All Research

Wan Norhidayah W Mohamad · Faten Nabila Abdul Fatah · Zaiton Samdin · Bakti Hasan-Basri ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2022 ·JEL: Q51, Q57

The tourism sector plays an important part in Malaysia's economy. It includes beach and recreational tourism. However, most recreational beaches in Malaysia do not impose an entrance fee on visitors. Depending on government funding to maintain recreational beach facilities is not the best option for the future. Therefore, funding directly from visitors is needed to help cater for beach maintenance costs. Based on this, it is crucial to understand how much visitors are willing to pay for the recreational use of beaches, as any money collected could be used to help to improve facilities and services at beach areas. This study investigated visitors' willingness to pay for recreational beach facilities and has provided policy recommendations for better management of tourist facilities and services in the future. Teluk Kemang beach in Port Dickson was chosen as the case study location. This study applied the Choice Experiments (CE) method, and the model used was the Conditional Logit (CL) model. This research used four attributes: amenities, recreational facilities, cleanliness, and entrance fee. The CL results revealed that visitors were willing to pay for good amenities and cleanliness, with values of RM2.07 and RM2.43, respectively. Therefore, it was discovered that it was practical to charge an entrance fee to cover improved maintenance of beach facilities

WAN NORHIDAYAH W. MOHAMAD · KEN WILLIS · NEIL POWE ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2018 ·JEL: Q51; Q57

Accounting for ignored attributes, or attribute non-attendance (ANA), in discrete choice experiment (DCE) is believed to produce more reliable willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. However, there is evidence that respondents who claimed to have ignored some attributes may simply have assigned them lesser importance. To explore this issue in the context of tourism research, a new follow-up question is used to investigate whether the respondents have ignored certain attributes or just assigned the attribute as of lesser importance when responding. Three different mixed logit (MXL) models were estimated and compared. Results generally indicate that some respondents do indeed ignore certain attributes, and some of them put less emphasis on certain attributes when making decisions. Comparison of the different MXL models reveals different WTP estimates, suggesting the importance of considering an appropriate method to deal with ANA.

Hylmee Matahir · Chor Foon Tang ·Institutions and Economies ·2018 ·JEL: C33; C51; Z30

This study explores critically major determinants of inbound educational tourism demand in Malaysia between 2002 and 2014 by employing dynamic panel system Generalised Method of Moment (GMM). The study found academic reputation as the main driving factor of educational tourism followed by economic capacity of country of origin and the quality of higher education. The findings of this study provide some insights for the policymakers to plan their promotional strategies to attract a greater number of international students to Malaysia to pursue their higher education.

Nur Sa’adah Muhamad · Syahnaz Sulaiman · Khairul Akmaliah Adham · Mohd Fuaad Said ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2019

Halal tourism, which arises from the growth in the number of Muslim travellers world-wide and the rapid development of halal industry, is defined as the engagement of any object or action by Muslim travellers that conforms to the Islamic teachings and facilitates the practice of the religion. As such, the application of halal concept in tourism, including in its development and marketing, must be guided by the Islamic principles. With the purpose to understand the current state of knowledge and practice, we reviewed the literature on halal tourism that has been published in high-tier academic journals. Based on the review, we identified the emergent themes and the knowledge gaps for future research. Among others, we found that the industry is booming with increased participations from Muslimminority countries. However, there seems to be variations in the practice, perhaps due to the complexity of the market needs. The implementation of halal tourism by Muslimminority countries is the most pressing issue due to the need to ensure that the process and the service offered strictly comply with the requirements of Islamic teachings, while at the same time, to ensure that the countries are able to develop their halal sectors into competitive industries. Understanding the implementation of halal tourism is an important agenda for future research to ensure that the service provided addresses the fundamental issue of Muslims’ obligations to adhere to the Islamic teachings in all aspects of their lives including while travelling.

Mohammad Sharif Karimi ·International Economic Journal ·2018 ·JEL: C22; O11

In this study, we examine the nonlinear relationship between international tourism arrival and economic growth of Malaysia by using asymmetric models over the periods 2000:1–2015:4. The results show that the tourism arrival is positively related to Malaysia’s economic growth in the long run, but there is no short-run relationship and other traditional growth factors such as trade, exchange rate and Consumer Price Index are important for economic growth in the case of Malaysia. This implies that tourism can be one of the important factors for Malaysia’s economic growth in the long run and development and can be used to stimulate the overall economic growth and hence, policy-makers should pay greater attention towards promoting inbound tourism.

