Socio-environmental dimensions of tourist service experience in homestays

• الحاوية / القاعدة: International Journal of GEOMATE
• المؤلف الرئيسي: 2-s2.0-85018393015
• التنسيق: مقال
• اللغة: English
• منشور في: GEOMATE International Society 2017
• الوصول للمادة أونلاين: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85018393015&doi=10.21660%2f2017.34.2712&partnerID=40&md5=62c962522419072cc6e7236259b4f939

Homestay tourism can be a lucrative service sector and the Culture, adventure and nature (CAN) have been recognized as the critical components of eco-tourism products for tourism-friendly nations like Malaysia. Many tourists have enjoyed the social and environmental aspects of the various tourist destinations and there are also tourists who are not very happy with certain aspects of their experiences. This research investigated the tourists' experiences with the homestay programmes using qualitative and quantitative techniques, namely the focus groups and questionnaire survey to discover their experiences and thereafter developed a multi-item measurement. Responses of 330 sampled respondents were analyzed. A total of nine dimensions were found and the measurement fit indices of these socio-environmental measurement was satisfactory. The socio-environmental issues included culture, guiding, accommodation, services, food and beverages, journey, natural environment, access and cleanliness. The homestay service environment indeed must be holistic and sustainable to create the memorable and delightful tourist experience which can generate more income and other benefits for the stakeholders. Implications and future research were also discussed for continuous improvement of the environment-driven performance measurement and management process. © Int. J. of Geomate.