journal manajemen pariwisata

8/19/2019 Journal Manajemen Pariwisata

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Factors influencing tourist visitation in

marine tourism: lessons learned from

FRI Aquarium Penang, Malaysia

Salmi Mohd Isa and Lizana Ramli

Salmi Mohd Isa and

Lizana Ramli are oth

ased at the !raduate

School of "usiness,

#niversiti Sains Malaysia,

Penang, Malaysia$

Received %& A'ril (&%)Revised * +anuary (&% Acce'ted %- +anuary (&%

.he authors /ould li0e to than0Mohamad Sau'i Ismail for giving them the o''ortunity toconduct the study in theFisheries Research Institute1FRI2, Penang$

Astract

Pur'ose 3 .o estalish tourist visitation to ne/ tourism areas is in most cases de'endent on tourists4

ehavior$ Indeed, tourist visitation is considered among the 'rimary com'onents of the marine tourism

o'eration$ Such ehavior is usually enacted in the form of destination a/areness, destination image and

motivation$ 5ord of mouth is li0ely to influence tourist to visit$ .he 'ur'ose of this 'a'er is to e6amine the

factors that may influence tourists to visit marine tourist destinations$

7esign8methodology8a''roach 3 .he study has utilized self3administered questionnaire survey and the

target 'o'ulation are the visitors that came to FRI Aquarium$ .he survey 'eriod /as from August (&%(

to Se'temer (&%($ .otal of %9- res'onses /ere collected during this 'eriod$

Findings 3 .his study demonstrates that destination a/areness, motivation and 5M are factors that

influence the tourist to visit the FRI Aquarium$ Interestingly, destination image ho/ever, has sho/n

insignificant relationshi' /ith tourist visitation$ 5M also found to e has a full mediating effect for

a/areness to/ards tourist visitation$ For e6am'le, efore visit, visitor may require some information

eforehand and /ord of mouth is a direct medium to transfer the information$ A 0ey im'lication for FRI

Aquarium is that it might e /ise to assess such variales for their mar0eting strategies$

Research limitations8im'lications 3 First, the sam'le /as otained from one marine aquarium in

Malaysia$ .he com'arative studies et/een aquariums are im'ortant to understand if there are any

similarities and differences$ It /ould e etter to conduct the survey in other local aquariums such as the

#nder/ater 5orld, Lang0a/i and the ;L Aquaria, ;uala Lum'ur$ Second, a longitudinal study is

relevant to further investigate the factors that /ill influence the visitor visitation$ .hus, future study shouldgather data from those /ho had visited the aquarium several times$ .his a''roach might im'rove the

destination image results, /hich in this study sho/s insignificant relationshi'$ .hat said,

ac0no/ledgements of these limitations also suggest a ne/ direction of future research$

Practical im'lications 3 FRI Aquarium is suggested to create more a/areness to the 'ulic y 'lacing

an advertisement via mainstream and social media$ onsequently, the

findings hel' to understand ho/ these factors can 'rovide alternative sources of mar0eting to attract the

long3term economic sustainaility of the FRI Aquarium in marine tourism$

;ey/ords 5ord of mouth, Malaysia, Motivation, 7estination a/areness, 7estination image,Marine tourism

Pa'er ty'e Research 'a'er

Introduction

.he tourism industry has ecome the largest service industry in the gloal economy 1Ferreira

et al$, (&&-? Som and "adarneh, (&%%2$ In Malaysia, the industry has emerged as one of the

country4s 0ey economic sectors$ Malaysia is rich in natural and cultural diversity$ 7ue to its

'o'ularity, e6tensive findings demonstrate that Penang is the most visited state in Malaysia,

/ith almost si6 million hotel guests re'orted in (&%( 1Ministry of .ourism Malaysia, (&%(2$


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7:I %&$%%&*8I+>.