Harriman Samuel Saragih · Peter Jonathan ·Journal of Asia Business Studies ·2019

Purpose Indonesians are known for their unique behaviour and willingness to travel abroad for healthcare treatments. More than half of the healthcare “tourists” who travel to Malaysia come from Indonesia, followed in numbers by those in India, Japan, and China, Libya, the UK, Australia, USA, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Malaysia is also geographically located near two Indonesian main islands, i.e. North Sumatera and North Kalimantan. These reasons contribute to making Indonesia one of the most productive healthcare consumers in Malaysia. This study aims to examine these Indonesian consumers’ through the use of behavioural lenses to examine their medical tourism experiences in Malaysia, its neighbouring country. Design/methodology/approach The theory of planned behaviour is used as the basis of these analyses and hypotheses development. In total, 7 variables and 18 indicators that built both the exogenous and endogenous variables were developed from previous literature. Through a purposive sampling technique, the authors collected 200 samples of individuals where each respondent must at least have been to Malaysia once for medical treatments related to a general check-up, cardiovascular, cancer, orthopaedics, nervous systems or dental problems. A partial least squares – structural equation modelling analysis was carried out to examine both the measurement model and the structural model. Findings Behavioural belief positively affects the attitude of Indonesian patients and their intentions to visit Malaysia for medical treatment, i.e. attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Results show that as individuals, Indonesians have a strong belief that undergoing medical treatment in Malaysia will be more favourable than having that same medical treatment in Indonesia. The study also shows that people who are considered important to patients, e.g. family members or relatives, significantly influence their intention to visit Malaysian medical institutions. The authors also found that patients’ resources and capabilities – e.g. financial strength, supporting infrastructures and time availability – are essential factors for Indonesian patients to choose medical tourism and to visit Malaysia as their venue for medical services. Research limitations/implications The results of this study are consistent with the previous research, which has shown that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control positively affect visit intention. The results also suggest new interesting theoretical findings that Indonesia’s medical tourist intention to visit Malaysia is most strongly caused by subjective norms followed by individual attitudes and perceived behavioural control, all reasons that are identical to Japanese medical tourists’ visiting South Korea for similar purposes. Indeed, there are similar behavioural practices and beliefs among both Indonesian and Japanese medical tourists, despite the gap existing in these two countries’ economies. Practical implications The study proposes two managerial implications using its findings. First, this study can be a basis for the Malaysian medical tourism business to better understand Indonesian medical tourists’ behaviour when visiting their country. The study explicitly suggests that it is both collective and individual beliefs that drive Indonesian patients, who have the sufficient resources, to visit Malaysia because of better quality and affordability available there compared to Indonesian medical services. Second, this study raises a fundamental question about Indonesian stakeholders in the medical industry. In the near future, this type of medical tourism behaviour will, without a doubt, affect the Indonesian economy at large. Originality/value The contributions of this study are twofold. First, compared to previous studies that focussed specifically on the developed countries, this study focusses on Indonesian consumers’ point of view as an emerging country towards Malaysia’s medical tourism business. Second, this study provides quantifiable insights on the Indonesia-Malaysia medical tourism phenomenon, which previously has been frequently discussed, but only using a qualitative exploratory approach.

Johannes Machiel Dreyer · Noor Azlin Yahya · Nik Azyyati Abd Kadir ·Environment, Development and Sustainability ·2019

The campus of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) is forest plantation research site established since 1926. Urbanization and other development affecting Kuala Lumpur led to FRIM being one of the few remaining green open spaces near the capital city area. To share the benefits of the green space, FRIM opened its grounds to visitors, and it is now a popular site for educational and recreational use by the urbanized population. However, visitor’s opinion may vary about the utilization of FRIM’s facilities as FRIM’s ground is also used for other activities. A study was done to determine what the perceptions of visitors’ were regarding FRIM’s suitability as a natural open space with its associated benefits such as health, quality of life and environmental sustainability and whether it offers a suitable site for environmental learning. From a qualitative study conducted at three sites within FRIM, it was found that FRIM provides in the needs of the surrounding urban population as a natural open space for escape from the city and a very suitable site for environmental learning. Some participants actually expressed a need to introduce further opportunities for environmental learning.