TOURISM LANGUAGE E-PROCEEDING

Morrison and Alastair M. (2013) Marketing and managing tourism destinations. Routledge
2013.

Mumtaz, S. (2001). Children's enjoyment and perception of computer use in the home and
the school. Computers & Education, 36(4), 347-362.

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Babin, B. J., & Black, W. C. (2010). Multivariate data analysis:
A global perspective (Vol. 7)

Prideaux, B. (2002). The cyber tourist. In G. M. S. Dann (Ed.), the tourist as a metaphor of
the social world (pp. 317–339). New York: CABI Publishing. Towards Real Virtually.
(2009). the project. http://www.towardsrealvirtuality.com/index.php/virtual-
cocoon-the-project-2. Accessed 22.04.09

Strickland, J. (2007). How virtual reality works. How Stuff Works, 29.
Tiusanen, P., & Tiusanen, P. (2017). Virtual reality in destination marketing.
Xiang, Z., Magnini, V. P., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2015). Information technology and consumer

behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the
internet. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, 244-249.

141

Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals throughLanguage, Education and Tourism
Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia,

Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

ISLAMIC TOURISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA:
THE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Dr. Zubaidi Wahyono*1 , Dr. Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak2

ABSTRACT

Tourism has now become an important source of revenue for many countries in the world.
The spillover from this booming and lucrative industry impacts positively the other sectors of
the national economy in those countries. This situation is not only true in the advanced
countries of the world, but also in the Muslim world. In this present study on Islamic tourism
the researchers intend to investigate the definition, destination, purpose and ethical issues
related to Islamic tourism. Very particularly, the study will focus on the situation in three of
the Muslim countries situated in the region of Southeast Asia; namely Malaysia, Indonesia
and Brunei. Driven by the passion to study on Islamic tourism, the researchers are interested
to know the guiding principles set in these countries in contrast to others in the region. Apart
from the crux of the investigation, on the peripheral, this study will also look into the topic of
tourism from the Islamic ethical dimension, mainly referring to the Qur’an and Sunnah. As a
qualitative study, the researchers will employ the library research approach in collecting the
pertinent data related to the study. By using the textual-analysis method they will scrutinize
data collected from online and print materials. The study initially found out that Islamic
tourism in South East Asia is very potential industry to develop further. However the lack of
facilities and promotion among the Muslim countries and non-Muslim as well hindered the
industry to develop fast along with the rapid development of the conventional tourism that
flourished in the region. Apart from that, halal standardization needs to be defined and
described clearly to ease the Muslims tourists and to attract them to visit the region. It is
hoped that this modest research can be a contribution in advancing Islamic tourism in the
Malay Archipelago and elsewhere in the world.

Keywords: Islamic Tourism; Southeast Asia; Malaysia; Indonesia; Brunei

1 Assist. Prof., Dept of Fundamentals and Inter-disciplinary Studies, Fac. Of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Heritage, IIUM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ([email protected]).

2 Assist. Prof., Dept of Fundamentals and Inter-disciplinary Studies, Fac. Of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Heritage, IIUM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ([email protected]).

142

1. INTRODUCTION

Definition and the Origin of Islamic Tourism

Though Islamic tourism is relatively a newly coined term, travelling for a various different
reasons has been a normal practice in the Muslim world ever since the advent of Islam.
Compared to ancient times, in recent times with the introduction of modern means of
transportation, we now witness a dramatic increase in the number of Muslims travelling not
only within the Muslim world but to other parts of the world, particularly to Europe and
America. Besides that, globalization, budget aircraft, the availability of tour agencies, online
ticketing, information on the enchanting and scenic places posted on the internet and social
media has exponentially promoted tourism in general and Islamic tourism in particular.
Tourism has now become a booming industry globally.

Unlike other communities, Muslims are encouraged by the Qur’an and Sunnah to travel. Very
particularly, the Qur’an mentions travelling in many different places for a number of reasons.
The word tourism in modern Arabic is known as Al-Siyahah. Although relative a new term, it
explains the meaning of one traveling or sets on a journey similar to Safar or Sair, but it is
used more specifically to describe traveling for recreational purpose or for pleasure
(Ma’ani,2019).

Al-Siyahah is slightly different when compared to Safar or Sair. The latter covers a wide range
of meanings like; a journey undertaken be it for the purpose of seeking knowledge, business,
visit, religious or any other purpose (al-Ma’ani, 2019) . Some ulama (scholars) in area of
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) even specified that a journey should be classified as Safar when it
exceeds more than 80 km in distance. (al-Ma’ani, 2019).

In the holy Qur’an one finds that terms like Safar and Sair which refer to travel are repeatedly
mentioned in different contexts and undertaken for different reasons. What follows below
here are a few verses of the Qur’an that refer to the different words relate to travelling and
the benefit of travels undertaken for a good purpose:
The Qur’an uses words like; ‘sara’, yasiru, sair, safara, yusafiru, safar, or rahala, yarhalu,
rihlah that denote traveling or journey; ‫يرحلر–رحلة‬-‫ررحل‬,‫رسفر‬-‫ريسافر‬-‫رسافر‬,‫سير‬-‫يس ري‬-‫سار‬

From the Qur’anic perspective these words pretty much carry similar meanings to one
another. The word sara is probably the most general term used which means going, travelling,
departing, moving away, following etc. On the other hand, words like sara-yasiru-sair are
mentioned 27 times that connote traveling or going out or sightseeing. At times, the Qur’an
also uses them in other forms like ‘ wa siru’ which means do travel or ‘qul siru’ which ‘means
say to them to travel’, or in the question form such ‫ أفلمريسيوا‬which means ‘why don’t they
travel’. The latter form is mentioned more than 10 times in the Qur’an compared to the other
form of the word. This also means that Allah stresses the importance of traveling for a certain
purpose.

