An Overview Of Tourism In Malaysia Tourism Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Tourism begins to bloom dramatically in the world and is the world's largest industry and generator of jobs. With the advancements of technology, travelling from one place to another place became easier and that it has become essential to our life. Whenever one speaks of travel and tourism, images of relaxing by the sandy beach and strolling along the beautiful landscape came to mind. Travelling allows people to see the world, a world different from their comfort zone where they live. It gives them chances to explore the unknown and experience a completely new different culture, tradition and people. Travelling broadens one's mind and provides life-changing experience.

Tourism is, without a doubt, one of the most important forces shaping our world (Cohen & Kennedy, 2000). The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. A tourist destination can be defined as an amalgam of tourism products and services consumed under the same brand name offering customers and integrated experience, which is subjectively interpreted according to the customers' travel itinerary, cultural background, purpose of visit, past experience and other related factors (Buhalis, 2000).

In a study of Caribbean charter yacht tourism, Lett (1983) found that vacations provide individuals with opportunities to satisfy needs which constraints back home leave unsatisfied. Tourists are a fundamental part which their involvement may be active or passive, but their presence influences what is delivered (Baker and Crompton, 2000). Visitor perceived quality of a destination, satisfaction with their experience and revisit intention are important for successful destination management. The information is essential for the managers to attract visitors by improving the quality and the performance of the destination.

Mazanec, Woeber, and Zins (2007) found that while destination competitiveness is usually interpreted as the destination's ability to provide the visitors with a satisfying memorable experience and thereby increase the number of visitors and the destination's revenue. The concept remains on a conceptual level (Zabkar, Brencic and Dmitrovis, 2010). Baloglu and McCleary (1999) showed that destination image will influence tourists in the process of choosing a destination, the subsequent evaluation of the trip and in their future intentions. The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship among perceived quality of destination level, the satisfaction level and revisit intention of visitors using quantitative data collected from one of the tourist destinations in Malaysia, Tioman Island.

This chapter first provides an overview for this research, the background, problem statement, research objectives and the significance of this study. The main variables and hypotheses linking the influence of perceived quality on satisfaction and revisit intention will then be identified through a research framework.

1.2 Research Background

As tourism continues to grow at a steady rate across nations, it looks promising that the tourism industry will enrich the country's economy. The importance of the tourist destination's image is universally acknowledged, since it affects the individual's subjective perception and consequent behaviour and destination choice (Chon, 1992). Anderson and Narus (1998) summarized that perceived value is the perceived worth in monetary units of the set of economic, technical, service, and social benefits received by a customer's firm in exchange for the price paid for product's offering, and taking into consideration, the available alternative of supplier's offerings and price.

Oliver (1980) defines an individual's perception of performance quality or level of satisfaction with an experience in terms of the magnitude of his or her disconfirmation. By relating perceptions of the former or experience to initial expectation, we can assess perceived quality and satisfaction. An extension of that, perceived quality may affect satisfaction in the similar way. For example, perceived quality measure as quality/performance ratio was repeated by many to predict customer loyalty which is a state motivated by satisfaction (Cronin, Brady, and Hult, 2000). Thus, it seems logical that there should be a link between visitor's perceived quality, level of satisfaction and the revisit intention. It recognizes that satisfaction may be influenced by the social-psychological state a tourist brings to a site and by extraneous events that are beyond the provider's control, as well as by the program or site attributes that suppliers can control (Baker and Crompton, 2000).

Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry (1985) distinguished between the two constructs by defining quality as a gestalt attitude toward a service which was acquired over a period of time after multiple experiences with it, whereas satisfaction was seen to relate to a specific service transaction. Revisit intention is an extension of satisfaction rather than an initiator of revisit decision making process (Um, Chon and Ro, 2006). Revisit intentions might be influenced by performance of a destination as a whole because of their initial stay while some intentions may be influenced mainly by promotional materials to recollect their memories and by information which are disseminated widely on new attractions. Tourists' positive experiences provided by destinations could produce revisit intentions.

Ajzen (1991) summarizes that perceived behavioral control is added to the theory of reasoned actions as a determinant of intentions which direct experience and attitudinal confidence and attitude accessibility. Fazio and Williams (1986) justify the attitude-behaviour relationship. There are three key links in attitude theory which is the attitude-intention, subjective norm-intention, or intention-behavior. According to Bagozzi (1992), there are three theories of attitude which are the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behaviour, and the theory of trying.

Higher perceived quality and higher levels of satisfaction will result in higher visitor retention rate as suggested by Theory of Attitudes. This shows that if the perceived quality improves, it will increase the satisfaction which will lead to revisit intention. To increase visitors' positive behavioral intentions, managers should set their priorities to provide high quality, satisfying experiences that visitors perceived to be a good value (Lee, Petrick, and Crompton, 2007). The satisfaction of the visitors is the result of a post-consumption or post-usage evaluation, containing both cognitive and affective elements (Oliver, 1997). It is interesting to test the attitude framework in tourism context.

