The use of choice modelling in assessing tourists destinations : a case study of Redang Marine Park (RMP) Malaysia

PhD ThesisThis study employs the Choice Modelling (CM) Technique, in particular the Contingent Ranking (CR) method, to measure the economic value of the Redang Marine Park (RMP) system in Malaysia. The reason for using CR is to understand which islands in the RMP system the tourists prefer. Knowing the islands’ ranking is crucial for the planning and development of this particular island as a tourism product and destination, and at the same time, for maintaining the islands’ ecosystem as a protected area. The study is divided into three major components. The first investigates destination choices amongst tourists. In this component, the attributes of interest include choices of island, types of accommodation available at the destination, facilities provided at the place of accommodation, distance of accommodation sites to the beach, and types of transportation used to reach the destination. These attributes are measured using the 3-day/2-night (3D2N) package prices offered as holiday packages to tourists. The second component measures the importance of environmental attributes, namely the status of available fish and coral species, the numbers of nesting turtles and the degree of congestion that the tourists experience while participating in water activities such as snorkelling and diving. These attributes are measured through the conservation fees collected by the park authority from tourists visiting RMP. The final part of this study is concerned with the members of local community on the island. Their perceptions towards tourism, their readiness to participate in tourism activities and their attitudes towards MP development are issues explored in this study. A total of 189 local tourists and 94 foreign tourists were interviewed in this CR study, while 200 local residents were interviewed in the community study. This study finds that, in terms of the choice of destination, different islands do matter and are statistically significant for both local and foreign tourists. In terms of overall ranking, both local and foreign tourists rank Kapas as their first choice, while Tenggol ranks last. The main attributes in the destination choice are statistically significant for local and foreign tourists, except for facilities provided at the sites of accommodation. WTP for almost all attributes concerned are higher for local tourists than for foreign ones, except for the reduction in distance between the accommodation sites and the beach. Specifically, the improvement in terms of types of accommodation ranges from RM113.33 to RM205.50 for local tourists and RM136.50 to RM169.71 for foreign tourists. WTP for improved travel time from the mainland to the island ranges from RM0.43 to RM1.75 for the domestic tourists, as opposed to the values given by foreign tourists, ranging from RM0.29 to RM1.50. WTP for the option of accommodation situated closer to beach areas ranges from RM3.14 to RM11.25 for local tourists. These values are lower than WTP given by foreign tourists, which range from RM10.55 to RM15.57. Further analyses on marginal WTP are also discussed. Regarding environmental issues, this study finds that all attributes are statistically significant for both local and foreign tourists. The local tourists’ WTP for changes in the number of fish and coral species ranges between RM4.31 to RM6.70, while foreign tourists’ WTP ranges between RM3.50 to RM6.73. As for the number of nesting turtles, locals are willing to pay between RM3.78 and RM4.76 while foreign tourists are willing to pay between RM2.28 and RM4.14 for different attribute levels. Finally to avoid congestion while participating in the water activities, WTP by locals ranges between RM2.80 to RM13.37, and WTP amongst ii foreign tourists ranges from RM1.99 to RM11.37. Similar to the destination choice, further analyses on marginal WTP are also discussed. Regarding the local community, this study deduces that community members perceive the tourism industry positively and are willing to participate in tourism-related activities. However, they have some reservations surrounding the presence of tourists in their village, based on social and religious grounds. Their attitudes toward the development of the MP are also positive. Finally this study highlights the economic potentials that players in the tourism industry may tap and capitalize upon, mainly through practising pricing mechanisms in selling and promoting holiday packages in RMP. To the park managers and local authorities, this study may suggest some guidelines for future development processes. Such processes should consider selective development as an option while safeguarding the natural beauty of RMP. The possibility of revising the current conservation fee to resemble tourists’ WTP is also highlighted in this study. Finally, the study recommends the implementation of price discrimination and peak-load pricing in charging and collecting conservation fees as methods, not only for the purposes of increasing revenue but also for acting as tools to monitor and control the number of tourists to RMP.Government of Malaysia: The Universiti Utara Malaysia

A Critical Evaluation of the Proposal for the Privatization of Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia

The purpose of this critical evaluation is to highlight the main issues regarding the efficiency and equity of the proposal for the privatization of the higher education system in Malaysia. The issues will be criticized and some words of caution regarding the possible predicted outcome will be discussed. The government's main objective in privatizing higher education institutions, in the form of corporations, is to reduce the financial burden of providing education. It is due to take place in Malaysia by next year (1996). However, the underlying objectives are not that clear. The original concern came from the current problem of brain drain among academics. Pressures to provide higher salaries at the competitive rate compatible with the private sector, made the government accept an alternative to the current public sector system of higher education. The idea of an independent education institution that can generate its own revenue funds and pay its own staff became the major incentive for future privatization. However, in the midst of all this enthusiasm, not enough emphasis was given to the impact that privatization might have on the higher education system under market forces. This evaluation is mainly concerned with the possible outcome, especially on the efficiency and equity grounds, that should be expected if privatization is to take place, and this will be discussed at length

The public preferences for attributes at parks: A case study of recreational parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

One of the most challenging tasks face by bureaucrats in city council, particularly in an urban area, is to make decisions on recreational parks. With high competition demand in land for projects such as housing areas,industrial and infrastructure purposes, an investment in recreational parks always seems not to be viable. This is compounded with the cost in establishing and maintains the parks. In the mean time, the parks also do not provide any monetary return to the council because, usually, no or minimal charges are imposed on visitors. Even though these arguments are not favourable to the investment in recreational parks, different conclusion could be drawn if sustainable development factor is included in the discussion. The factor explains that the environments need to be preserved without compromising its availability for future generation to use it. One way to do it is through the establishment of recreational parks. Therefore, this study is to investigate public preferences and their willingness to pay (WTP) for attributes provided at recreational parks in Kuala Lumpur (KL).Qualitative method is applied to determine the attributes and their levels, whilst the quantitative method which is Choice Experiments (CEs) is employed to investigate respondents’ preferences for these attributes.The results from the choice data indicates that respondents in KL has the highest preference for recreational facilities, followed by visitor amenities, natural attractions and information. The CEs results also show that the samples in KL are willing to pay for improvement in these attributes

Does status quo interpretation affect welfare estimates?

In choice experiments (CEs), respondents select their most preferred alternative from a series of choices. One of these alternatives is the status quo (SQ) option, which resembles the current scenario. Previous studies have shown that the way the researcher defines the SQ may be different from how the respondents interpret the same option. Using the case study of white water rafting (WWR) recreation, we investigated the effect of SQ definition on the demand function used to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of students who participate in WWR. We applied the confidence interval approach, where WTP values are considered to be significantly different if their confidence intervals do not overlap. We found that the WTP estimates for some attributes (i.e., challenge at the advanced and intermediate levels, and advanced safety) were statistically different. The number of significant estimates suggest that the SQ interpreted by the respondents (as an individual and as a group) are better than that of defined by the researchers. Therefore, we suggest that for purchasing decisions related to nature-based recreational goods such as WWR, the SQ should be determined by the respondents rather than by the researchers

The role of museum as a cultural heritage attraction: Kota Kuala Kedah Museum

Museums have historically been seen as cultural institutions whose prime functions are education and learning. However, as society has changed, more museums are aware of their potential to add value to their community economically by attracting visitors to the destination. As the demand for tourism increases, museums have become key partners in the cultural heritage tourism industry of a destination. Consequently, greater emphasis is now being placed on their leisure function. In parallel with the development of museums as visitor attraction, museums need to be the place where visitors can visit, see and experience the important aspects of the community and area within the destination. In this sense, the process of exhibiting, communicating and explaining to visitors the significance of the place or resources they are visiting is important in ensuring visitor satisfaction. In this paper, the role of Kota Kuala Kedah Museum as a cultural heritage tourism attraction in Kedah is explored. Findings revealed that the museum has great potential to attract visitors. The museum, furthermore, is able to connect the visitors with the historical values of the fort to the community in Kuala Kedah specifically, and Kedah generally. As a conclusion, this paper concludes that the management of Kota Kuala Kedah Museum should be ready to meet the challenge of practicing a more visitor friendly approach while continuing to meet their heritage preservation and education mandates

The halal trade war

This paper analyzes the strategic halal policy where the duopoly firms invest into the halal certification under their governments’ subsidization policies.We analyze the firms’ halal level-price choices and the governments’ optimal halal certification investment policies. The analysis is based on third-country model that is modeled in three-stage game. In the first stage the governments determine an optimal policy and in the following stages the firms first compete in halal certification level and then export to an imperfectly competitive third-market. The study shows, among others, that the governments’ optimal halal certification policy, subsidy or tax, depends on the degree of firms’ halal-price competitio

The Use of Choice Modelling in Assessing Tourists Destinations: A Case Study of Redang Marine Park (RMP) Malaysia