Based on the contextual meaning of the above ayat(verse), one can deduce the

143

understanding that the philosophical reason as to why one is encouraged to travel in the
Qur’an is none other than to ponder and reflect on the sociological and historical phenomena
of the bygone and vanished people and their civilizations. At other times the phrase “why
don’t they travel on earth” in the Qur’an emphasizes the traveler to observe and reflect on
the cosmological and sociological phenomena.

‫ر)َفِإ َّن َہار ََلر َت ۡع ََمرٱ ۡۡ َل ۡب َص ٰـ ُرر َوَل ٰـ ِكنر َت ۡع ََمرٱ ۡل ُق ُلو ُبرٱ َّل ِ ِتر‬4‫َہرۖا‬6‫ا َف َل ۡمر َي ِس ُيوْار ِِفرٱ ۡۡ َل ۡر ِضر َف َت ُكو َنر َلر ُه ۡمر ُق ُلو ٌ۬بر َي ۡع ِق ُل ِِو َفنررٱِبل َہُّٓارصَأُ ۡدوروَءِاررَذ(ا ٌ۬سنر َويرۡةسر َامل ُعحو َجنرر ِب‬

"Have they not travelled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel
and ears wherewith to hear? For indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but
it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind". (QS Al Hajj:46)
٢٠(‫ُق ۡلر ِس ُيوْار ِ ِفرٱ ۡۡ َل ۡر ِضر َفٱن ُظ ُروْار َڪ ۡي َفر َب َد َأرٱ ۡل َخ ۡل َ ۚرقر ُث َّمرٱَ َّّلُلر ُين ِ ئُشرٱل َّن ۡش َأ َةرٱ ۡۡ َل ِخ َرَ ۚرةرِإ َّنرٱَ َّّلَلر َع ََ ٰلر ُڪ ِّلر َ ۡش ٌ۬ءر َق ِدي ٌ۬رر‬

“Say (O Muhammad): Travel in the land and see how He originated creation,
then Allah bringeth forth the later growth. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things”.
(QS. Al Ankaboot:20)

In most instances, the Qur’an encourages the Muslims to go on a journey or travel to witness
the glory and majesty of God in the world of creations. Through such travels the good and
pious Muslims are expected to learn and contemplate on the bounties given by God to
humanity, Besides the recommended travels, the Qur’an has also made traveling an
obligatory (fardhu ‘ain) one for those who have the capacity to go for Haj (pilgrimage to
Mecca). Such a travel is only an obligatory travel undertaken by an individual once in his or
her life. Haj literally means “the intended travel”. Below here is the reference to Haj in the
Qur’an: It is mentioned in the Qur’an:

‫ ُّجرٱ ۡل َب ۡي ِتر َم ِنرٱ ۡس َت َطا َعرِإ َل ۡي ِهر َس ِبي ٌ۬ۚرلر َو َمنر َك َف َرر َف ِإ َّنر‬٩‫ِح‬٧‫في ِهر َءا َي ٰـ ُ ُۢتر َب ِّي َن ٰـ ٌ۬تر َّم َقا ُمرِإ ۡب َرٲ ِهي َمۖرر َو َمنر َد َخ َل ُهررۥر َكاٱ ََنَّّرلََلءار ِ َمغٌِ۬نِ ۗرا ٌّرتَروَََِّّعلِِلنرر َٱ ۡعلَ ََع ٰلـ َرلٱِلم َّناَِيرِ(سر‬

“Wherein are plain memorials (of Allah's guidance); the place where Abraham
stood up to pray; and whosoever entereth it is safe. And pilgrimage to the
House is a duty unto Allah for mankind, for him who can find a way thither. As
for him who disbelieveth, (let him know that) lo! Allah is Independent of (all)
creatures”. (Ali ‘Imron:97)

From the above discussion it can be said that the term travel/safar or journey in Islam is not
only for recreational purpose but it could also be for social or religious duties depending on
the aim or purpose of that activity. In contrast to Islamic ideas, tourism in the secular and
more conventional contexts is more restricted in its meaning merely referring to recreational
activity. Nevertheless, Islam does not forbid tourism that focuses on recreational activity so
long it is done in line with a good purpose and adherent to the ethical values of Islam.

Although many Muslim scholars have given their definitions on Islamic tourism, but all

144

agreed on one principle that it should not go against norms and values set by Islam(Shakiri
A.S.,2006). While Hassan on the other hand, stress that Islamic tourism is based on acceptable
moral values, ethics and divine principles (Hassan, 2007) simplified that Islamic tourism is a
tourism which observes the Islamic values.

INHART IIUM’s definition on Islamic tourism states that the Arabic term called
Siyaahah which is derived from the Arabic word (‫ )سريرح‬means travelling or journey in the
world as mentioned in the Qur’an, “Go you, then for four months...” (At-Taubah, 9:2).
Moreover, INHART explains that; terminologically, Siyaahah in Islam means the effort of
Muslim travelers to face the challenges and to uphold the moral values of Islam and to be an
obedient servant to God. (Inhart, IIUM, 2019).
While the Malaysian authority in giving its definition states Islamic tourism is a kind of interest
and activity of traveling to explore the heritage of Islam, history, art and culture and to
experience the Islamic way of life in conformity with Islamic belief. (ITC, 2009). OIC on its
part defined tourism as to Muslim travelers to visit Islamic destinations and for religious
purpose. (Henderson, 2010). Travelling per se in the Islamic context is deeply rooted in
aspects like: history, social, religious, economic and education.