1.3 Overview of Tourism in Malaysia

Malaysia is a developing country in South-East Asia. The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo or also known as the West Malaysia and the East Malaysia. Malaysia is a country that has Asia's three major races such as Malay, Chinese and Indian. Besides that, there are various other ethnic groups in large numbers. Multiculturalism has not only made Malaysia a unique country but it has also made Malaysia famous for its exciting diversity of cultures, festivals, traditions, food and customs.

Malaysia's climate is categorized as hot and humid all the year therefore Malaysia is famous for its natural rainforest and numerous beaches. Cool hideaways are found in the highlands that roll down to warm and sandy beaches. Thus, many tourist destinations have sprung up throughout the country like mushrooms growing after the rain. In an effort of making Malaysia's economy less dependent on the exports of the country, the government has pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. It is important to balance any decision to develop an area for tourism against the need to preserve fragile or threatened environments and cultures.

According to Munan (2002), tourism has become Malaysia's third largest source of income from foreign exchange. In 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign called "Malaysia, Truly Asia" which was largely successful in bringing in tourists. The extra revenue recently generated by tourism helped the country's economy during the economic crisis. In research, there has been relatively less attention paid to tourist attractions compared to the transport, accommodation and tour operator components of the tourism sector (Wu and Wall, 2005). The tourism industry in Malaysia has encouraged the development of numerous integrated island resorts, promotion of the diverse cultures and also travelling opportunities to the tourists. As the tourists in Malaysia increase, this at the same time making the tourism industry the major contributor to the socio-economic development of the nation, and thus market Malaysia as a premier destination of excellence in the region.

Map of Malaysia

http://travelmalaysiaguide.com/images/Maps/malaysia-overview-map.jpg

Retrieved from http://travelmalaysiaguide.com/malaysia-maps/

According to the figure retrieved from the Tourism Malaysia website, the number of tourists' arrival to Malaysia increases every year. As the number increased, it also increases the income generated from the tourism industry every year. While not many associate tourism with the country's economy, it shows that tourism industry plays a huge role in the country's economy.

http://www.tourism.gov.my/corporate/images/research/TM_factsfiguresChart_09.gif

Retrieved from http://www.tourism.gov.my/corporate/research.asp?page=facts_figures

1.3.1 Overview about Tioman Island

Malaysia's hot and humid weather is an advantage to its country as it has many beautiful hideaways and one of the famous hideaways is Tioman Island. Tioman Island rises up above the waters of the South China Sea like a giant sleeping dragon. Tourists can easily assess Tioman Island by taking flight or ferry. As it was situated at the east coast, the monsoon season which falls between early November and late February forbid the local residents and visitors from getting near to the sea. The heavy downpour, rough sea and bad weather made it difficult to access or to perform any activities in Tioman Island.

As an enduring and tranquil island, Tioman Island display white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees, charming villages and friendly people. Lush tropical jungle covers about 12,000 hectares of the island and the waters around the island are filled with corals of all shapes which became the home to diversity of marine life. There are a few excellent beaches on Tioman and more resorts or hotels were built to accommodate the increasing tourists year by year. As government encourages the development of tourism, the natural Tioman Island was transformed into a tourist's retreat for sunbathing, watersports, jungle trekking or just simply a hideaway from the hustle and bustle of life. In 2002, Tioman Island was granted at a duty free zone island and this caught the attention of many thus creating more opportunities for the tourists to visit Tioman Island.

Tioman Island has a few villages and the population in Tioman Island is estimated around 3000 people. Most of the locals are found in Kampung Tekek as it was the main village of Tioman Island. Tourism has improved the quality of life of local residents by creating employment opportunities to them with the establishments of resorts, chalets, restaurants and duty free shops (Ministry of Natural Resources, 2004). As Tioman Island faces competition from other island such as Redang Island, the numbers of visitors vary from year to year.

Map of Tioman Island

http://www.myoutdoor.com/tiomanisland/images/map.jpg

Retrieved from http://www.tioman.com.my/

1.4 Problem Statement

There have been inconsistencies in the definition and measurement of quality and customer satisfactions contribute to the mixed findings regarding relationships among quality, satisfaction, and performance (Choi and Eboch, 1998). Baker and Crompton (2000) found that there has been relatively little discussion of the distinction between the constructs of quality of performance and level of tourist satisfaction, nor has there been any assessment of their relative impact on subsequent behaviour. While Cole and Illum (2006) found that satisfaction fully mediates the impact of attribute-level service quality on behavioural intentions, Baker and Crompton (2000) and Chi and Qu (2008) established a partial mediation effect.

