The use of importance-performance analysis approach in evaluating Penang National Park

Abstract

Penang National Park has been listed as one of the eco-tourism destination in Malaysia. In tourism management, importance-performance analysis (IPA) has been used as part of quality management. The objective of this research paper was to use importance–performance analysis (IPA) to examine the performance of Penang National Park. A quantitative questionnaire was distributed to 385 tourists at the Penang National Park by using the convenience sampling approach.The respondents were provided with a list of environmental and social attributes and asked to rate the importance and performance of each attribute.The IPA grid is broken into four categories: (1) Concentrate Here; (2) Keep Up the Good Work; (3) Low Priority; and (4) Possible Overkill, to enable each of the attributes to be plotted into the grid. It is a clear and powerful evaluation tool for management to find out attributes that are doing well and attributes that need to be improved, which require action immediately.The results of IPA identified that factor 2 (Scenery and comfort) and factor 4 (Environment) are attributes that have high importance and performance.The attribute that need to be improved was identified as factor 3 (Safety), suggesting management attention is needed.The results of the study can be used by management in Penang National Park to improve the attributes that tourists think are most important. Other tourist destinations could also conduct similar studies to examine their performance

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