The origin of travelling is recommended if not compulsory for the Muslims like journey for
hajj and ‘umrah and it can be divided into the following types:
1. Hajj or ‘Umrah (Pilgrimage)
2. Business
3. Education & Spiritual Enlightenment
4. Recreation
5. War or migration (Hijrah)

In Islam, before one undertakes a journey or a travel trip, he or she has to look into the
priorities and importance of that journey. Muslim scholars have classified travels into; starting
from the most important one to the less important one. In other words, such travels can be
obligatory, recommended, permissible or prohibited. The one that falls under the obligatory
travel will be Hajj. This travel is a dream of every Muslims to go to Mecca to perform the
pilgrimage. Philosophically, Haj for Muslims is more than a ritual. For many, it is a long journey
undertaken to fulfill the last pillar of Islam. Muslims congregate during the Haj season to
showcase their universal brotherhood. They not only meet but exchange ideas with other
Muslims on their state of affair in their own homeland. The history of Haj performance goes
back as early as during the time to Prophet Ibrahim. Haj as a form of ibadah (ritual) was later
reintroduced in 7th century A.D. during the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Haj as a
spiritual journey is a dream of every Muslim to undertake at least once a lifetime. Haj is the
largest Muslim gathering that takes place every year. Close to three million Muslims gather
during the annual Haj gathering (Amna Puri,2018).This number is small compared to the long
waiting list of the Muslims who desire to perform Haj every year. Due to space and logistic
limitations during the Haj reason, the Saudi government has adopted a quota system for every
country i.e. 1 per 1000 people (NST,2019).

Apart from the obligatory journey of pilgrimage, Muslims are also recommended to do
‘Umrah (a shorter version hajj) according to their economic capacity. This act of ibadah has

145

attracted millions of Muslims to visit the cities of Mecca and Medina throughout the years
especially those who don’t get the chance to perform Haj and those who wish to do extra
worship3.

Another type of journey which is also recommended by Islam is the visit to the Aqsha Mosque
in Jerusalem. During one occasion, the Prophet of Islam spoke the importance of visiting Al-
Aqsa Mosque by saying: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Do not set out on a journey
except for three Mosques i.e. Al-masjid-AI-Haram, the Mosque of Allah's Apostle, and the
Mosque of Al-Aqsa, (Mosque of Jerusalem)." (Al Bukhari: Book #21, Hadith #281)

In the Qur’an, Muslims read that Prophet Muhammad SAW was taken on a spiritual journey
guided by angels. This famous story of the Prophet known as the “Night Journey” is
mentioned in the opening chapter of Surah 17 (al-Isra); “Glory to (Allah) Who did take His
servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose
precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the
One Who heareth and seeth (all things)’. In the first verse itself, we are told as to the reason
why God invited him. The reason was none other than to show God’s signs and wonders to
him. Some scholars also mentioned that the journey can also be interpreted as a way God
wanted to console his grieving heart over the death of Abu Talib (his uncle) and Khadijah (his
beloved wife). In the Seerah (biography of the Prophet), one reads that the losing of these
two personalities who were among the great supporters of the Prophet in a single year was
marked as the ‘Year of Grief’. It was during the night journey, the Prophet was educated by
God Almighty on the many Islamic eschatological events that will bound to happen at the end
of time and during the resurrection.

However with the current condition of the third mosque Al Aqsha which is under the
occupation of Israel, the majority of Muslims are deprived visitation except for a small number
of people. Other than these three mosques, some in the Muslim World interested to pay a
visit to religious sites or Islamic shrines in different countries especially the sites which have
historical significance in Islam and its heritage. Among Muslim pilgrims who go on Haj and
Umrah, there are some who would like to visit mosques and historical sites around Madinah,
such Quba and Qiblataian mosques, the graves of martyrs of Uhud, those companions of the
Prophet at Baqi’ graveyard etc. At times, Muslims interested in Islamic history and heritage
prefer to extend their travel beyond Mecca and Madinah by visiting countries like Egypt, Syria,
Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, etc. As a place of origin, countries in the Middle East have a lot of
historical and religious heritage starting from the Judeo-Christian era to the advent of Islam
as God’s final revelation. Countries like Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, and Turkey are some of the
countries in the Middle East that receive an influx of international visitors yearly from all over
the world. These countries have become so popular with that narrated the stories as a place
of the birth or death of earlier prophets who came before Muhammad SAW. A travel to
historical sites is expected to broaden up the travelers’ horizon of thinking when they witness
the evidence for themselves. Such an experience is very different many times than looking at

3 According to Saudi government the number of small pilgrims (umrah) is around 8 million a year and
nowadays they want to open all cities in Saudi Arabia for tourism and not restricted to 3 cities only for visitors.
It is expected to draw more tourists to visit Saudi Arabia up to 30 millions by 2030.