This study employs the Choice Modelling (CM) Technique, in particular the Contingent Ranking (CR) method, to measure the economic value of the Redang Marine Park (RMP) system in Malaysia. The reason for using CR is to understand which islands in the RMP system the tourists prefer. Knowing the islands’ ranking is crucial for the planning and development of this particular island as a tourism product and destination, and at the same time, for maintaining the islands’ ecosystem as a protected area. The study is divided into three major components. The first investigates destination choices amongst tourists. In this component, the attributes of interest include choices of island, types of accommodation available at the destination, facilities provided at the place of accommodation, distance of accommodation sites to the beach, and types of transportation used to reach the destination. These attributes are measured using the 3-day/2-night (3D2N) package prices offered as holiday packages to tourists. The second component measures the importance of environmental attributes, namely the status of available fish and coral species, the numbers of nesting turtles and the degree of congestion that the tourists experience while participating in water activities such as snorkelling and diving. These attributes are measured through the conservation fees collected by the park authority from tourists visiting RMP. The final part of this study is concerned with the members of local community on the island. Their perceptions towards tourism, their readiness to participate in tourism activities and their attitudes towards MP development are issues explored in this study. A total of 189 local tourists and 94 foreign tourists were interviewed in this CR study, while 200 local residents were interviewed in the community study. This study finds that, in terms of the choice of destination, different islands do matter and are statistically significant for both local and foreign tourists. In terms of overall ranking, both local and foreign tourists rank Kapas as their first choice, while Tenggol ranks last. The main attributes in the destination choice are statistically significant for local and foreign tourists, except for facilities provided at the sites of accommodation. WTP for almost all attributes concerned are higher for local tourists than for foreign ones, except for the reduction in distance between the accommodation sites and the beach. Specifically, the improvement in terms of types of accommodation ranges from RM113.33 to RM205.50 for local tourists and RM136.50 to RM169.71 for foreign tourists. WTP for improved travel time from the mainland to the island ranges from RM0.43 to RM1.75 for the domestic tourists, as opposed to the values given by foreign tourists, ranging from RM0.29 to RM1.50. WTP for the option of accommodation situated closer to beach areas ranges from RM3.14 to RM11.25 for local tourists. These values are lower than WTP given by foreign tourists, which range from RM10.55 to RM15.57. Further analyses on marginal WTP are also discussed. Regarding environmental issues, this study finds that all attributes are statistically significant for both local and foreign tourists. The local tourists’ WTP for changes in the number of fish and coral species ranges between RM4.31 to RM6.70, while foreign tourists’ WTP ranges between RM3.50 to RM6.73. As for the number of nesting turtles, locals are willing to pay between RM3.78 and RM4.76 while foreign tourists are willing to pay between RM2.28 and RM4.14 for different attribute levels. Finally to avoid congestion while participating in the water activities, WTP by locals ranges between RM2.80 to RM13.37, and WTP amongst foreign tourists ranges from RM1.99 to RM11.37. Similar to the destination choice, further analyses on marginal WTP are also discussed. Regarding the local community, this study deduces that community members perceive the tourism industry positively and are willing to participate in tourism-related activities. However, they have some reservations surrounding the presence of tourists in their village, based on social and religious grounds. Their attitudes toward the development of the MP are also positive. Finally this study highlights the economic potentials that players in the tourism industry may tap and capitalize upon, mainly through practising pricing mechanisms in selling and promoting holiday packages in RMP. To the park managers and local authorities, this study may suggest some guidelines for future development processes. Such processes should consider selective development as an option while safeguarding the natural beauty of RMP. The possibility of revising the current conservation fee to resemble tourists’ WTP is also highlighted in this study. Finally, the study recommends the implementation of price discrimination and peak-load pricing in charging and collecting conservation fees as methods, not only for the purposes of increasing revenue but also for acting as tools to monitor and control the number of tourists to RMP

The effect of Status Quo (SQ) interpretation on welfare estimates: An application of white water rafting (WWR)

Choice Experiment (CE) technique requires respondents to choose the most preferred alternative from a series of alternatives presented to them.One of these alternatives is Status Quo (SQ) option which resembles the current scenario.However, respondents’ interpretation of SQ may differ.This is inevitable for environmental goods.Using the case study of white water rafting (WWR) activity, this article investigates the effects of respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) when they are allowed to define their own SQ.Three types of SQ are being investigated: a) individual interpretation; b) group interpretation; and c) authors’ interpretation.The results show that the personal and group interpret ations of SQ produce better results compared to the authors’ interpretation at least in significance of attributes.This indicates that in complex choice experiment exercises, the determination of the SQ should be decided by the respondents rather than by the researcher