Exploring Tourists’ Intention to Visit a Heritage Destination

Abstract

Bukit Melawati is one of the few notable cultural and natural heritage assets in Selangor that significantly contribute to the tourism industry growth. As a historical site in Selangor, Bukit Melawati has several remains from the past as tourist attractions. However, the historical part has been neglected and overlooked rather than the other attractions. Thus, this study was conducted to identify the influence of destination authenticity, destination awareness, and destination image as predictors toward tourist revisit intention to Bukit Melawati. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on local and international tourists at Bukit Melawati. A total of 290 respondents were selected based on the convenience sampling technique. A technique analysis Multiple Linear Regression using SPSS version 22 was employed to test the hypothesised model. The analysis showed that destination authenticity, awareness, and image explained 49.6% of the variance on tourist revisit intention. The result found that destination image was the strongest predictor of tourist revisit intention to Bukit Melawati, followed by destination authenticity. Destination awareness was an insignificant predictor of tourist revisit intention to Bukit Melawati. It was concluded that tourists intention to revisit Bukit Melawati derived from its image and authenticity as a heritage tourism destination. As suggested, it is important to create tourist awareness to increase their interest in visiting Bukit Melawati and other heritage destinations in Malaysia