Tourists’ preferences and satisfaction towards Mersing as a gateway to Johor islands

Abstract

Gateway is classified as a stopover destination for travelers who want to go to the main tourist destination. As a transit or stopover for tourist, it should provide a complete services for tourist convenience. Based on this notion, this study was done where the objectives is to identify the role of Mersing as a gateway destination, if the facilities and services offered meet the preferences of users, and the importance of gateway to fulfill tourist needs before and after arriving to their destination. The study focuses on to know the views of tourists’ experience when visiting the gateway of Mersing with looking to the important aspects of tourists’ satisfaction such as comfort, safety, cleanliness, sufficient and functional. In order to get the necessary data, the study was carried out based on the survey method where a set of questionnaire forms was distributed among the related tourists. 257 sets of collected questionnaire forms were then analyzed using SPSS analysis. The finding shows that the levels of tourist preferences are mixed. However, the tourists were not satisfied with some services and facilities provided in aspects of safety and security, cleanliness, functional and comfort. Thus the role of the management and the authorities to change this situation is important in order to raise the standard and image of the gateway.