In contrast, Lee, Petrick, and Crompton (2007) found no mediation effect at all. As a theoretical construct, customer satisfaction is perceived to be problematic to define, especially in relation to perceived service quality (Cole and Illum, 2006). Evidence from other studies suggests that quality and customer satisfaction does not always lead to better performance and that results may even be negative (Ittner, Larcker, and Meyer, 2003). In the context of travel and tourism, a review of literature reveals an abundance of studies on tourist satisfaction. However, destination loyalty or revisit intention has not been thoroughly investigated (Oppermann, 2000). Not many studies focus on the interrelationships of perceived quality, satisfaction level, and revisit intention should be carried out to understand how perceived quality can influence the satisfaction level and also the revisit intentions. A recent study was done by Zabkar, Brencic and Dmitrovic (2010) based on four tourist destinations on those variables in Slovenia. To the best knowledge of researcher, no similar research was conducted based on Malaysia's tourists' destination. Thus, the present study closes the gap in the literature by looking at the relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction level and revisit intention.

1.5 Research Objectives

This study intends to find out the influence of perceived quality on satisfaction and revisit intention. There are a few objectives in this study, namely:

To understand tourists' perceived quality on tourist experiences in Tioman Island

To understand tourists' satisfaction level in Tioman Island

To find out if there is a relationship between perceived quality and satisfaction

To find out if they is a relationship between perceived quality and revisit intentions.

1.6 Significance of Study

The significance of this study will have strong managerial implications to attract tourists. This allows the management to have a better understanding of the role played by perceived quality of tourists and how it influence the satisfaction and also the revisit intention so that management is able to identify areas for improvement. Management will have a clearer view on how to improve on the perceived quality of performance and service to improve the level of satisfaction of tourists which eventually lead to tourists intending to visit the same destination again.

Understanding the tourists' satisfaction level will also give the management the opportunity to concentrate on the major influencing factors that lead to visitor retention. They can obtain information that could be translated into marketing strategies. The management will be able to measure these important factors that may affect future strategic actions which will be an advantage to the management so they can compare satisfaction level on regular basis to assess the destination's performance. If satisfaction level of tourists on a particular attributes is low, management can find ways to improve on their performance and services in order to increase the satisfaction level. If satisfaction level of tourists on a particular attributes matched to their expected result, the management can find ways to retain the visitors.

The management will have a clearer view about how perceived quality can influence the visitor retention rate. When retention rate increase, revenue will also increase thus lead to a good financial performance. This would also help the management to evaluate their performance and also improve the satisfaction level. Besides that, management can test Theory of Reasoned Action by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980). Theory of Reasoned Action proposed that behavioural intention depends on the person's attitude about the behavior and subjective norms. This study extends the theory into tourism context.

1.7 Theoretical Framework

This study assessed the influence of perceived quality on satisfaction and how satisfaction influenced revisit intention. Four demographic factors such as place of stay, age group, education level and gender were proposed to influence perceived quality. Perceived quality was hypothesized to influence satisfaction and also revisit intention. Level of satisfaction was then influence revisit intention. The relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intention were reflected in this framework. The framework is depicted in Figure 1 below:

Satisfaction

H1

Place of Stay

H5 (+ve)

H2

Age

Perceived quality

H7 (+ve)

Academic Qualification

H3

H6 (+ve)

Revisit intention

Gender

H4

Figure 1: The research framework

1.8 A Summary of Hypotheses

Based on the framework, this study developed seven hypotheses for testing as below:

H1: There are mean perceived quality differences across place of stay.

H2: Age is related to perceived quality.

H3: Academic qualification is related to perceived quality.

H4: There are mean perceived quality differences between gender.

H5: Perceived quality is positively related to satisfaction

H6: Perceived quality is positively related to revisit intention

H7: Satisfaction is positively related to revisit intention

1.9 Conclusion

This chapter provides an introduction of this study. First, it defines the research background and the problems statements. It also explains the research objectives and the significance of this study. The structure of this study was also discussed. As mentioned earlier, this study will continue in Chapter 2 where we discussed more about the research framework and also the hypothesis.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Introduction

The literature review offers the foundation on which the researcher justifies the research questions and constructs the research design. Through the several journal articles related to the research topic that have been reviewed and written in this chapter, it guides the researcher to collect information and analyze collected information. The present study explored the relationship between perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intention. The literature relevant to this study will be discussed in this study. First, we review the concepts of perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intention. Then the relationships between respondents' background, perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intentions are reviewed. The hypotheses on the relationships are then developed for testing.