146

pictures or watching documentaries on electronic media. As such, during such travel, the
sites mainly visited by tourists are those that belong to historical and archeological sites of a
particular country they are visiting. Learning from bygone ancient civilizations and their
people is a thing mentioned in the Qur’an. The famous George Santayana also once said
“Those who fail to read from history are doomed to fail”4. The great Muslim traveler Ibn
Battuta who travelled around the world during his time also had a quote (Ibn Bathuta,2003)
on traveling that states “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a
storyteller.” In modern times, there is a quote that says, “Never say my home is my world,
but say the world is my home”.5

Contrary to the Islamic idealism, at the moment, due to political or some other reasons,
Muslims in many parts of the world, especially those from the Middle East are feeling
discouraged to travel for some reasons. Among the reasons, that prevent them from
travelling are; Islamophobia, terrorism, war, sectarian violence and racism.
In summary, the Qur’an and Sunnah explain that traveling can be an activity that is necessary,
if not permissible for a Muslim be it for religious or recreational purposes. It depends on the
intention, types as well as the purpose of the journey and it is bound with ethical values and
Islamic norms. This becomes one of the core issues of Islamic tourism that will be dealt in this
paper.

3. Observance of Ethical Values in Islamic Travel and Tourism

Islam as a complete guidance for mankind has set some guiding principles that need to be
observed under all circumstances when one is traveling. The same is applicable for those
involved in tourism or countries that promote tourism for economic purpose. The Islamic
guiding principles are what the Muslims have adopted from the Prophet SAW and early pious
Muslim scholars. Although the term Islamic tourism was not in use back then, travelling was
something undertaken by Muslims for a variety of reasons. In Islam, traveling can be
considered as a form of worship if it is done with a good intention and carried out in line with
the ethical values of Islam. The ethical values in Islam are not measured by reason only but
by the revelation of God. All actions of a Muslim in Islam are categorized into five: obligatory,
recommended, permissible, reprehended or prohibited. In Islamic laws it deals with all human
activities not as the Western believes including food, drinks whether it is permitted or not to
consume, dress, entertainment which is allowed or not and the financial transactions as well
as human relationship which is legal and illegal. It may vary from one country to other in its
implementation. (Hasan Saad, 2010).
The following moral values that should be abided by Muslims with regard to travelling are:

3.1.Intention or purpose

4 George Santayana, n.d., https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_santayana_101521

5 Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak in SlideShare (Slide No:9) https://www.slideshare.net/maarji/my-quotes-58836218.
Retrieved on 30th August 2019

147

The intention or purpose of travelling in Islam is not a less important issue in travelling.
This is due to the fact that any action of a Muslim will be meaningful because of its
intention. The intention to do something determines the quality of the action itself, if it is
good it will be rewardable and otherwise. As it is mentioned by the Prophet SAW6

‫حديثرأميرالمؤمن ِيرأ يبرحفصرعمرربنرالخطابربنرنفيلربنرعبدرالعزىربنررياحربنرعبدراللهربنرقرطربنررزاحربنرعدير‬
‫بنركعبربنرلؤيربنرغالبرالقر يشرالعدوير‬ ‫رسمعتررسولراللهرﷺريقول‬:‫قال‬: ‫روإنمارلكلرامرئر‬،‫إنماراۡلعمالربالنيات‬
‫ر‬،‫رومنركانترهجرتهرلدنياريصيبهارأورامرأةرينكحها‬،‫رفهجرتهرإلىراللهرورسوله‬،‫رفمنركانترهجرتهرإلىراللهرورسوله‬،‫مارنوى‬

‫فهجرتهرإلىرمارهاجررإليه‬.

Abu Hafs Umar ibn al Khattab said: “ I heard the messenger of God says:’ the
rewards of any action depends on the intention and everyone will get his
rewards according to his intention. Whoever migrates for the pleasure of Allah
and his messenger, his action will be counted for that and whoever migrates
for worldly benefit or for women his migration will be counted for what he
intended to”. (reported by al Bukhari and Muslim).

For that reason a traveler should have a good intention for his journey and it will be
regarded as a rewardable action for him or her. The intention is important for any action
as it will affect the quality of that action. If it is good it will bring good outcome and vice
versa. That is why a Muslim should also decide his intention for travelling, be it for social
reason, economic, or even just for relaxation (Inhart,2019).

3.2. Food and Beverages

Food and beverages are among the important issue for Muslims be it in his home or
outside. The main concern among Muslims when they travel is to make sure that they
get Halal food wherever they are. This is what normally the Muslims think before they
travel to any place or country especially when they are visiting a non-Muslim country.
They have to plan and prepare for themselves when Halal food is not available in the
countries they visit. This situation will be different when they are visiting any Muslim
majority country, where finding Halal food is not a major issue. Conversely, for non-
Muslims finding food is not a big problem as they don’t have dietary laws that need to be
followed. Like Muslims, orthodox Jews also strictly follow dietary laws mentioned in their
scripture. While Muslims go for Halal food, for the Jews it is ‘Kosher’ food. Simply put, for
the Muslims religion plays an important part in their decision making when it comes to
travelling. (Arasteh & Eilami, 2011; Essoo & Dibb, 2004). Muslims normally don’t travel
to places where Halal food is not available, unless under desperate situation or there is
an urgency or emergency. (Battour et al., 2011).

