Flea market tourism : a review of motivation and characteristics of specialised tourist segmentation

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper address the opportunity of flea market as a trend which begins to receive recognition as one of tourism product; or in other word so called flea market tourism. Nowadays, flea market capturing attention as one of the weekend activities for visitor and tourist either inbound or outbound region. One of the most establish flea market in Malaysia and listed in booklet titled Malaysia Flea Market Galore is an indoor flea market in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. It has been selling antique, collectibles and used goods from various era. However, while the rise of flea market tourism has been understood in developed country, the research in the developed country such as Malaysia is still limited. Therefore, this paper attended to examine the factors relevant to the motivation of this specialised tourism market. Understanding of the characteristics of flea market in Malaysia context is very vital to flourish the maximum experience in order to allow the activities to occurred. As a result, variable for flea market in creating demand and the need to capture the market can be fully understood. The variable of factor discussed in this paper involve uniqueness of the market, variety of products, leisure activities, treasure-hunting, affordable items and local cultures. Thus, the distinctive features of the flea market tourism will be able to be promoted as a complete tourism product.