2.2 Perceived quality

Perceived quality is usually at the heart of what the customers are buying. Typically, individuals respond to a set of attributes designed to measure their expected quality and then subsequently respond to the same battery of items with a score that reflects their perceptions of an organization's performance on each attribute (Baker and Crompton, 2000). Most scholars agree that services are intangible because they are more like performances, not objects (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1985). Perceived quality is an important antecedent to satisfaction and behavioural intentions (Cronin et al., 2000). One service facet that impacts customer quality perceptions is the tangible cues in the physical environment (Bitner, 1992).

Generating high quality requires an understanding of what quality means to the customers. The nature of the relationship between a firm's financial outcomes and its customers' perceptions of quality were described as the issue of highest priority (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1996). By improving perceived quality of performance and service, this will increase the level of customer satisfaction and eventually lead to a better financial performance. Some studies have produced results consistent with the assumption that improving quality and customer satisfaction lead to better performance outcomes for the firm (Fornell, 1992). Customers are the most appropriate source of quality judgments and quality relative to competitors is the most relevant measure of perceived quality (Gale, 1994; Olsen, 2002). Thus, it is important to understand the little things that customers used as a basis for making a judgement of quality.

For assessing the service quality, the instrument most widely used is SERVQUAL, which was developed in the mid-1980s (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1988). SERVQUAL contains 22 pairs of Likert-type items. One half of these items are intended to measure consumers' expected levels of service for a particular service industry. The other 22 matching items are intended to measure the perceived level of service provided by a particular organization.

SERVQUAL includes five dimensions of service quality such as tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, empathy and assurance. SERVQUAL measures the difference between perception and expectation. Tangibility measures the physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel; reliability measures the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately; responsiveness measures the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service; assurance measures the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence; and empathy measures the caring, individualized attention the firm provides for its customers (Hwang, Lee, and Chen, 2005).

2.2.1 Perceived quality in tourism

Visitors always developed an attitude based on their experience and performance of the destination. It has been widely acknowledged that destination image affects tourists' subjective perception, consequent behaviour, and destination choice (Baloglu and McCleary, 1999). Most studies measured the quality of tourism products by using service product attributes. Cooper et al., (1993) grouped destination attributes into the "four A's" framework which are Attractions, Access, Amenities, and Ancillary services which was latter further developed by Buhalis (2000) to the "six A's" which are Attractions, Accessibility, Amenities, Available packages, Activities and Ancillary services.

Lee, Petrick, Crompton (2007) proposed that service quality operationalised as a set of attributes better predicts visitors' behavioral intentions than an alternative model which defines quality as overall excellence or superiority. Gronroos (1984) suggests that services have two quality dimensions: technical quality which refers to the outcomes and functional quality which refers to the processes. Service qualities are defined as the difference between expected, perceived and delivered service qualities (Heskett et al., 1997).

Tourists' expectations of specific levels of service quality in tourism partly stem from their own culture and prior socialisation, which can predispose them to interpret factors influencing tourism destination choice and destination experience from a distinctive perspective (Pikkemaat and Weiermair, 1999). However, when the purpose of research is to evaluate visitor experiences at a tourist destination rather than assessing the service quality offered by a specific service provider, the use of SERVQUAL has some drawbacks (Tribe and Snaith, 1998). SERVQUAL is based on evaluations of five service dimensions (reliability, assurance, empathy, responsiveness, and tangible assets) and by only relying solely on this instrument for quality assessment, some important factors encounter at the destination may be left out from the evaluation process.

2.3 Satisfaction

No matter what type of businesses, customers just want the same thing which is satisfaction. The importance of fulfilling customer satisfaction is that without customer's purchases, companies can't run their business. In other words, customer satisfaction is the foundation of a good business. Researchers generally agree that an essential element underlying customer satisfaction is an evaluation process (Back and Parks, 2003; Yi, 1990). Given the vital role of customer satisfaction, one should not be surprised that a great deal of research has been devoted to investigating the antecedents of satisfaction (Oliver, 1980).

Although the definitions of customer satisfaction vary in the literature, Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. It has also been defined as discrepancy between customer's expectation and perception (Oliver, 1997). Defined as an evaluation of an emotion, reflecting the degree to which the customer believes the service provider evokes positive feelings by Cronin et al. (2000). Customer satisfaction has traditionally been regarded as a fundamental determinant of long-term consumer behavior (Oliver, 1980). Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as a person's feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product's perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations.

Customer satisfaction is a post hoc evaluation of consumption experience (Oliver, 1980). Past studies suggested that perceptions of service quality and value affect satisfaction, and satisfaction affects loyalty and post-behaviors (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). A customer satisfaction evaluation can be quite specific in nature. A specific subset of experience such as a single transaction and/or particular attribute but may also be cumulative, based on all previous experience with a good or service (Anderson & Fomell, 1993). Attribute satisfaction has significant, positive, and direct effects on overall satisfaction; and it capture a significant amount of variation in overall satisfaction (Oliver, 1993).

Om the other hand, satisfaction factors have been classified differently by others. Kano (1984) groups the satisfaction attributes of a product or service into three categories, depending on the different ways in which their performance can influence consumer satisfaction: basic factors are those that only lead to consumer dissatisfaction if they do not meet expectations, yet they do not increase consumer satisfaction if they are met; excitement factors are factors that increase a consumer's satisfaction when offered, however they do not generate dissatisfaction when absent; finally, performance factors work in both directions, generating satisfaction when they work well and dissatisfaction when they do not.

2.3.1 Satisfaction on Tourism

Satisfaction research in tourism and recreation has indicated that tourists' satisfaction with individual component of the destination leads to their satisfaction with the overall destination (Danaher & Arweiler, 1996; Hsu, 2003; Mayer, Johnson, Hu, & Chen, 1998; Ross & Iso-Ahola, 1991). Baker and Crompton (2000) define satisfaction as the tourist's emotional state after experiencing the trip. Satisfaction can be used as a measure to evaluate the products and services offered at the destination (Schofield, 2000). Satisfaction can be evaluated using the theory of expectation or confirmation in which expectations and the actual destination outcome are compared (Oliver, 1980). Oh (2001) pointed out that surveys aimed at measuring tourist satisfaction show a bias towards positive ratings for many of the destination's attributes.

2.4 Behavioral Intention

Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) hypothesize that individuals respond to an object or a number of things and explore the construct of attitude as a learned predisposition of humans. Repurchase intention can be described as the willingness of a customer to maintain the relationship with a particular service provider and to make his or her next purchase in the category from the service provider (Lam et al, 2004). In the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior, behavioral intentions signify motivational components of a behavior and represent the degree of conscious effort that a person will exert in order to perform a behavior (Ajzen, 1991). In other words, the positive feeling such as high quality perception or satisfaction level drives customer to intend to purchase, which then leads that individual to actually engage in buying. This means that behavioural intention is a good indicator of actual buying.

Bagozzi (1992) proposed that self-regulating processes, emotional reactions, and coping responses have a significant influence on behaviour. Behavioral intentions are explored in the cognitive-affective-conative framework (Oliver, 1999) which is justified by Bagozzi's (1992) self regulatory mechanism model. In the 1970s and 1980s, achieving a high level of satisfaction was the ultimate goal of marketing strategies, but today behavioural intentions are considered a better predictor of performance (Chi & Qu, 2008). Brady et al's. (2005) study, conducted in a multi-industry and multi-country setting, reinforces this result found that service quality, satisfaction and service value all directly affect behavioural intentions when assessed collectively. In terms of understanding individual consumer behavior, recent studies suggest that quality has important effects on consumer's purchase intentions through the mediating role of value perceptions attached to products and services (Zeithaml, 1988). In conclusion, a satisfaction framework is not complete without including behavioural intention in it.

2.4.1 Revisit Intention on Tourism

Revisit intention refers to subjective judgments about the future or specific actions or behaviors that consumers may take towards attitude objects (Blackwel et al., 2005). In tourism, repeat visits have also been accepted as an important phenomenon at the level of the economy as a whole and for the individual attraction (Darnell and Johnson, 2001). A number of studies have confirmed a significant positive relationship between customer satisfaction and retention (Cronin et al., 2000).

In a study on Mediterranean tourism destinations, Baloglue and Erickson (1998) reported that most international travelers to one destination are more likely to switch to another destination for their next trip, but many of them hope to revisit the same destinations in the future. In a different study, Gyte and Phelps (1989) noted a type of British traveler showing resurgent intention of revisiting two destination areas in Spain. Through this study, they found that most visitors have the intention of returning in the future. Many destinations rely strongly on repeat visitation because it is less expensive to retain repeat tourists than to attract new ones (Um et al., 2006). Revisit intention might be one of the important tools for the management to gain competitive advantage.

2.5 Hypotheses Development

Based on the framework and literature review on the variables, a few hypotheses were developed to show the relationship between the variables. There are a total of seven hypotheses developed in this study. There are 4 factors that proposed to influence perceived quality which are place of stay, age, academic qualification and gender. Then, the relationship between perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intention are then explored.

2.5.1 Perceived quality and place of stay

As an enduring and tranquil island, Tioman Island display white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees, charming villages and friendly people. There are many different villages in Tioman Island such as Kampung Salang, Kampung Tekek, Kampung Ayer Batang, Kampung Paya, Kampung Genting and more. Each of them is unique in their own way. Some villages are remote while some are more developed. Some villages are full with tourists while some are only occupied by the locals.