Hence, it is necessary to know the Muslims’ character in order to fulfill their needs and
to attract them to visit a certain country or place before any other consideration.
However, many non-Muslim countries have realized this issue and they provide the
Muslims with food stalls/restaurant in order to attract them. It could be done by either

6 Reported by imam al Bukhari, Book of Revelation 1/6 no.1

148

providing Halal products for the Muslims or to provide facilities for the Muslims to open
stalls/restaurant that serve the Halal food at the tourist destination. Moreover,
nowadays most nations have adopted Halal food certifications to ensure Halal food for
the Muslims (Mukhtar & Butt, 2012). At the moment, many non-Muslim countries have
realized the issue on Halal food and the Muslims need for such foods in order to allure
the Muslim tourists into their countries (Henderson, 2003).

3.3. Facilities and Accommodation

Muslim tourists have different needs of facilities due to the Islamic laws and the duty of
worship in their daily life. This includes clean facilities according to Islam which are free
from the ‘unclean’ place and utilities as well as the place of worship. The clean facilities
mean to be free from the non-Halal things either food or drinks or the utilities affected
by the non-Halal things such as alcohol or pork ingredients. While for worship the
Muslims have to pray five times a day that they cannot postpone or skip. As such, Muslims
need a clean space for worship whether at home or while travelling. However this facility
doesn’t necessarily mean spacious place for worship but at least enough place for
performing prayer and its facilities such as prayer mat as well as the direction of the
Ka’bah indicted at the place of worship. Usually, the Muslims have to think of all these
necessities when they go to non-Muslim countries. If such facilities are available they can
entice the Muslims to visit the country or place. For this purpose it is necessary for the
tourism industry to know these needs of the Muslims so that they can provide at least
the minimum facilities. Since these needs are crucial for the Muslims therefore it must
be taken seriously by the tourism providers be it in the Muslim countries or in the non-
Muslim ones (Battour et al., 2013 ).

3.4. Entertainment

In reality one can observe that tourism is closely associated with amusement and
entertainment. But in Islam, tourism serves more than leisure and amusement. Along
with the objective of Islam itself that is to serve for the benefit of man, entertainment in
Islam has its own principles and limits. Islam preaches that it is permissible for man to
enjoy the worldly pleasure in a Halal way and avoid all that are harmful to the existence
of the individual and the society. The permissible and the unlawful things in the
entertainment industry should be in line with the moral principles preached in Islam. It is
permissible when it doesn’t violate the laws of Islam such as light music, dance, or singing
which doesn’t promote indecency, moral corruption or permissiveness. Islam bans the
type of entertainment that encourages illicit sex, drugs, indecencies as well as gambling.

The Shari’a (the Islamic laws) in Islam is meant for the benefit of man. Hence, all roads
leading to harm human interest is considered wrong and should be blocked. It is based
on the principle of ‫ درءرالمفاسدرمقدمرعلىرجلبرالمصالحر‬or it means to block the harms is more
important than to get its benefits.

149

3.5.Social or Educational Activities

Tourism is not only about individual activity and hobby but it can be more than that.
Perhaps it can be an activity meant for family bonding, social interaction and educational.
These types of tourism are more popular nowadays that bring family members together
or even to organize a trip with neighbors, school, team, or colleagues, co-workers,
mosque organization, etc. This type of tourism is getting popular in the recent decades
with different purpose ranging from learning purpose, comparative study, strengthening
social bond, brotherhood, or even just for shopping. When compared to the West, these
types of tourism are a thriving business in many parts of Asia. Experts in tourism attribute
this latest development to the booming economy in many Asian countries.

This trend of social activity has different nature of tourism which is more to educational
visit to school, university, museum, zoo, historical sites, national parks, eco- tourism, etc.
which aims at introducing them to a learning opportunity. For the Muslims, especially
mosque tourism has become a trending site to visit in Malaysia and South East Asia in
general due to its historical value, spiritual experience and aesthetic beauty.

In Malaysia mosque tourism is getting popular in the country by taking tourist who are
Muslims and non-Muslims. Tourists are normally taken to visit mosques like Masjid
Negara, Wilayah Mosque, Raya Mosque, Iron Mosque, in Kuala Lumpur and Putra Jaya.
Besides the mosque in the capital city, other mosques in Penang, Melaka, Kedah and
Perak are also visited by tourists. This situation has been used by the local Islamic NGOs
to promote Islam by giving them information on mosque and its philosophy, plus some
information on Islam, especially to non-Muslim tourists.7 In Indonesia however, this type
of tourism is more popular among the local tourists to visit historical mosques which are
attached to the early propagators of Islam, who are well-known as ‘Wali Songo’ or ‘The
Nine Saints’ in the Island of Java. This trend of tourism however has not got its due
attention from the government agencies or from the industry in terms of its exposure,
promotion, accommodation, or holding cultural events related to educational and
religious festivals.

3.6. Gender Segregation and Women Travelers

Another issue of the Muslim tourists is the gender segregation. This is because man and
woman have their limit to mingle especially between non-relative and non-Mahram. It
directly affects the way of travelling for the Muslims where they could not travel together
for any reason. As a consequence the facilities for man and women should be separated
as much as possible. This issue has an impact for the tourism industry to provide the
facilities and the service for both genders. Among the issues faced in tourism is how the
hotel industry could put a control on the non-married couple to stay together in the room
(Henderson, 2010). This issue perhaps could affect the rate of occupancy in the hotel but
this rule is more relevant for the Muslims rather than the non-Muslims. This is because
coupling is prohibited in Islam unless they are married. However, this issue has caused

7 The writer was involved in voluntary work to be mosque guide in some mosques in Kuala Lumpur and
Putrajaya with the Islamic Outreach, ABIM.