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Penang, /hich is also 0no/n as the Pearl of the rient, is /ell 0no/n

among local and

foreign tourists for its natural eauty and modern each resorts$ Since

Penang is an island

surrounded y sea /ater, it has 'articularly strong 'otential in marine tourism

1!haderi et al$,

(&%(2$ !loally, the gro/th rate of marine tourism has een found to e6ceed

other forms of

tourism 1Cagles and Mc>ool, (&&(2$ In relation to this, it has een

re'orted that marine

tourism has ecoming increasingly com'etitive and even saturated 1Eoon

and #ysal, (&&D?

urrently, FRI

is in search of alternative sources of mar0eting to ensure its long3

term economic

sustainaility$ Among 'ossile alternatives includes the estalishment of

visitation 'attern,

since it is considered a relatively reliale and 'otential source of increasing

the mar0et share

of the marine tourism industry$


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7evelo'ment of the research hy'otheses

Cstalishing tourist visitation to a ne/ tourism area is, in most cases,

de'endent on tourist

ehaviour$ Indeed, tourist visitation is considered among the 'rimary

com'onents of marine

tourism o'eration$ Such ehaviour is usually enacted in the form of

destination a/areness,destination image, and motivation$ As noted y ;iss and "ichler 1(&&*2,

/ord3of3mouth

15M2 is li0ely to influence tourists to visit$ ur study com'rises the first

attem't to e6amine

the factors that may influence tourists to visit marine tourism destinations$

7estination a/areness

.he conce't of destination a/areness is mostly investigated under the

to'ic of tourism

decision 'rocesses 15oodside and Lysons0i, %-*-? !oodall, %--)2$

A/areness might not

al/ays lead to 'urchase ecause it acts as 'roduct curiosity 1Fesenmaier

et al$, %--)2$

.ale I 7omestic and international tourist arrivals to Penang from (&&D to (&%&

.ourist

Eear Local total International total verall total

(&&D (,(@9,D)( D($% (,&*,)99 9$-,)D%,-&-

(&&@ (,D@(,-9* D$ (,%D(,(D@ D$@,9%D,()

(&&9 (,9*9,(@& D)$9 (,)--,)D% @$)D,%*@,@%%(&&* ),-@,(-) DD$ (,*%%,%9D $@

@,)&9,@*(&&- (,-*(,@*9 D&$& (,-99,@( D&$&D,-@&,)(-

(&%& (,-(,D -$% ),&*,)(& D&$-D,--&,*@(&&D3(&%& %9,&)-,(- D($ %D,9),%(% 9$@)(,D%(,%D

PA!C %& =IB.CRBA.I:BAL+:#RBAL:F>#L.#RC,.:#RISMAB7


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!artner 1%--)2 vie/ed a/areness as /hat someone 0no/s or thin0s they

0no/ aout a

destination$ Mean/hile, 5oodside and Lysons0i 1%-*-, '$ *2 descried

a/areness as

GGunaided recall from long3term memory and aided recognitions44$


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!unn 1%-**2 suggested that image formation ha''ens in seven stages$

"ased on the

stages, he created a destination image frame/or0, /hich consists of t/o

levels, namely,

organic images and induced images$ rganic images are images or

information from

resources that have not een directly lin0ed to destination 'romoters such as

geogra'hy

oo0s and school lessons, magazines, television, 5M, ne/s, movies,

ne/s'a'ers and

other media$ It is a 'otential tourist4s im'ression of a destination efore

visiting$ Induced

images are images 'ro=ected or influenced y destination 'romoters

and tourist

organisations using 'laned mar0eting and communication methods such

as travel

rochures or advertisements$ It is not only formed y 'romotional material,

ut also y

actual visitation to the area$

Later, !artner 1%--)2 claimed that destination images are formed y cognitive,effective and

conative$ .hese three com'onents interrelate to determine the overall image$

>ognitive

com'onent is the sum of a 'erson4s 0no/ledge aout a destination, /hich may

e organic or

induced$ .his is the a/areness, 0no/ledge or elief that 'eo'le have aout a

destination4s

attriutes$ Affective com'onent re'resents an individual4s feeling to/ard a

destination

1"aloglu and Mc>leary, %---2$ .he conative com'onent is the outcome of the

cognitive and

effective stages and decides a 'erson4s intention$ According to the latest

guidelines for

tourism mar0eting 1Lo'es, (&%%2, the develo'ment of the image of a tourist

destination is

ased on consumer rationality and emotion and also as a result of t/o main

com'onents:

Perce'tual and cognitive 3 the destination image is evaluated y the

attriutes of its

resources of attractions /hich motivates tourist to visit the destination? and

Affective 3

referring to feelings and emotions raised y tourist destinations$ .he overall

image of the

destination is a comination of oth com'onents$


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Similarly, "aloglu and Mc>leary 1%---2 demonstrated the relationshi' of

visitation intention

/ith variety of information received, /ill induce the destination image$

7estination image has

also een sho/n to e closely tied to the cognitive image com'onent, as it

leads to visitation

1!artner and Ruzzier, (&%&2$ .hus, destination image is also im'ortant in

determining tourist

decisions to visit$

Motivation

Research has found that motivation is one of the most im'ortant travel

decision3ma0ing

factors 1alle et al$, (&&@2$ S/anson and rom'ton 1%-9-2 em'hasised further that oth

'ush and 'ull

factors sha'e tourist motivation and in choosing a vacation destination$


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($ Motivation Pull Factors$ Pull factors are e6ternal motivation factors to

travel 1#ysal and

+uro/s0i, %--2$ .hey are ased on the attractiveness of the

destination$ It is the

attractiveness of the destination and tangile characteristics such as

eaches and

cultural8historical resources, among others, that motivate a 'erson to

travel 1#ysal and


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consumers communicate their o'inions to others in an unofficial /ay after they

have used a

'roduct or ta0en a service$ Cventually, 5M influences other 'eo'le4s

'urchasing ehaviour

1;im, (&&-2$ 5M can e 'ro=ected as either 'ositive or negative$ Positive

5M occurs

/hen testimonials of good ne/s and endorsements of the organisation areuttered 1"uttle,

%--*2$ It is /hen a 'erson encounters satisfactory services? 'ositive 5M

/ill ha''en

1Suss0ind, (&&(2$

In relation to this, ;iss and "ichler 1(&&*2 commented that 5M is one ty'e

of mar0eting

technique$ .his technique has een used to increase rand a/areness y

self3re'lication

and message diffusion$ .his sho/s that there is a relationshi' et/een

a/areness of the

'roduct or destination /hen a 'erson has een e6'osed to informal

information such as

5M$ Informal sources such as relatives and friends have een sho/n toinfluence image

formation among tourist destinations 1>rom'ton, %-9-? "eerli and Martin, (&&2$

.his sho/s

that images /ere induced y the use of 5M as /ell$ Sundaram and

5ester 1%---2

suggested that consum'tion e6'eriences and motivation are closely related in

the 'rocess

of 5M transmission$ Moreover, a study y !odes and Mayzlin 1(&&2 found

that there /as

a 'ositive feedac0 mechanism et/een 5M and 'roduct sales$ .hey

found that 5M

leads to more 'roduct sales, /hich, in turn, generate more 5M and, ultimately,

more sales$

Similarly Milman and Pizan 1%--D2 found that the negative comments that

visitors hear from

others could create lo/ interest in visitation$ According to +eong and +ang

1(&%%2, 'ositive

5M also 'lays an im'ortant role in 'ro=ecting a 'ositive image /hich leads to

intention to

ehave$ "o=anic 1%--@2 argued that it is im'ortant to have a 'ositive

image in tourist

decision3ma0ing$ In addition, Allso' et al$ 1(&&92 commented that

communication such as

5M can 'ersuade y reason and motivate y emotion$ According to them,

research that

/as done on consumer motivation and decision3ma0ing can ma6imize

'ersonal relevance

on the cognitive and emotional dimensions$ .herefore, 5M is an im'ortant

source of

information 'rior to visit, /hich has an im'act on tourist visitation$

Follo/ing this rationale, therefore:


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a/areness and tourist visitation in marine tourism$


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.ale II Summary of research instruments

Bo$of

ariales Sourcequestions

A/areness Milman and Pizan 1%--D2? ;onecni0 and Ruzzier 1(&&@2?