Williams, Patterson, and Roggenbuck (1992) suggested that tourist involvement and tourist place attachment may have a significant relationship. Similarly, Mowen, Graefe, and Virden (1997) offered concrete evidence that place attachment and tourist involvement have an equal impact on outdoor activity participation. Again, Warzecha and Lime's (2001) study of Canyonlands National Park showed evidence of the degree to which place attachment influences travellers. Williams, Patterson, and Roggenbuck (1992) examined wild recreation activities and postulated that place attachment included place dependence and place identity. They suggested that place dependence can be defined as a person's assessment of a specific place and the awareness of the facilities and uniqueness and other forms of functionality dependence, and how these can meet the needs and the goals of the tourist. Since literature suggested that place attachment influence visitors evaluation, and Tioman Island has unique villages with unique combination of attraction, it is proposed that tourists perceive different quality evaluation depends on the villages they stay. Hence, it is proposed:

H1: There are mean perceived quality differences across place of stay.

H1a: Accessibility is related to place of stay.

H1b: Cleanliness is related to place of stay.

H1c: Diversity of tourism activities is related to place of stay.

H1d: Quality of accommodation is related to place of stay.

H1e: Friendliness of locals is related to place of stay.

H1f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are related to place of stay.

H1g: Personal safety and security is related to place of stay.

H1h: Unspoilt nature is related to place of stay.

H1i: Variety of local cuisine is related to place of stay.

2.5.2 Perceived quality and age

Ganesan-Lim et al. (2008) developed a service-based demographic framework for studying service quality perceptions and found that service quality perceptions were affected by consumers' ages. Traditional views of age stereotyping suggest that older people are judged by younger people to be less active and sociable than their younger counterparts, evoking concepts of frailty, slowness, irritability, dependency, withdrawal, vagueness, and stagnation (Braithwaite et al., 1985-1986). Other evidence (Bassili and Reil, 1981) suggests that older people, in comparison with their younger counterparts, are perceived to be more conservative, present-oriented, moral, and traditional by both younger and older people. Thus, it is likely that there are quality perception differences across age group among tourists although there is no clue as to which age group (older or younger) may perceive better quality.

H2: Age is related to perceived quality

H2a: Accessibility is related to age.

H2b: Cleanliness is related to age.

H2c: Diversity of tourism activities is related to age.

H2d: Quality of accommodation is related to age.

H2e: Friendliness of locals is related to age.

H2f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are related to age.

H2g: Personal safety and security is related to age.

H2h: Unspoilt nature is related to age.

H2i: Variety of local cuisine is related to age.

2.5.3 Perceived quality and academic qualification

The tourists themselves come from a given culture with its traits and expectations. This alone complicates the matter of the tourism encounter. On top of that, tourists are from diverse educational background. Those who are highly educated are likely to set high expectations on services and therefore more stringent in their perceived quality assessment on some attributes while lenient in other aspects since they may be more open on service variety differences. Thus, it is likely that education level influence perceived quality. Therefore, the following are hypothesized.

H3: Academic qualification is related to perceived quality

H3a: Accessibility is related to academic qualification.

H3b: Cleanliness is related to academic qualification.

H3c: Diversity of tourism activities is related to academic qualification.

H3d: Quality of accommodation is related to academic qualification.

H3e: Friendliness of locals is related to academic qualification.

H3f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are related to academic qualification.

H3g: Personal safety and security is related to academic qualification.

H3h: Unspoilt nature is related to academic qualification.

H3i: Variety of local cuisine is related to academic qualification.

2.5.4 Perceived quality and gender

The importance of gender in tourism cannot be overlooked. Women are often differentiated and recognized by tourism marketers as the chief vacation decision-makers (McGehee, Loker-Murphy, & Uysal, 1997). According to Oh et al. (2002), male and female travelers differed significantly on expectations and perceptions of lodging services, while there were no notable differences on satisfaction and behavioral intentions.

Mattila (2000) investigated gender differences and consumer evaluations of service encounters but found no significant differences between gender. Studies of stereotypes in fine dining restaurants found that the respondents' perceived service quality of a female server was better than that of her male counterpart (Luoh and Tsaur, 2007). Iacobucci and Ostrom (1993) found that a customer's gender had some bearing on the evaluation of core service. Based on the reviews above, it is expected that male and female tourists in Tioman may also perceive quality differently. Thus,

H4: There are mean perceived quality differences between gender.

H4a: Accessibility is related to gender.

H4b: Cleanliness is related to gender.

H4c: Diversity of tourism activities is related to gender.

H4d: Quality of accommodation is related to gender.

H4e: Friendliness of locals is related to gender.

H4f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are related to gender.

H4g: Personal safety and security is related to gender.

H4h: Unspoilt nature is related to gender.

H4i: Variety of local cuisine is related to gender.