150

some problems in its implementation in the hotel industry due to the reluctance of the
hoteliers as this could affect the coming of the tourists to their hotels. Furthermore, in
Islam a woman could not travel alone unless there is an emergence to do so. A woman
is allowed to travel with her family or relative or in a group to make sure her safety and
security. In some Muslim countries, especially in the gulf countries and Pakistan, this rule
is strictly practiced compared to other Muslim countries in South East Asia or Africa
unless it is for a noble and necessary purpose such as studying abroad, seeking medical
treatment, etc.

4. Adab (Morals) Observed during Travelling

Another issue which is not less important to the Muslims is the ethical issue related to
traveling. Traveling in Islam is not only about worldly activity which is free from any
ethical values but it has its ethics and norms related to it. It is due to the
comprehensiveness of Islam as guidance for human life and the role model of it is the
Prophet saw who guided Muslims in all aspects of life. This ethics are meant to get the
blessing of God in all activities of life including in traveling. The following is a short
summary on ethics that need to observed during travel and tour:

4.1. Decency

It is necessary for a Muslim traveler to observe decency in his/her action as well as in
dress whenever he or she has go out of home or with other people (non-Mahram). The
traveler is required to close his/her body as required by Islam and to make sure it is not
exposed to others in all condition especially when he or she is travelling as mentioned in
the Qur’an (surah an Nur). This requirement should be given due attention by the tourism
industry to provide the Muslim with required facilities such as bathroom, toilet, and
swimming pool (if possible) or other facilities which are necessary to avoid indecency and
obscenity.

4.2. Du’a (Supplication) during the Journey

Traveling is a kind of adventure that man would not know what will happen in the journey
and only God knows and to Him man will ask for help. Although travelling is not very hard
nowadays, thanks for the transportation and good roads, however man would not know
what will happen to him throughout his journey. For that reason, man is required to seek
God’s blessings protection from any harm or calamity. In this regard, Prophet Muhammad
has taught some Dua’ one can recite before leaving one’s place of domicile or when one
starts to ride his camel/horse those days and vechile of all kinds in modern context. One is
encouraged to recite a Dua’ in gratitude to God, even after one arrives safely at the
destination. Below here is an example of a Dua’ before embarking on a journey:

‫نرار‬،َّ ‫ارراَبل َّْلعُهدَّ ُمهررِإ‬،‫ارر ُاكل ََّّنل ُاره َلَّمُهرر َُهم َّْقو ِْ ِرننر ََِعيَلرْيَ َونِإاَّرنرا َرِإسَ ْلفىِرَرَناِّربرَن َاهر ََلذ ُامر َْنوَاق ِْل ُطب َوو ََّعن َّن‬،‫ررا ََّلوِِذم َنيررا َْل َسع ََّمخ َ ِرلر َرل ََنماارر َتَ ْه َر َِذار َوض َرم‬،‫َرهاََذَّّالرُال ْلر َِأ َّْكي َر َُويارل َُّتسْ ْقب َ َوحاى َرن‬،‫ِ يرافَرَّّ َلُلسرَْأف ِْكَرَن ُاري‬،ِ ‫ا َنللُْهسرَأَأُل ْك ََ ُكير‬

151

‫ر َوكآ َب ِةرا ْل َم ْن َظ ِرر َو ُسو ِءر‬،‫آرِيا ُلب َّل ُوهَ َّنمر َرتِإا ِّْيئ ُببر َأو َُعن ْرو َُعذار ِبِب ُ َدكور َِنمرِْل َنررِّبَ َون ْاعر َثَاحِاء ِرما ُلد َّورس ََفرن ِر‬،‫لر‬+ِ ‫ررِ َِ يوافْلرا َْلخ َِلماي َِفل ُرةَروِ ِايۡفَلراْهۡ َِللْره‬،‫ال َّل ُه َّمر َأ ْن َترال َّصا ِح ُبر ِ ِ يافلر ُامل ْن ََّقس َلَف ِِرب‬

“(Glory be to the One Who has placed this (transport) at our service and we ourselves
would not have been capable of that, and to our Lord is our final destiny. O Allah, we ask
You for righteousness and piety in this journey of ours, and we ask You for deeds which
please You. O Allah, facilitate our journey and let us cover its distance quickly. O Allah, You
are the Companion on the journey and the Successor (the One Who guards them in a
person’s absence) over the family. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the difficulties of
travel, from having a change of heart and from being in a bad predicament, and I seek
refuge with You from an ill-fated outcome with regard to wealth and family).”

4.3. To Praise God and be Thankful for His Bounties

It is recommended for a Muslim traveler to always remember God during his journey and
to praise Him for his blessing. Whenever he sees the beauty in God’s creation, he should
praise Him. For the bad things he comes across he should ask God to avert him from what
he sees in people and objects. This is because the traveler will see a lot of new things in his
journey either good or bad. Praising God for the good sceneries and asking God’s protection
from evil is the way practice shown to us by the Prophet of Islam. Muslims have been asked
to follow the ways of the Prophet in many parts of the Qur’an, one such example is in Surah
Ali Imron 121. Another example can be seen in the verse below:

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the
day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or
[lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying],
"Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then
protect us from the punishment of the Fire”. (Ali Imran: 191-193)

