Local Tourist s Motivation to visit Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu

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1 Local Tourist s Motivation to visit Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu Anis Ehsannur Fitri¹, Albattat Ahmad¹, Karen Fernandez² (dr.battat@gmail.com) ¹School of Hospitality & Creative Arts, Management and Science University, 40100, Selangor, Malaysia ²College of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management, Imus Institute, Cavite, 4103, Philippines ABSTRACT This study aims to identify local tourist s motivation with a segmentation approach in order to give an understanding of the theory of motivation in general and the motivation factors influencing tourist decision making in a tourism context in particular. The segmentation based on motivation, which was supported by pull and push factors, was carried out on a primary survey of the 130 respondents visiting Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu. Data collected were analysed using the SPSS software. The research findings identified four main categories: motivation, escape and relaxation, learning, prestige and self-esteem. The findings of the study indicate the overall motivation among local tourists at Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, Perception of activities, visit factors, and the intention to revisit. This study recommends better marketing and package management on the part to develop the island tourist product potentials more appropriately. Keywords: Local Tourist, Motivation, Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, Malaysia INTRODUCTION Tourism sector has been identified as one of the main important source generating income for SME in Malaysia which create business. After the economic downturn especially since the global economic crisis, September 11, 2001 incident, SARS and the Bali bombings of 2005, Malaysia became one of the preferred places that tourists choose for their vacations. Tourism industry is the second largest contributor after the manufacturing industry in Malaysia s economy. In 2014, Malaysia has recorded million of tourists to variety of tourism destinations throughout Malaysia and gained RM72.0 billion in revenue. In Malaysia, there are several tourism product including agro homestay, eco- tourism, resorts, education, sports, culture, medical or health, festivals, theme park, cruise, MICE, historical heritage, etc. (Tourism Malaysia, 2014). Islands, especially small islands, continue to fascinate and attract tourists, and so for tropical Less Developed Countries (LDCs) such as Malaysia with many offshore island s, developers and government planners find a great potential opportunity for them to establish resort businesses (Royale, 2001). Island tourism is highly dependent on the local environment, providing tourists with both cultural and natural resources, which attract tourists and ensure the long life industry profitability (Smith, 1994). Perhentian Island, Terengganu located off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia has been a tourism destination since the late 1980s when backpacker tourists discovered these islands. The two main islands are Perhentian 1

2 Besar and Perhentian Kecil offer differing forms of tourism experience. Backpackers often used to stay on the smaller island as a holiday break, during their travel into the South-East Asia (Hampton, 1998). In this study, the researchers wanted to identify the reasons why Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu is the second most popular visited islands in Malaysia. Statistics from 1997 until 2014 showed that an increase 41% visitor numbers, as reported by the Tourism Terengganu. The literature discussed several aspects on island visitor motivation (Ryan & Glendon, 1998); nationality and destinations ( Kozak, 2002); cultural differences ( Kim & Kim, 2015); and luxury cruise (Petrick, & Durko, 2015). LITERATURE REVIEW Study Site The Perhentian Islands are located 19 kilometres about 10 nautical miles off the north-eastern coast of West Malaysia in state of Terengganu. The two islands Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil have three main beaches; Teluk Pauh, Teluk Dalam, and Teluk Aur. The best is Teluk Pauh on the northwest of the island which has been likened to a huge natural swimming pool with its clear and shallow waters and fine sandy beach. From the elevated walkways on the rocky cliffs nearby, visitors can get a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. The main beach on Pulau Perhentian Besar is located along the west coast of the island and stretches for about one km with some rocky outcrops headlands. Most of the resorts are located on this beach. Meanwhile, Teluk Dalam is located in the south of the big island. Its wide and curved beach and shallow waters make it the perfect place for swimming and sunbathing. Compared to the other beaches on the island, it is much quieter and peaceful here. Pulau Perhentian Kecil is the smaller of the two islands. Most of the local settlements are found at Kampung Pasir Hantu on the southern end of the island, where there a police station. The main beach areas frequented by tourists are Pantai Pasir Panjang or Long Beach on the east coast and Coral Bay or Teluk Aur on the west. Long Beach is particularly popular among backpackers. There are plenty of accommodation and café choices here as well as dive centres. The beach is long and wide, perfect for sunbathing, with big waves. Visitors can snorkel off the beach or explore the area on their own private patch. Pulau Perhentian Kecil offers several beaches that are secluded and offer greater privacy compared to Pulau Perhantian Besar visitors. PUSH AND PULL FACTORS Tourist motivations refer to combination of desires that influence or shape tourists travel in patterns in general. Motivation is one of the most essential tools used to get information regarding tourists opinions regarding a specific destination before they actually visit. It is can be defined as the perception by the individual destination attributes but whole impression about the destination (O Leary & Deegan, 2003). Tourists, especially those in holiday mood, would like to enjoy destinations with beautiful scenery and natural beauty. Both attributes can significantly influence tourist activities and behaviours (Martin, 2005). Tourist s choices of travel destinations are influenced by the push and pull factors the two forces (Crompton, 1976). People will be pushed by the internal or emotional factors such as relaxation, adventures, prestige, and knowledge. Then, they will be pulled by the external or tangible factors such as natural and historical attractions, expenditure, sport and outdoor activities. (Balogul and Uysal, 1996). The two-step process resulting from reasons for seeking holidays and subsequent choice of holiday destinations will produce several holiday travel patterns. 2