2.5.5 Perceived quality and satisfaction

Perceived quality vary among tourists and is incorporated in a structural model with two reflective constructs such as visitor satisfaction and behavioral intentions (Zabkar, Brencic, Dmitrovic, 2010). Satisfaction is an emotional outcome derived from experience (Lee et al., 2007). Assessing satisfaction through destination attributes often found in tourism research. When the measurement of satisfaction is not separated from the evaluation of a destination's attributes, researchers are unable to analyze the impact of each specific set of characteristics on tourist satisfaction (Zabkar, Brencic and Dmitrovis, 2010).

Parasuraman, Zeithamlm, and Berry (1994) suggested that the direction of the relationship depends on whether evaluations are made at a transaction-specific or global level but Brady et al.'s (2005) research shows that the service quality-satisfaction-behavioural intention conceptual order is supported in both temporal settings. One study conducted in a festival setting (Lee et al., 2007) found no significant relationship between service quality and satisfaction. Hui et al. (2007) suggested that the service quality influences tourist recreational satisfaction. Based on the research findings, we propose:

H5: Perceived quality is positively related to satisfaction.

H5a: Accessibility is positively related to satisfaction.

H5b: Cleanliness is positively related to satisfaction.

H5c: Diversity of tourism activities is positively related to satisfaction.

H5d: Quality of accommodation is positively related to satisfaction.

H5e: Friendliness of locals is positively related to satisfaction.

H5f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are positively related to satisfaction.

H5g: Personal safety and security is positively related to satisfaction.

H5h: Unspoilt nature is positively related to satisfaction.

H5i: Variety of local cuisine is positively related to satisfaction.

2.5.6 Perceived quality and revisit intention

Cole and Illum (2006) found that satisfaction mediates the effect of service quality on behavioral intentions. In other words, perceived quality influenced revisit intention indirectly through satisfaction. According to Oliver (1999), customer loyalty can be identified into four stages such as cognitive loyalty, affective loyalty, conative loyalty, and action loyalty. In practice, action loyalty is difficult to measure and thus most researchers employ behavioural intentions, conative loyalty as a compromise of action loyalty (Yang & Peterson, 2004). The degree of destination loyalty is frequently reflected in tourists' intentions to revisit the destination and in their willingness to recommend it (Oppermann, 2000).

It is usually stated that individual preferences, individual situations and the involvement with particular leisure activities constitute major influences in leisure and travel decisions (Ross, 1994). Choi and Chu (2001) found that good service quality impresses tourists, which results in excellent word-of-mouth recommendations, and increases tourists' revisit intention. If the level of perceived quality matched their expectations, they will eventually revisit the destination. Cronin et al., (2000) suggested that perceived value may be a better predictor of repurchase intentions than either satisfaction or quality. Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996) found a positive relationship between customer repurchase intentions and service quality perceptions. Based on these research finsings, we propose:

H6: Perceived quality is positively related to revisit intention.

H6a: Accessibility is positively related to revisit intention.

H6b: Cleanliness is positively related to revisit intention.

H6c: Diversity of tourism activities is positively related to revisit

intention.

H6d: Quality of accommodation is positively related to revisit intention.

H6e: Friendliness of locals is positively related to revisit intention.

H6f: Opportunities for rest and relaxation are positively related to revisit

intention.

H6g: Personal safety and security is positively related to revisit intention.

H6h: Unspoilt nature is positively related to revisit intention.

H6i: Variety of local cuisine is positively related to revisit intention.

2.5.6 Satisfaction and revisit intention

Every management wants to achieve a high level of satisfaction from the tourists so that it could lead to a higher retention rate. Bagozzi's (1992) framework suggests that customer's feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction determine customers' behaviors. Oliver (1999) finds that satisfaction represents only a first step in loyalty formation which affected by other mechanisms. The overwhelming number of studies of customer satisfaction outcomes in the service industry indicates a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Oliver (1980) distinguishes between antecedent attitude and continuous attitude based on the prepurchase and postpurchase service evaluations, and posits that satisfaction influences future behavioral intention as well as post-purchase attitude.

Kotler et al. (2002) proposed that satisfying customer needs and wants is the key to repeat purchase. Yoon and Uysal (2005) propose that "push motivations" associated with tourist drives, feelings and instincts, directly affect their revisit intentions, while "pull motivation," inspired by a destination's attributes and affect their satisfaction level. The more satisfied customers are, the greater is their retention (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Cognitive component is represented by the perceived quality and affective component is represented by the satisfaction level while conative component is represented by revisit intentions. The cognitive component normally precedes emotional response (Chiou and Drouge, 2006) which eventually lead to behavioral intention.

The linking of consumers' levels of satisfaction to repurchase intentions was first proposed in early consumer behaviour models (Howard, 1974; Howard and Sheth, 1969). Chi and Qu (2008) summarized that attribute satisfaction is antecedent to overall satisfaction, and attribute satisfaction and overall satisfaction are both determinants of loyalty. Cronin, Brady, and Hult (2000) concluded that customer satisfaction has a direct effect on behavioral intentions.  The positive relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention has been found in tourism destination choice settings (Baker & Crompton, 2000).

There are empirical evidences that tourists' satisfaction is a strong indicator of their intentions to revisit and recommend the destination to other people (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). The importance of satisfaction on retention is so well recognized that some major economies now measure satisfaction at the industry level using large sample surveys to predict customer retention and future financial performance (Fornell, 1992). Chen and Chen (2010) found that regardless of destination, a relationship clearly exists between tourist revisit intention and recreational satisfaction.Based on this theoretical background, we propose that:

H7: Satisfaction is positively related to revisit intentions

2.6 Conclusion

This chapter provides a literature review that is relevant to this study and highlighted the gaps found in the previous studies. The review also provides the basis of the entire research design. This study will continue in Chapter 3 where we discussed more about the methods and techniques used in this study.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter provides a description of research methods used in this study. It covers the information on sample, data collection, questionnaire design, measurement, data analysis and research planning. After that, a conclusion at the end of this chapter will provide an overview of the roadmap of this study.

3.2 Sampling Technique

Sampling is a technique to draw a conclusion about the whole population based on a small number of units (Zikmund, 2009). Since this study focused on the influence of perceived quality of tourists on satisfaction and revisit intention, tourists that are travelling in Tioman Island were the sample fro this research. One hundred and five tourists completed the questionnaire survey. Each respondent was given a pen as token of appreciation.

3.3 Data Collection

Data were collected in Tioman Island, Pahang within the period of 10 days. Diverse destinations on Tioman Island were chosen to assess whether our research instruments for evaluating perceived quality, satisfaction and revisit intention are applicable. Respondents' decision to participate in the questionnaire is on voluntary basis and it depends on their time availability and their understanding and knowledge toward the destination.

The questionnaire was prepared in two languages which were Bahasa Malaysia and English. It was designed in English and translated into Bahasa Malaysia to ease the process for the local tourists that has limited proficiency in English. Respondents were asked questions that assessed their perceived quality, satisfaction level and revisit intention towards the destination.

3.4 Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is divided into three sections where the first section gathered the background information about the tourist while section two gathered all the information to test the hypotheses. Finally, section three gathered all the demographic information about the respondents.

3.5 Measurement

Perceived quality was measured by using attributes typically examined in the importance-performance framework (Fallon and Schofielnd, 2006). Items used were adopted from destination-specific items suggested by Truong and Foster (2006). The respondents were asked to evaluate the overall quality and performance of the destination.

Visitor satisfaction was measured using a multi-item scale based on an adaptation of the universal scale of Oliver (1997), also applied in other studies like del Bosque and Martin (2008) that includes the items that capture affective, cognitive and fulfillment components of satisfaction. Revisit intention was measured by items capturing revisit intentions. The measures are similar to those used by Zabkar, Brencic, Dmitrovic (2010).

All items for the three constructs which includes perceived quality, satisfaction, revisit intention were measured on a five point Likert-type scale ranging from "1" indicating "strongly disagree" to "5" indicating "strongly agree". Reverse question was allowed. The questions related to demographic variables were also included in the questionnaire.

Perceived quality

Tioman Island is an easily reached destination.

I am happy with the overall cleanliness of the destination.

There is good diversity of tourist activities in Tioman Island.

I am satisfied quality of accommodation found in this island.

I am satisfied with the friendliness of the local people.

There are opportunities for rest and relaxation in Tioman Island.

Personal safety and security in Tioman Island is good.

Tioman Island has unspoilt nature.

There is wide variety of local cuisine.

Satisfaction

I am pleased that I have decided to visit Tioman Island.

I am delighted about Tioman Island.

My visit to Tioman Island exceeded expectations.

It gave me a sense of joy to have decided to come to Tioman Island.

Revisit Intention

If I had to decide again, I would choose Tioman Island again.

I will recommend the destination to friends and relatives.

I will speak highly of Tioman Island to friends and relatives.

I will advise my friends and colleagues against visiting Tioman Island. (R)

R= Reverse-coded item

3.6 Data Analysis

SPSS for Window 16.0 (SPSS Inc. 2010) was used as in this study to analyze the data collected. First, a reliability analysis was performed to assess the reliability of the constructs. Then, descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographics background of the respondents. For Hypotheses 1, ANOVA was used. Spearman correlation was performed on Hypotheses 2 and Hypotheses 3. For Hypotheses 4, T-Test was used and regression analysis was performed on Hypotheses 5 and Hypotheses 6 while Spearman correlation was used to test Hypotheses 7.

3.7 Conclusion

This chapter provides a description of the research methods used to test all the hypotheses in this study. A questionnaire was developed in order to conduct primary data collection. From the data, statistical analysis is performed based on the objectives of this study. Results obtained from the data will be discussed in the next chapter.