5. Islamic Tourism in South East Asia

Islamic tourism which had started in 80th where the tourism industry developed rapidly
and it became the main source of income for almost all countries, developed and the
developing countries as well. It is along with the progress of the economic and
infrastructures facilities in the developing countries, especially in South East Asia with its
worldwide promotion on tourism. Based on UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the
revenue from international traveler reached US$1075 in 2011 and increased by 4% in 2012
and the growth of the world tourism is estimated at 10.9% in 2014 (Lee &Chang,2008). The
figure of travelers across the world to reach 1602 million in 2020 and the spending is
estimated to reach US $200(Lee and Chang,2008). While the growth rate of Muslim
tourists is about 13.36% with estimate expenditure is about $192billion by 2020. Malaysia,
Egypt, Turkey, UAE, Thailand, Singapore, China and Indonesia are among the popular
destination for Muslim tourists. It is estimated that the region will attract over 18 million
Muslim arrivals by 2020, which is nearly 15 percent of all tourist arrivals to the 10-member

152

bloc (The Asean Post, 17/8/2019).

In South East Asia the trend of the Muslims visiting places of interest is also increasing
annually. The most popular places to visit are the historical mosques, shrines of religious
scholars (Ulama’) as well as the Islamic heritage and natural sites. Among the places in
Malaysia, the National Mosque, Raya Mosque, Iron Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, and the
historical mosques in other cities. In Indonesia the most popular places visited by the
Muslims are the mosques built or attached to the ‘Seven Saints’ (Wali Songo) and other
historical or beautiful mosques in the country. This trend is not different in Brunei and
Singapore, despite the other popular vocational places that came to exist later.

The booming tourism industry in the last few decades in the world should be attributed to
faster and cheaper transportation as well as the development of accommodation has as a
result in the increase of tourists in many countries in general, particularly in the South
East Asia. This trend has motivated the developing countries in South East Asia to develop
the tourism industry and to attract the tourists from the West as well as from the Muslim
countries to visit this region. South East Asia is regarded as the fastest growing nations in
building tourism industry and with the growth of two digits annually in average. This
situation is contributed by the rapid development of the facilities and accommodation in
the region as well as the stable political situation in addition to relatively cheap living cost
and multiracial society.

Despite the majority of the tourists coming to this region are from Western countries and
Eastern countries, the number of Muslim tourists had increased significantly in the last few
decades. This fact can be seen in an increase of 20 percent of Muslim tourists from the
Middle East and Indian Subcontinent coming to this region. This trend took place not
without reason but it is due to the hostility of the Western nations towards the Muslims
after 9/11 terror attacks in the US. It can be a blessing in disguise for Muslim countries with
the changing of the Muslims travel destination to other countries especially to this region
(The Sun Daily, 2019). The GMTI index estimates that there will be 160 million Muslim
travelers by 2020. This figure is expected to increase by 230 million by 2026. (The Star
(24/8/2019). According to the Malaysian Prime Minister, in launching visit Malaysia 2020,
Tun Mahathir optimistically expects the arrival of 30 million tourists in 2020 (The Star,
1/08/2019). Mohamaddin(Tourism minister) added that “non-Muslim countries” such as
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also started to tap into the Muslim traveler market
(the Star, 24/7/2019).

By the arrival of more Muslims tourists to this region it has challenged the Muslims in this
region to take part in the tourism and service industries be it government institution or the
private and individual entrepreneurs. As we know the hotel and accommodation facilities
were dominated by the non-Muslims since early times, a ‘negative’ image tarnish the
industry due to non-Islamic elements in it such as alcohol, illicit sex, drug, etc. Such an
image has made the Muslims so reluctant to embark on any business in the tourist
industry. However with more awareness of the Muslims about the industry and its benefits
socially, psychologically and economically the Muslims climb onto the bandwagon of the

153

industry. This trend however has its own issues with regard to the facilities, foods, services
as well as the standard and the certification and the rules to be adhered by the players in
the industry. Governments institutions had its own role to attract the Muslim and non-
Muslim tourists to visit countries in the region since 90th by developing public facilities and
incentives for the players of the industry as well as an easy entry into the country. Malaysia
as an example managed to attract more than 20 million tourists annually by promoting the
country using different strategies. Followed by Indonesia and Brunei apart from other
Asean countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam etc. However the three Muslim
countries in the region have to face different issues though Muslims are the majority living
there.

6. The Implementation of the Islamic Tourism in South East Asia
6.1. Malaysia

The trend of travelling and vacation started decades ago when the means of
transportation and information are getting faster and easier along with the economic
progress of the world and the Muslim nation in particular. Nowadays travelling has
become a lucrative industry that can produce great income for individuals as well as for
the nation. It has created millions of jobs whether directly or indirectly. Due to this trend
and the rapid development in tourism industry and vacation, it is necessary to look into
the issues related to traveling more seriously from the Islamic perspective. There are
different terms used in South East Asia that refers to Islamic tourism, such as Islamic
tourism, Sharia tourism, or even Halal tourism. Although they are close to each other but
perhaps there are different reasons to use these terms such as sensitivity of the term for
non-Muslims or commercial reason or even due to the different understanding of the
term that represents its proper meaning. In the three Muslim countries in SEA namely
Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia the use of the term is little bit different. In Malaysia,
Islamic tourism is more popular, while Sharia tourism is more familiar in Indonesian
context, although the two refers to the same meaning. Above these differences the main
issue of Islamic tourism is on the characteristics and the standard used in implementing
the concept of Islamic tourism in the region. The standard of Islamic tourism in the region
might be different from one country to another; however they may share the common
values and principles based on the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunnah. In this article we
try to compare the standardization used by the authority in this region especially in the
above mentioned three countries.