;onecni0 and !artner 1(&&92? !artner and Ruzzier 1(&%&2

@

7estination image Cchtner and Ritchie 1%--)2? ;onecni0 and !artner 1(&&92?

!artner and Ruzzier 1(&%&2? Hu et al $ 1(&%%2

%)

Motivation Eoon and #ysal 1(&&D2? an der Mer/e et al$ 1(&%%2%@

5ord of mouth +eong and +ang 1(&%%2

isitation 'erformance +eong and +ang 1(&%%2

)

Results

Several as'ects of our analysis are /orthy of mention$ First, the 'rofiles of the

res'ondents /ere

analysed$ .his /as aimed to gather general information on the res'ondents$

"ased on the

analysis, D( 'er cent of res'ondents /ere male and * 'er cent /ere female$

.he ma=ority of

the res'ondents /ere aged et/een (D3) years 1)* 'er cent2$


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analysed for factor

analysis$ Items /ere deleted if they e6hiited lo/ factor loadings 1# &$&2,

had high cross

loading 1. &, &2, or if they had lo/ communalities 1, &$&2 1


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.ale III Summary of questions

>ode Measurements

A5% A state tourist destination A5( C6hiits coral reef life

A5) Located in "atu Maung

A5 'en daily e6ce't on 5ednesday

A5D A research oriented aquarium A5@ Free entry for old citizens, disale 'erson and children elo/ @ years old

7I% 5ell 0no/n and famous7I( 5ell3advertised

7I) Availale via travel agency

7I Casy access via all ty'es of trans'ortation7ID Am'le 'ar0ing s'ace

7I@ Cntrance fee is among the chea'est of all zoos8aquaria in Malaysia

7I9 Friendly and hel'ful staff

7%* Surrounding is restful and rela6ing

7I- onvenient facilities, e$g$ restroom, cafeteria, 'rayer room

M%) alue for my money

M% .o get a/ay from demand at home

M%D C6'loring ne/ travel destination

M%@ S'ending time /ith my friends5M% Received good comments from others

5M( I /ant to share my 'ositive e6'eriences /ith others5M) I /ant to give others the o''ortunity to have a good e6'erience5M I feel good /hen I share my e6'erience /ith others

7AR% I am very satisfied /ith my visit to the Aquarium and /ould visit again and /ill recommend

7AR( In my o'inion, this Aquarium should e su''orted and I /ill sho/ my su''ort y sharing my 'ositivee6'erience to others7AR) I /ould recommend this Aquarium to others

.he analysis had sho/n that all inde'endent variales are 'ositively

correlated to the de'endent variale$

Regression analysis /as used to analyse the relationshi' of each

inde'endent variale to/ards the de'endent variale$ .he result of factors

influencing visitation is sho/n in .ale $ "ased on the analysis, destination

a/areness 1 b ¼ &$%-, ' , &$&D2 and motivation 1 b ¼ &$@(), ' , &$&D2 /ere

found to e in a significant 'ositive relationshi' /ith visitor visitation$


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' , &$&D2 had a 'ositive relationshi' and significant effect on 5M$


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.ale I Result of reliaility analysis

Factor lael Motivation Image A/areness>ommunalities

Increase education and learning e6'erience &$99D&$9((Cnhance 0no/ledge on marine life &$9-@

&$9) Ale to a''reciate natural resources &$9@9&$@&

Place for family recreation and8or having leisure time /ith someone s'ecial &$9D-&$D**

Cntertaining and fun 'lace to go &$*%@&$@**

Ale to rest and rela6ing myself &$@*&$-@

>onvenience facilities, e$g$ restroom, cafeteria, 'rayer room &$@(&$*&C6'loring ne/ travel destination &$9&-&$D%D

