. My satisfaction with personal safety during my trip
in Pangkor Island
1
2
3
4
5
7. My satisfaction with relaxation in Pangkor Island
(beautiful beaches, resorts, sunbathing, etc)
1
2
3
4
5
8. My satisfaction with the weather here (e.g. pleasant
weather)
1
2
3
4
5
9. My satisfaction with the price of goods and services
here (e.g., good value of money)
1
2
3
4
5
After you visited Pangkor Island, how satisfied were you with your trip to Pangkor Island?
Not Satisfied
at all
1
Not Satisfied
2
Moderately Satisfied
3
Satisfied
4
Very Satisfied
5
102
C.
After you visited Pangkor Island, how was the image of Pangkor Island in your mind?
Very Bad
Bad
Neutral
Good
Very Good
1
2
3
4
5
D.
In the future, will you visit Pangkor Island again?
a)
b)
c)
Yes
No
Maybe
E.
Will you recommend Pangkor Island to your friends or relatives?
Yes
No
If No, why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
F.
What are the main things you like during your holiday in Pangkor Island?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
G.
In your opinion, what can be done to further improve Pangkor Island
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
H.
Other comments/suggestions:
______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION