PUSH AND PULL PERSPECTIVES: TRAVEL MOTIVATION TO COASTAL TOURISM IN CASE OF REDANG ISLAND

Abstract

The tourism industry plays a large role in the development of many countries, including Malaysia. Unfortunately, the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought global tourism to a standstill. Though most of the travel curbs have been eased, public health rules still pose challenges to the industry. In the light of the changes in travel preferences among tourists during this unprecedented time, this work sought to gain a better understanding of travel motivation and behaviour in this situation. Since push and pull factors are the most commonly used theory in evaluating tourists’ behaviour, it is utilised in this conceptual paper to investigate the relationship between destination image, tourists’ emotion, satisfaction, and loyalty in the context of Laguna Redang Island Resort. Moreover, tourists’ daily emotional well-being needs to be considered in assessing their travel intention in the post-pandemic situation. The tests for the propositions in the conceptual model of this study revealed that pleasure is an important factor for behavioural intention. The impact of factors was empirically supported by the study. Next, this study presents factors to predict tourists’ loyalty that are useful for future studies. This study also verifies the influence of push factor for tourism consumption on pull factor for destination selection. Plus, in the proposed framework, satisfaction has a mediator role. Overall, the present work contributes to the body of knowledge and provides useful recommendations for tourism authorities.