BIMP-EAGA Journal for Sustainable Tourism Development

CULTURAL, ARCHITECTURAL, ‘SENSE OF PLACE’ AND SUFISTIC BELIEFS IN MOSQUE TOURISM CASE STUDY: MASJID AR-RAHMAN, PULAU GAJAH, KELANTAN

Azizi Bahauddin , Safial Aqbar Zakaria — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

The mosque is a sacred important religious symbol for bringing Muslims together as demonstrated during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This paper investigates the potential of Masjid Ar-Rahman of Pulau Gajah, Kelantan as a spot for mosque tourism. Although this mosque was constructed in 2016, it has demonstrated simplicity in its scale and traditional image. It has the value of hybrid assimilation or Hindu-Buddhist syncretism and tolerance and coined as the Nusantara hybridized Malay and Javanese architectural styles. The typology of this humble Malay Mosque architecture is of medium-scale and reflects the Sufistic contextual value beliefs encouraging religious and architectural tourism alike. The conceptual framework capitalises the research gap found in mosque cultural, architectural and Sufistic beliefs research by further delving into constructing the ‘Sense of Place’ in relation to the ‘Sacred Places’. This research employs qualitative methods of interviewing visitors, applying phenomenological and case study approaches supported by architectural documentation in emphasising the symbolic and semiotic aesthetics aspects in constructing the ‘Sense of Place’ bonded by the Sufistic symbolic aesthetics. The theory is constructed in the deeply rooted Islamic Mosque architecture via Sufistic beliefs that provides platform for the mosque tourism activities.

A PERSONALIZED TRAVEL RECOMMENDER SYSTEM USING FUZZY ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Information and communication technologies have a deep implication for the industry. This combination is being used extensively in an excessive variety of functions and numerous applications. On the other hand, tourism has become an extremely dynamic system. The globalization enabled by technology development and budget travel cost has greatly increased competition. Decision support system (DSS) can play an important role to organizations and people who managing tourism destinations. The main intention of this research is to apply Decision Support System (DSS) in tourism. It aims to establish a personalized travel recommender system that is interactive and can be easily shared and integrated in order to verify the concept of providing tourism decision support system interactively. Specifically, the study aims to achieve the following objectives; (1) To evaluate and measure criteria and alternatives performance; (2) To analyze the ranking of criteria and alternatives; (3) To recommend tourist in terms of islands, accommodation, activities and etc. based on budget. Evaluation module enables experts in tourism to evaluate criteria and alternatives of small islands to indicate islands’ performance. Analysis module will provide reports for performance of criteria and alternatives based on Best Non-fuzzy Performance. A risk analysis model for travel recommender system development using a fuzzy set approach is proposed and incorporated into the Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS).This study presents fuzzy-AHP as a proposed method to apply with decision making in social attributes by applying fuzzy approach. A web-based prototype Decision Support System (DSS) is designed and developed in order to prove the objectives.

CONSUMERS’ KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION OF FOOD IMAGE AND ACCEPTANCE TOWARDS FOOD HERITAGE IN KELANTAN

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Heritage food is an integral part of consumers’ eating habits because it is made from original recipes passed down from generation to generation. However, due to changing lifestyles, there is a lack of knowledge among the younger generation, and consumption of heritage food is declining. Furthermore, researchers appear to disregard and dismiss research on food image and food tourism. The objective of this study is to determine consumer’s knowledge, food image perception, and acceptance of Kelantan heritage food. People's eating habits are changing due to social trends and information technology. A convenience sampling method was used in a selected area of Kelantan. A questionnaire was distributed to the general public in the Kelantan district of choice; Kota Bharu, Tanah Merah, and Machang. The findings revealed that respondents have a high level of knowledge about Kelantan’s heritage foods, with 92.3 per cent at good knowledge levels. Additionally, respondents have a positive perception of food image, with a high mean score of 4.81±0.59. Respondents showed a positive result in acceptance of heritage in tradition and culture, appearance, taste, quality, and healthiness with all mean scores of each attribute is more significant than 4. All of the study’s objectives had been met. All respondents expressed their positive and negative feelings about consumers’ knowledge, perception of food image, and acceptance of food heritage in Kelantan.

