Expectation and Experience Gap for Japanese Travelers Visiting Malaysian Homestay, Utilizing Holiday Satisfaction Model

Abstract

Homestay program is known as one of the fastest growing segments of the Community–based Tourism, especially in third world countries and is expected to continue in near future. Recent studies in cultural and heritage tourism focused on characteristics of tourists who are visiting cultural and heritage destinations. In this sense, although HOLSAT model can be applied to evaluate tourists’ satisfaction, just a few studies have used this model and its utilization seems crucial. This study attempts to investigate holiday satisfaction among Japanese travelers who visit Malaysian Homestays using HOLSAT model. The results show that HOLSAT model can be worked as a useful tool in understanding tourists’ satisfaction in particular destinations with specific characteristics. In this study, data collected by on–site survey method in questionnaire form and analyzes using Wilcoxson Signed Rank Test. The findings prove the accuracy of Wilcoxson Test in comparison to other methods used in previous works. Keywords: Holsat, Tourist Satisfaction, Home Stay, Japanese Travelers.