Microarchitecture as creative tourism: in context of urban shopping area

This research aims to introduce microarchitecture which could be used as a medium in creating and enhancing the creativity of public facilities and retail kiosk into creative tour at the urban retail and leisure settings. Microarchitecture has been defined as a compact structure found along the routes, roads, lanes, pedestrian walkways and such, where the microarchitecture could be a tool of tourism product through the creativity and innovation that had been exhibited in the urban public spaces. As the introduction of microarchitecture into the creative tourism, the quantitative analysis method had been carried out to study the typology of tourists who visited the chosen locations; Pavilion and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), their perceptions of creativity and last but not least, to identify their opinion on quality visual based on their experienced. The correlation analysis between creativity and the tourist’s visual satisfaction was conducted to investigate whether there was any relationship between creativity and visual satisfaction. The outcome of the research had emphasized some of suggestions to introduce the importance of microarchitecture through the level of creativity in enhancing the tourist’s visual experience

Evaluating tourist sensory experience in melaka world heritage site

The five senses, namely, sight, taste, hear, smell and touch, contribute to form a unique relationship between tourists’ perception and their destinations. However, research on tourist sensory experience that systematically employs broad multidisciplinary approaches in Malaysia is still limited. Moreover, linking the tourist sensory experience with cultural heritage attractions would reveal appreciation values towards the attractions through senses. Therefore, this study aims at gaining insights into sensory experiences among tourists in an urban heritage destination area. A multi-method quantitative approach is adopted to identify the tourists’ sensory experiences around the Melaka Historical City Council’s (MBMB) Core Zone area. A questionnaire as a guide map is designed using items and attractions identified through content analysis of journal articles and travel materials. A total of 268 international tourists have participated in the survey. The analyses yielded seven main findings: walking and cycling influence the sensory experience, visualisation of sensory mapping presents the creation of ‘tourists space’ through sensory experiences, sensory profiling reveal the ranking of each sensory, cultural heritage provides higher appreciation values of sensory experience in comparison to sensory satisfaction, tourists have emotional attachment and joyful quality experience, there are positive relationships in the overall tourist sensory experience, and there were negative and positive impressions towards the cultural heritage attractions based on sensory experiences. This study contributes to the conceptual development of the tourist sensory experience process in the urban heritage destination, the survey mapping technique in evaluating the tourist sensory experience, and the indicators for tourist sensory experience in the Core Zone area of Melaka World Heritage Site. The findings are beneficial for the management of the sensory quality in preserving and conserving the cultural heritage, specifically in the Core Zone area of Melaka World Heritage Site

Exploring the river-based tourism product for Muar River: a tourism opportunity spectrum (TOS) approach

River-based tourism product development is regarded as one of the critical segments that focus on proper physical, social, and economic expansion. To date, the lack of depth and concern is tapped into this market by either scholars or stakeholders accordingly. Currently, a part of the local plan for Muar development is envisioned towards developing and promoting the tourism industry. However, the primary challenge of river-based tourism is maximising the usage and livability of its waters and natural resources. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the suitable tourism product for river-based tourism, with the most significant market potential in the context of the Muar River through an assessment of the Tourism Opportunity Spectrum (TOS). The TOS approach is the methodology suitable as an assessment tool for tourism planning and management towards sustainability. The instrument was adopted from previous studies and executed through site inspection and familiarisation trips, namely observation and resources inventory. The main finding of this study was the zonation of five main areas, which contributed to the characterisation of different tourism products along Muar River, and the five scopes of TOS assessment. The recommendations will primarily support the enhancement of river-based tourism development and assist the stakeholders in achieving the visions and missions of Muar’s local plan

Modeling and forecasting: A case study of tourist arrivals in Malaysia

Tourism industry has become one of the main sources for Malaysia's income. It affects other sectors such as hotels, retail businesses and transportations. Thus, it is important to monitor the development of tourism industry, so that proper planning can be enforced. Therefore, forecasting by using time series analysis, which is the Box-Jenkins method will be discussed here to provide future information to support the decision-making processes. The forecast performance has been compared by using magnitude error measurements. The empirical result shown that SARIMA (0,1,0)(0,1,1)12 is the best model in forecasting tourist arrivals with only 8% different between 12 of the actual and forecast values

Evaluating the quality experience of ecotourist in Taman Negara Pahang

Tourists that travel to a destination will gain different kinds of experiences due to several conditions of a destination. To identify what are the Quality Experience that a tourist gained, certain characteristics of experiences will be determined by using Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE). Taman Negara Pahang a National Park in Malaysia which rich in the natural habitat which is considered as an ecotourism destination. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand the Quality Experience of eco-tourist in Taman Negara Pahang by using the Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE). This study will be focusing on the main objective which is to determine the most influential Quality Experience of eco-tourists in Taman Negara Pahang. This study is a quantitative study and an online survey was used as the data collection instrument for the 130 respondents. This study shows that the preferred Quality Experience of eco-tourist is Hedonism while the least preferred Quality Experience is Local Culture. This study contributes to identify the Quality Experience of eco-tourist gained after they have visited an ecotourism destination. Therefore, the results of this study can offer a quality contribution towards any responsible parties to manage Taman Negara Pahang in terms of services, and management

Tourist expectation and satisfaction towards pedestrian walkway in Georgetown, a World Heritage site