PERCEIVED VALUE, CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION, AND CUSTOMERS’ BEHAVIORAL INTENTION TOWARDS MALAYSIAN HERITAGE FOOD SERVED BY HOTELS AROUND KLANG VALLEY

Rahijan Abdul Wahab, Dilshad Khabirah, Fathilah Ismail, Wan Zainal Shukri — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Malaysian heritage food has become the most noticeable sign of the intermingling culture of ’Malaysia’s multiracial population. Heritage food can provide an intuitive sense of unity and a better understanding of the history of multiracial cultures. While their heritage foods are served in various establishments, hotel dining restaurants have become one of the most essential platforms that serve the highest quality Malaysian heritage food. The general objective of this research is to determine the perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intention towards Malaysian heritage food served by hotels around Klang Valley. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to select 200 respondents among customers who dined in the chosen hotel restaurants around Klang Valley. Findings are shown in terms of the perceived value of overall atmospheric (3.88 ± 0.51) followed by the overall service quality (3.78 ± 0.52) and the overall food quality (3.77 ± 0.65). Respondents were most satisfied with the “Interior dining environment” (3.85 ± 0.62), and “Professionalism and courtesy of the employees” (3.80 ± 0.65); however, they appeared less enthusiastic about the “Taste and authenticity of the heritage foods” (3.64 ± 0.63) and the “Price of the food” (3.55 ± 0.68). The impact of customer behavioural intention was also further discussed. Finally, the study indicated that there is a significant difference in the perceived value (p=0.007) and customer satisfaction (p=0.035) among varying demographic characteristics (race). However, no significant differences among demographics toward the dependent variable of customer satisfaction were found. Only race is significantly related to perceived value and customer satisfaction.

AESTHETIC QUALITIES OF ISLAND TOURISM IN MALAYSIA'S EAST COAST REGION: DOES DURATION OF STAY MATTER IN SATISFYING TOURISTS?

Mazni Saad, Ainun Khadijah Lokman, Mohd Hanafi Azman, Nor’Ain Othman — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

The East Coast islands of Malaysia are becoming increasingly popular as a world-class nature tourism destination. Not only are they naturally beautiful and accessible, they are also attractive and appear as a destination image. However, whether satisfaction based on the aesthetic quality of the island is sufficient in determining a tourist’s duration of stay is being questioned. This study, therefore, sets out two objectives to investigate the relationship between Aesthetic qualities and Tourist Satisfaction: (1) to investigate which aesthetic quality has a significant influence on tourist satisfaction of Malaysia's East Coast islands, and (2) to determine whether the length of stay has a significant influence on tourist satisfaction of the East Coast islands of Malaysia. This study is quantitative and cross-sectional. Smart PLS-SEM analysis was used on 150 responses; the 5000 replication of samples reveals that all aesthetic qualities contributed to tourist satisfaction. The ANOVA analysis, supported by the post hoc multiple comparison analysis among the groups, the Least Square Difference (i.e., LSD) Fisher's Test, and Games-Howell Test, yielded intriguing results for the significant difference between the duration of stay groups on these islands. All aesthetic qualities, especially scenery, showed significant differences during a short stay. The findings would raise public awareness of the importance of sustaining the aesthetic quality of island tourism while also benefiting many stakeholders. There is also a need for more promotional efforts to extend the tourists' duration of stay. However, generalizations of the results of this study are limited to responses given mainly from three main islands of Terengganu.

AN ETNOGRAPHY EXAMINATION OF TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS: A CASE STUDY OF THE ST REGIS HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

There has been a growing reliance on consumer-generated content as a source of knowledge for hospitality product decision-making. People post their views, ratings, and reviews of products and services on such platforms, and companies and research organizations are interested in analyzing and extracting all of the comments. Hotels must take advantage of online customer review information to better understand their customers and enhance hotel efficiency. However, analyzing guest reviews is challenging as it contains abundant data. Using The St Regis Kuala Lumpur as a case study, the objective of the paper is to 1) profile the online hotel reviews using netnography approach, (2) identify the hotel attributes that guests comment on based on the hotel online reviews and (3) examine the guest satisfaction attitude based on the online hotel reviews. A total of 388 reviews ranging from TripAdvisor were collected. The finding revealed that most hotel guests who left comments were international tourists, couples and left an excellent rating for the hotel. The result shows nine attributes are frequently mentioned; amenities, location, price, service, cleanliness, food and beverages, hotel and room environment. The results also show that guests left positive and negative reviews in a few common categories: hotel cleanliness, hotel environment, and amenities. Among all the attributes, satisfied guests tend to leave positive comments in hotel cleanliness, hotel and room setting, while dissatisfied guests emphasise amenities. The findings from this study make several theoretical and managerial implications regarding identifying hotel attributes that generate guest satisfaction and understanding of satisfied and dissatisfied guests using comments left by guest. The paper concludes with limitations and suggests future research.