Friendly and hel'ful staff &$9(&&$D9&

Surrounding is restful and rela6ing &$9))

&$@@9ronach4s al'ha &$*-* &$99D &$@%)

.ale Result of regression analysis

Inde'endent variales

Standardized "eta

Regression result et/een factors influencing visitation

7estination a/areness

&$%-

7estination image

&$&-D

Motivation

&$@()

Regression result et/een factors influencing 5M

A/areness

&$(@(

7estination image

2 &$&-Motivation


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&$D*&

Regression result et/een5M and visitation Mediatingvariale

5M

&$*(@

concluded that 5M has a 'ositive and significant effect on visitor

visitation to FRI Aquarium$ .herefore, #L.#RC,.:#RISMAB7


17/22

inde'endent variales must e in a significant relationshi' /ith the

de'endent variale in the 'resence of mediator$

$ If all of the 'revious conditions are satisfied, the effect of the inde'endent

variale on the

de'endent variale must e less in the third condition than in the second

condition 1see

Figure %2$

In addition, "aron and ;enny 1%-*@2 cited in 2, sho/s that a/areness 1 b ¼ &$%-, ' , &$&D2

has a 'ositive

and significant relationshi' /ith visitor visitation$ Model ) 1Path "2 sho/sthat that 5M

1 b ¼ &$*(@, ' , &$&D2 had a 'ositive and significant relationshi' /ith

visitation$ Model

sho/s that the b is insignificant$ .hese =ustify all four conditions discussed

earlier$ .o fully

verify this effect, a Soel test /as conducted and the result /as significant

1 ' , &$&&%2$

"ased on the results, it can e concluded that there is a full mediating effect

of 5M /ith

regards to relationshi' et/een a/areness and tourist visitation$

.herefore


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Figure % Mediating 'ath

.ale I Results of mediating effect of 5M /ith regards to relationshi' et/een factors influencingvisitation

'erformance

Significant value of de'endent variales measurement

ariales Model % 1Path >2 Model ( 1Path A2 Model ) 1Path "2 Model 1Path A"3>2

7estination a/areness &$%- &$(@( 2

&$&(%7estination image &$&-D 2 &$&-

&$%D9Motivation &$@() &$D*&

&$(D

5M &$*(@&$@D&

Bote: GG&44 sho/s insignificant and '3value , &$&D

:L$ * B:$ % (&% =IB.CRBA.I:BAL+:#RBAL:F>#L.#RC,.:#RISMAB7


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location /ith coral reef life e6hiits$ In addition, the survey also as0ed aout

the res'ondents4

a/areness of the location$ ;onecni0 and !artner 1(&&92, in their study, found

that 'eo'le are

often more a/are aout locations associated /ith a''ealing /eather,

eautiful natural

surroundings, and so on$ .hese findings /ere consistent /ith the results

'roduced from this

study$ .he res'ondents in our study /ere a/are that the FRI Aquarium is a

marine research

destination /hich e6hiits marine life$ In addition, they /ere also a/are that

the aquarium is

located in "atu Maung, Penang$

7estination image and visitation

.he destination image /as sho/n to have an insignificant relationshi' /ith

visitation, /hich /as

something our variales did not 'redict$ Res'ondents /ere as0ed to rate if

the 'lace had

GGfriendly and hel'ful staff44, GGrestful and rela6ing surroundings44, GGclean

environment44, and GGsafe

environment44$ .hese items of measurement could e ans/ered a''ro'riately if

the visitors had

visited the destination efore$ .his is ecause the visitor /ill have to e6'erience

the destination

images efore they are ale to decide on a revisit$ A 'rior study conducted y

Assa0er et al$

1(&%%2, concluded that destination image im'acted revisits and influences

future return

intention$ Similarly, Hu et al$ 1(&%%2, also found that the overall image of a

destination /as

'erceived more 'ositively y return visitors rather than y first3time visitors$ In