3 Kim et al, (2003) examined the relationship between push and pull factors. The result showed that pull factors of key tourist resources and information and convenience of facilities have positive correlation with push factors of family togetherness and study, appreciating natural resources and health, escaping from the everyday routine, and adventure and building friendship. TOURIST MOTIVATION AND ACTIVITIES The relationship between motivations and the activities are one of the main factors that tourist choose their place or destinations (Moscardo et al., 1995). Activities are seen as the main factor between tourist motivations and destinations choice ( Moscardo et al., 1995). Usually tourists who heard about certain places far from their homes, have fairly similar types of the activities that they like. They want to see and feel the differences between those activities that they experienced before. In addition, tourists who heard about some interesting or appealing activities would be motivated to visit that specific destinations, and experience the exciting activities (Houston and Rothshild, 1978; Oliver 1997; Svenson, 2005, as cited by Prebensen (2007: 3). RESEARCH FRAMEWORK Push Factor H 1 Knowledge Escape Prestige Relaxation Family & Friend Togetherness Sport Adventure Pull factor H 2 Historical Attractions Natural Environment and Weather Expenditure Sport and Outdoor Activity Tourist s Motivations Figure1: Study framework In this study, the researchers used primary and secondary data. Secondary data is the information gathered from sources that already exist such as from Tourism Malaysia website. For the primary data researchers used quantitative data collection method. The questionnaires that were distributed to the tourists consists of three sections, according to 2014 statistics, local tourists was 313,609. A sample size of 130 respondents were chosen based on the population of 313,609 visitors as recommended by Krejie and Morgan (1970). Data collected processed using SPSS17.0. FINDINGS 3