Recently, many cities in the world have incorporating walkability as a distinctive feature towards becoming a walkable tourism destination. A high-quality walkable environment has been greatly demanded by pedestrian use as it assures a sense of comfort and safety. In the context of Malaysia, the walkability concept is mostly applicable to any tourism places or the capital of a state long recognized as an urban heritage site. Despite this, there has been little research done in terms of the relationship between tourist expectation and tourist satisfaction towards walkability particularly in Georgetown, which is a World Heritage Site. The main objective of the study was to determine the relationship between tourist expectation and tourist satisfaction towards the existing pedestrian walkway in Georgetown. Research data were gathered via fieldwork observation and an online survey, whereby questionnaires were have distributed to 150 respondents made up of tourists who experienced walking in the study area. The outcomes demonstrated that tourist expectation in terms of the spatial features of the pedestrian walkway was relatively greater than tourist satisfaction. Hence, the findings of the study will be very useful for urban city planners in incorporating walkability to enhance the walking experience within the city

Analysing the Factors Affecting the Purchasing Decision Over Malaysian Batik Products

Malaysian batik is a highly purchased handicraft in comparison to other handicraft products. There has been a scarcity of previous studies in addressing the factors affecting the purchasing decision over the traditional textile, which is batik. Hence, this study aims to analyse the factors that affect the purchasing decision over Malaysian batik products. This study has employed quantitative research by distributing questionnaires consisting of 35 questions, which were categorized into four sections. This study also employed the purposive sampling technique with a total of 62 respondents who completed the questionnaires. The study found that six factors affect the purchasing decision over Malaysian batik products, which are: the quality factor, price factor, availability factor, packaging factor, reference factor, and brand factor. Besides, other factors have been identified from the open-ended question, namely the promotion and awareness, design and color, identity and authenticity, and usability. The study suggested exploring the promotion and awareness factor, design and color factor, identity and authenticity factor, and usability factor that affect the purchasing decisions over Malaysian batik products. The findings of the study would benefit the batik industry by enhancing the use of Malaysian batik and increasing the sales value of Malaysian batik

Analysing the factors affecting the purchasing decision over Malaysian batik products

Malaysian batik is a highly purchased handicraft in comparison to other handicraft products. There has been a scarcity of previous studies in addressing the factors affecting the purchasing decision over the traditional textile, which is batik. Hence, this study aims to analyse the factors that affect the purchasing decision over Malaysian batik products. This study has employed quantitative research by distributing questionnaires consisting of 35 questions, which were categorized into four sections. This study also employed the purposive sampling technique with a total of 62 respondents who completed the questionnaires. The study found that six factors affect the purchasing decision over Malaysian batik products, which are: the quality factor, price factor, availability factor, packaging factor, reference factor, and brand factor. Besides, other factors have been identified from the open-ended question, namely the promotion and awareness, design and color, identity and authenticity, and usability. The study suggested exploring the promotion and awareness factor, design and color factor, identity and authenticity factor, and usability factor that affect the purchasing decisions over Malaysian batik products. The findings of the study would benefit the batik industry by enhancing the use of Malaysian batik and increasing the sales value of Malaysian batik

EXPLORING TOURISM SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF GASTRONOMIC TOURISM OF MI BANDUNG MUAR, JOHOR, MALAYSIA

Understanding customer’s satisfactions, experiences, and preferences contribute to the food and beverage industry's marketing strategies to promote Malaysia's food heritage and gastronomy tourism, especially in Muar, Johor, Malaysia. Nevertheless, there are only a few empirical studies have been done to determine customer satisfaction in experiencing gastronomy tourism, especially in Malaysia. Previous studies focused on customer’s perceptions and perceived Malaysia food heritage in Penang and Kelantan in Malaysia by using quantitative methods. Therefore, this study focuses on customer satisfaction in the gastronomy tourism experience of Mi Bandung Muar, Johor, Malaysia. This study aims to explore the elements of sensory attributions toward Mi Bandung Muar, identify the safety and hygiene that influence the experience of Mi Bandung Muar, and determine the customers' satisfaction with Mi Bandung Muar. This study uses the qualitative research method by using semi-structured interview questions with a total of seven respondents. This study is using thematic analysis to analyse data. The findings of this study contain three elements of customer satisfaction; sensory attributions (smell and taste), safety and hygiene, and satisfaction and experience. Hence, this study contributed to helping the food and beverages industry to enhance customer satisfaction and experience, and Destination Marketing Organizer (DMO) promote the signature dish of Muar globally

Mapping the sensory values in the core zone area of Melaka world heritage site

The influence of sensory experience in generating positive tourist experience has emerged to be a cutting- edge trend in studies pertaining to geography and marketing in tourism, particularly in terms of tourism sense-making. The literature has projected absence of the fundamental comprehension related to the formation of ‘tourist space’ via tourist consumption and valuation towards available cultural heritage attractions based on their sensory experience. Critical shift in the objectivism approach from the light of valuing sensory experience has motivated the exploration of survey mapping method in this study. Hence, this study employed the survey mapping method derived from the landscape planning approach, in which a guide map was designed for international tourists to value each attraction during their visit at the Core Zone Area of Melaka World Heritage Site. The data gathered from 268 respondents were classified into five sensory mappings that reflected the concentration of sensory values of visual, gustatory, auditory, olfactory, and tactile perceptions. Visualisation of sensory mapping had been based on the classification of positive, moderate, and negative sensory values. The outcomes from these sensory mappings signify the notion of ‘tourist space’ or ‘honey pot’ among tourists based on their sensory experiences in the Core Zone area of Melaka World Heritage Site. This exploration of the survey mapping method has contributed to a critical discussion on the methodological approach, whereby most studies concerning sensory experience are dominated by the qualitative approach. Therefore, the study results could strengthen the management and planning by highlighting the significance of sensory quality in conserving and preserving momentous cultural heritage attractions