relation to this,

the 'resent study focused on first3time visitors to the aquarium$ .hus,further investigation

needs to e underta0en y future researchers on revisit tourists to shed more

light on this issue$

Motivation and visitation

According to


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visitation$ .he results

sho/ed that 5M 'lays a significant mediating role for a/areness$ .his is

ecause in order

for a visitor to e a/are of a tourist destination, he8she needs to acquire the

information from

numerous communication sources$ .he information could come from family

memers, friends,

or other sources such as the Internet and revie/s y others /ho have

e6'erienced the

destination$ Sheth 1%-9%2, cited in 1"uttle, %--*2, claimed that 5M /as more

im'ortant than

any other advertising mechanism in raising a/areness in serving the decision

to try a 'roduct$

"uttle 1%--*2 added that 5M influenced a variety of conditions, such as

a/areness,

e6'ectations, 'erce'tions, attitudes, ehavioural intentions, and

ehaviour$ .his 'ossily

e6'lains /hy 5M 'artially mediates the relationshi' et/een motivation

and visitation$ For

instance, /hen a student needs to conduct an assignment on marine

life, they /ill e

motivated to visit an aquarium if they /ere told y their teachers that all

information to

com'lete the assignment could e found in the aquarium$ In addition, if a

visitor is satisfied

/ith his e6'erience, he /ould /ant to share the e6'erience /ith those /ho

are close to him$

7ue to that, he /ould e motivated to s'read the ne/s to assist others on their

decision to visit$

.his is su''orted y >heung and Lee 1(&%(2, /ho found that en=oyment of

hel'ing others is

crucial in affecting consumers4 5M intention$ .his could hel' others /ith

their ehaviours$


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>onclusions

In this study, /e demonstrate that destination a/areness, motivation, and 5M

are factors that

influence tourists to visit the FRI Aquarium in Penang$ om'arative studies et/een aquariums are

im'ortant to

understand if there are any similarities or differences$ Future researchers

might /ish to

conduct a similar survey in other local aquariums such as the #nder/ater 5orld

in Lang0a/i

and the ;L Aquaria in ;uala Lum'ur$ Second, a longitudinal study might e

hel'ful to further

investigate the factors that influence the visitor visitation$ .herefore, future

studies should

gather data from those /ho have visited the aquarium on multi'le occasions$

.his a''roachmight also im'rove the destination image results, /hich in this study /as

sho/n to have an

insignificant relationshi'$ .hat said, ac0no/ledgements of these limitations

also suggest a

ne/ direction of future research$

Recommendations

FRI Aquarium might /ish to create more a/areness among the 'ulic y


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'lacing an

advertisement via mainstream and social media$ .hey should 'romote the

aquarium as a

reference centre for those /ho /ant to 0no/ more aout marine life$ .his /ill

eventually 'ull and

'ush those /ho are interested in marine tourism$ Schools are the est 'lace to

incor'orate this

a''roach$ Pulic tal0s should e given to school children to instil a/areness and

motivate them

to visit$ Moreover, FRI Aquarium should encourage visitors /ho are satisfied /ith

their visit to

give good recommendations and convey their satisfaction to others$ A 'latform,

such as a /e

site /here visitors can e6'ress their satisfaction and share their e6'eriences,

should also e

'rovided$ .herefore, it is suggested that FRI Aquarium design marine life3

oriented educational

'rograms in order to motivate and encourage more visitors to visit

"y 'romoting the 'lace as destination for learning and leisure, marine

tourism is li0ely to 'roduce long3lasting changes in tourist ehaviour$

In sum, /e con=ecture that an understanding of factors that influence tourists to

visit marine

tourism destinations are /orthy of additional research$ >onsequently, /e

ho'e that our

findings /ill hel' further our understanding on ho/ these factors can 'rovide

alternative

sources of mar0eting in order to attract long3term economic sustainaility

of the FRI

Aquarium in marine tourism$

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