Ecotourism Product Attributes and Tourist Attractions: UiTM Undergraduate Studies

Abstract

Ecotourism is one of the core tourism products that is highly promoted by the government of Malaysia. In Sarawak, ecotourism is one of the means for income and employment opportunities in the rural communities due to the integrative nature of the state's resources that combines culture, nature and adventure into one ecotourism package. As such, Sarawak is one of the states in the country that is experiencing the growing numbers ecotourism assets. However, apart from providing the ecotourism attractions, there is also a great need to understand the attributes that attract tourists to ecotourism destinations. These attributes are important in enabling tour operators and ecotourism providers in luring desirable tourists with the right ecotourism product. This paper ranked five pre-determined dimensions (nature, culture, sustainability, people and history) of the ecotourism attributes based on its importance. These attributes were further tested to determine their relationship with a tourist's tour intentions. The methodology included a questionnaire survey distribution to 364 respondents in UiTM Sarawak, Kota Samarahan. In addition, factor analysis had been conducted to determine the ecotourism product attributes. As a result, four new attributes of ecotourism product were identified. They included cultural, natural, attraction, and community attributes. Multiple regression analysis revealed that cultural is the most important attribute that influence tourist tour intention as compared to other identified attributes. It is important for operators to consider all identified attributes in developing strategies that can boost a tourist's tour intention. However, the allocation of resources for strategy development must be based on the rank of importance of the attributes namely cultural, attractions, community, and natural.