4 Demographic Profile The respondents information were as follows. By gender, 61 of the respondents were males, female were 69 with (53.1%). The majority of tourists who visited Pulau Perhentian were in age group (59.2%), followed by the age group (28.5%). Older respondents (31-50) age group and ( above 51) years age group formed the minority. For local tourists the majority who came to Pulau Perhentian were Malays (65.4%), Indian (18.5%), Chinese (10.8%). The category other Malaysians (5.4%) were from Sabah and Sarawak. A majority of the respondents who visited Pulau Perhentian in July-August 2015 were university students studying in Selangor were from Selangor (33.8%,) Sabah ( 10.0%) and Kuala Lumpur (8.5%). Majority of the respondents who stayed on Pulau Perhentian for 3D/2N were (59.2%). Those who stayed longer were (16.9%). Income below RM1000 showed the most higher than others income level. The second higher income level is RM1001-RM3000 with (26.2%) and a further income level is RM3001-RM5000 with (8.5%) and the rest of course RM5001 with only 5 respondents out of 130 respondents with that income level. Source of information regarding Pulau Perhentian The respondents got the information about the Pulau Perhentian through internet (with mean 3.65), followed by social network (6.05) such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Majority of respondents came to Pulau Perhentian with friends (63.8%) instead of their families, few came as sole travellers (less than 5 respondents. Respondents visited Pulau Perhentian for snorkelling (61.5%), followed by the scuba diving (38.5%). Motivation for visiting In the first section of the survey questionnaire, respondents were prompted to reflect upon the underlying motives for visiting Pulau Perhentian. The phrase I came to Pulau Perhentian. was followed by a set 20 motivational factors which the respondents need to rank on the 5 point Likert scale which ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The section also requested respondent to state other reason if the options are not in the 20 listed motivation. Almost half of respondents ( 51.5%) stated that their main reason for visiting Pulau Perhentian was to spend time with friends and family Another reason for coming was the chance to meet new people (34.6%). Escape and relaxation Generally half of the respondents (50.8%) strongly agree with the statement to rest and relax as their main reason for coming to Pulau Perhantian is to get away from everyday activities and routine (see F igure 1.4). Contrastively, only 16.9% of respondents were neutral. Some tourists came to the Pulau Perhentian because they want to escape usual responsibilities (37.7% strongly agree) and (33.1% agreed), especially for those respondents are already married or working. Learning Some respondents (70.8%) just curious and wanted to discover something new about myself. Many of them came to Pulau Perhentian for snorkelling and scuba diving. This is reflected by the statement to experience new and different things, where (46.9%) strongly agreed and (34.6%) agreed with the statement. More than a third (36.9%) of the respondents agreed with the statement to learn about art and or culture. 4

5 Prestige and self esteem Another reason for coming to Pulau Perhentian was agree to visit place that my friend have not visited (36.9%). It shows that tourists were quite clearly motivated with place that their friends have not visit that place. In addition, (41.5%) of them would share their experience as we can see in (Figure 1.5). For those who look up snorkelling and scuba diving, a majority of them (40.0% agreed and 18.5 % respondents strongly agreed) because they want to improve skills and abilities. Motivations of Pull Factors As regard to the pull factors, many respondents came to Pulau Perhentian because of good air quality (41.5%) Pulau Perhentian offers good undersea view. That was why (47.7%) of the respondents were strongly agree and (37.7%) of the respondents were agree with the statement. Furthermore, they rated the service for snorkelling and scuba activities good service quality. Almost 70 percent out of 130 respondents agreed with statement good service quality. The data supported the statement clean living environment as one of the more motivational factor why tourists came to Pulau Perhentian. (30.8%) were strongly agree and (37.7%) were agree with that statement. Safety and security of facilities are also important. Based on the survey questionnaire, most tourists agreed with statement safety and security of facilities with about half of the respondent s either strongly agree or agree with that statement. Overall Motivation of Push Factors Based on the analysis, the higher motivation push factors is to rest and relax with mean score of 4.37 (.759). The overall lowest motivation of push factors is to spend time alone with mean 3.33 (1.222). Overall Motivation of Pull Factors Pulau Perhentian is considered as second most beautiful island in Malaysia, having good undersea view with mean 4.29 (.894). The higher overall result of the motivations of to discover something new about myself in the push factors with mean 4.37 (.759), means that, most of tourists came to Pulau Perhentian is to find something new that he or she never did before. The lowest of the overall motivation factors is to spend time alone with mean 3.33 (1.222). Conclusion Earlier research on travel motivations tended to concentrate on human needs and desires (push factors), but more recent researchers, beginning with Crompton (1979), have pointed to the association between these push factors and pull factors involving the attractions and amenities of a particular destination as influencing a tourist s choice of a destination. This research confirmed the view of Crompton and others regarding tourist s motivation factors as guiding the decision making process of individuals. The social interaction within Pulau Perhentian setting also played a part in the respondent s motivation. Factors related to prestige and self-esteem was not perceived to be as influence as other reasons for visiting. Tourists acknowledged prestige which affects their own decision- making. However, reporting the experience to others may not directly refer to seeking for admiration, as humans as social creatures tend to share their experience in any case. Recommendations suggested that proactive measures should be activated and improved to attract more tourists to visit Pulau Perhentian. 5

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