The experience of self-drive international tourists in Malaysia

Abstract

Self-drive tourism is an independent form of travel which suits an individual or small group of travellers. In essence this form of tourism offers the most flexible visitation to mainstream tourist attractions as well as those off the beaten track. Nevertheless, self-drive tourism has received relatively little attention from researchers despite its significance in spreading economic benefits to rural areas and communities. In this light, understanding the demand characteristics of self-drive tourists is essential in ensuring their trip satisfaction. Hence, this study aims to investigate the phenomenon of self-drive tourism in Malaysia from the perspective of international tourists, specifically in terms of their satisfaction levels. To meet this objective two main methods are applied. Firstly, the Expectation and Satisfaction Analysis is used to measure the level of self-drive tourist satisfaction by using the Confirmation Paradigm Theory. It involves four main dimensions in the self-drive tourist experience namely; the physical dimension, experiential dimension, visual dimension and activity-based dimension. Secondly, the Tourist-Activated Network Analysis is used to understand the movement patterns and stopping behaviour of self-drive tourists during their trips in Malaysia. Based on the analysis, it was found out that self-drive tourism in Malaysia is spatially a regional phenomenon which is shaped by endogenous and exogenous factors. Despite the growing popularity of self-drive tourism in Malaysia, there are still gaps in their satisfaction levels. Among four dimensions stated previously, physical dimension has merely generated a negative gap of -1.2 which significantly affects the whole level of satisfaction. This has indicated that the service quality in Malaysia is still below the international standard. Finally, a model of self-drive tourism experience is developed to explain the underpinning phenomenon of self-drive tourism in this country which can help destination managers and marketers in enhancing the self-drive travel experience and provide appropriate services to attract more self-drive tourists to the country.