Measuring the Quality of Ecotourism Services

Case Study-Based Model Validation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3453115
AutoresNor’aini Yusof (0000-0002-8943-6868, Universiti Sains Malaysia, autor de correspondencia), Faiz Abd Rahman (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Mohd Fitri Che Jamil (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Mohammad Iranmanesh (0000-0001-6964-6238, Universiti Sains Malaysia)
Año2014
Volumen4
Número2
Fecha de publicación2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSAGE Open (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2158244014538270
OpenAlexW2153721497
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas45

Ecotourism forms the pillar of the country's tourism industry. Ecotourists make up more than 10% of international tourists in Malaysia. When service quality is thought of as an important factor to the success of tourism service providers, the importance of estimating service quality provided to tourists becomes apparent. Estimating service quality provides tourism service providers with the necessary information needed to manage their marketing operations appropriately. Therefore, this estimation should be performed with the right measurement scales. Despite the high volume of research on service quality (SERVQUAL) models in recent years, limited effort has been directed toward improving the tool for measuring service quality, particularly to apply to the ecotourism sector in developing countries. This article aims to improve a SERVQUAL model that is suitable for ecotourism areas in developing countries using five dimensions of the original model and one additional sustainability dimension. Based on a survey of 127 tourists in Tasik Kenyir, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to discover the underlying dimension of ecotourism services and test for reliability and validity. Using EFA resulted in seven factors totaling 27 items. These factors are labeled as follows: tangible sustainability, sustainable practices, tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The results reveal that when SERVQUAL is applied within the ecotourism context, new dimensions of tangible sustainability and sustainable practices may emerge. The result implies the need to refine the SERVQUAL model when used in different contexts

Business · Economics · Ecotourism · Environmental economics · Exploratory factor analysis · Geography · Process management · Service provider · Service quality · SERVQUAL · Sustainability · Sustainable tourism · Tourism · Customer Service Quality and Loyalty · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Halal products and consumer behavior · Marketing