AGRITOURISM ENTREPRENEURS ON THE OTHER SIDE: MOTIVATION AND CHALLENGES

Yi Wei Tan , Azreen Rozainee Abdullah — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Balik Pulau is situated on the remote western part of Penang island. It offers greener and calmer environment compared to the busy Georgetown city. It is famously known among locals for producing high quality durians. Thus, making it a prospective hotspot for agritourism entrepreneurs. This article explores the agritourism activity in Balik Pulau to better understand the motivation and challenges faced by agritourism entrepreneurs in the area. Through in-depth interviews with limited number of willing entrepreneurs, this study has established that the motivation of agricultural entrepreneurs highly depends on their goals in operating the sites. Their motivations are also influenced by financial situation, health concern and eagerness to share and preserve ethnic and agricultural knowledge. This study has identified five challenges faced by agritourism entrepreneurs which are (i) inadequate support from government and private sectors, (ii) difficulties in employing staffs, (iii) insufficient infrastructure, (iv) seasonal income and (v) encroaching urban development. This article suggests Balik Pulau to be marketed as Penang’s agritourism hub and a one-stop centre for durian lovers and agritourism activities.

GENERATIONAL COHORT ANALYSIS OF MALAYSIAN DOMESTIC TOURISTS

Syuhada Farhana Adnan, Shida Irwana Omar — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Malaysian economy has suffered considerably. With the closure of international borders to travellers and the implementation of restricted travel movement, the tourism industry has been one economic sector heavily affected. To encourage a rebound in the tourism industry the Malaysian government has taken steps to focus on the domestic tourism market. Since the domestic tourism market involves quite a diverse range of segments, an understanding of the generational cohort in tourist behaviour is crucial to facilitate the effective prediction of tourism trends. This paper attempts to review and analyses the generational shifts in Malaysian travel characteristics between four cohorts, namely, baby boomers, generation X, millennials and generation Z that have been discussed in the literature. First, the travel characteristics of each cohort were identified, and comparisons were made between the cohorts. As a result of a literature review, findings indicate that each cohort has distinctive characteristics that differentiate them from their older counterparts and these characteristics lead to a diverse demand for tourism products and services. Therefore, it is important for tourism stakeholders to better understand the travel characteristics of their target customers based on generational cohort before preparing the right packages, products and services that match and fulfil their customers’ needs and preferences.

STUDY THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE COST OF HOMESTAYS IN KUNDASANG, SABAH DURING MALAYSIA GOVERNMENT MOVEMENT CONTROL ORDER (MCO)

Lip Vui Tshin , Syarifah Hanum Ali, Kamiliah@Kamaliah Sulimat — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0800

The tourism sector is one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic COVID-19. The status of the homestay programme will be maintained for the duration of the Movement Control Order (MCO), as announced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, from 18 March 2020 to an unspecified date. According to the study, tourism is one of the worst-affected industries in Kundasang, Sabah. This study aims to identify the problems inherent in the Kundasang homestay, whether the problem is internally and externally. Next, the study was to collect the recommendations for improvement to the problems faced by the community. Qualitative research has been used as an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. Twenty-three informants have been interviewed. According to the data collected through an interview with informants, medical essentials ranked the highest factor, and many homestay entrepreneurs hope that the government and private agencies can reduce and solve the challenges they face. After the outbreak’s pandemic, everything changed. Medical essential, labour, utility, maintenance, and miscellaneous are all concerns for homestay entrepreneurs. Several improvement suggestions presented at the end of this study will indirectly assist the tourism management body in developing the tourism sector in Sabah, primarily homestays in Kundasang.

EXPLORING TOURIST EXPERIENCES IN THE LOWER KINABATANGAN RIVER, SABAH: EVIDENCE FROM ONLINE REVIEWS

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Global demand for wildlife tourism is rising and maintaining a positive tourist experience is essential to ensuring the industry's long-term survival. A top location for wildlife tourism, the Lower Kinabatangan River, located in Sabah, Malaysia, is impacted by its surroundings and requires careful management to maintain its reputation for offering pleasant wildlife tourist experiences. This paper aimed to explore tourist experiences in the Lower Kinabatangan River using user-generated content in Web reviews. This paper utilised 186 online reviews extracted from the TripAdvisor website and analysed the data with Leximancer software. Three themes were derived from the data analysis: river, monkey, and trip. The cloud-generated concepts were discussed through the tourist experience's servicescape context. The result reveals that most tourist (87.63%) shows positive overall experiences; however, some do show concerns about the issue of rubbishes, dead fish in the river, the invasion of oil palm plantation, and forest destruction. The valuable insights offer a better understanding of the determinants of tourist experiences for the Lower Kinabatangan River to formulate strategies to increase their positive experiences and draw up alternatives to minimise the negative experiences.