Referring to the Malaysian context, Islamic tourism had been introduced by the
Malaysian authority since 90th along with the influx of foreign tourists to the country.
Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) had been established in Malaysia in 2009 under the Ministry
of Tourism which was set up in 1985 to cater for the tourism industry which was
developing at that time and to find strategies to attract more Muslim tourists to the
country (ITC 2009).

As a separate body it focuses more on the issue of the concept of Islamic tourism and its
implementation to provide better facilities for the Muslim tourists who visit the country.
After sometimes the establishment of the centre along with the big promotion done by

154

the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia managed to attract more Muslim tourists within few
years and the growth rate is very high along with other Muslim countries such as
Morocco, Egypt and Turkey (Lina Munirah, 2013).

Based on the definition given by the Islamic Tourism Centre Malaysia, Islamic tourism is
a sphere of interest or activity which is related to travel and explore Islamic history, arts,
culture and heritage and/or to experience the Islamic way of life, in conformity with the
Islamic faith (ITC, 2009).

A lot of effort had been taken by Malaysia to improve the quality of Islamic tourism to
meet the standard and to implement the concept of Islam in the tourism industry. Among
the efforts that given priority related to Islamic tourism are as follow:

6.1.1. Halal Food Industry

Malaysia had adopted Halal certification since 1983 and the Halal standardization is
under the name of Halal food; production, preparation, handling and storage –
general guide (MS 1500:2009). It was developed under the Malaysian Standard
Development System, under the wing of the Department of Standardization Malaysia
(DSM), Ministry of Science, Technology and innovation (Siti Salwa, 2015). It is
supervised by the Islamic Affairs Department (JAKIM) and other related institutions.
This institution was established to make sure the food production meets all the Halal
standard developed by the Department and to ensure the Halal requirements are
fulfilled by the players in the food industry. The Halal standardization in Malaysia had
been applied to all food and beverages as well as all related product of food and
beverages under stringent rules to ensure its quality and Halal status. Hence each food
and drink product must bear a logo of Halal approved by the JAKIM authority and it is
supervised and monitored directly by that institution (Jakim, 2019). The process had
met the international standard of Malaysian Standard (MS 1500:2009) and in the
process to meet the International standard in the near future. The products that have
been certified include food, restaurant, food stall, hotel, companies, pharmaceutical,
households products, drinking water products, slaughtering facilities and logistics
(Halal Malaysia;2019).This process is still going on to cover other products that need
to be certified due to its nature of containing possible non-Halal substance.

6.1.2. Sharia Compliant Hotel

Hotel industry plays an important role to support the process of developing Islamic
tourism in Malaysia. Therefore it is necessary to have certain standard that can be
applied to all hotels regardless of the ownership whether it is managed by the Muslims
or non-Muslims, local or international players. ITC Malaysia launched recently Muslim
Friendly hotel recognition and according to the report Malaysia had received 5.2
million Muslim tourists in 2018 (The Star,2019). The move launched by the Ministry of
Tourism, Arts and Culture aims at putting the standards or accreditation to hotel
industry to meet the required level of Halal status and Sharia compliant

155

accommodation. He claimed that such accreditation which is to be carried out by the
Islamic Tourist Centre (ITC) is the first of its kind in the world (The Star, 2019).This
move is meant to set a standard for Halal status and accreditation and it is to be
followed by others in the future. The accreditation consists of three levels namely,
platinum, gold and silver and it is based on the compliance to the standard that has
been set by the Centre in collaboration with SIRIM. Interestingly, among the standards
to be fulfilled by the hoteliers are the proximity to the mosque and other Islamic
attraction, the availability of prayer room and mat, Kiblah direction, Halal certified
restaurant, segregated gym and swimming pool (ITC, 2019). Although there is no
complete agreement on the description of Shari’ah compliant hotel, the common
description of it is outlined as below:

1. Only Halal food should be served in the hotel premises and restaurant.
2. Prayer room is provided at least the Kiblah direction to be given in the room.
3. Hotel staff to wear proper Islamic dress code.
4. To provide water tap in the toilet and bath room.
5. Prohibition of serving alcohol and indecent entertainment.
6. No unwed couple to stay in the same room
7. No non Halal food to be brought by the visitor to the hotel (Zakiah Samori, 2014).

While in Malaysia the Halal certified hotel has to meet the following criteria:
Serving the Halal food or Halal restaurant, having the facilities for performing prayer
and having Kiblah indicator in each room, not serving non-Halal food and alcoholic
drinks (Zakiah Samori, 2012). Each hotel should fulfill these criteria in order to be
recognized as Halal hotel and to get the Halal logo which is issued by JAKIM or JAIS.
However, for the comprehensive criteria of the Halal hotel, according to JAKIM, so far
there are no legal guidelines or standard regulations for the hoteliers to follow in order
to achieve the Halal certification (Yuni Aryanty, 2010).

In promoting to the Muslim tourists, Malaysia had launched the campaign to attract
especially those from Arab countries that include the following moves:
a. Promoting Islamic museum and mosque tourism.
b. Art and cultural sites and event.
c. Introducing Muslim and Arab food and event.
d. Providing Arabic speaking guides and travels, etc.

6.2.The Implementation in Indonesia

In Indonesia the most common term used is ‘Wisata Halal’ which means Halal tourism
rather than Islamic tourism. As a Muslim majority country, Indonesia has launched the
campaign of Halal tourism since 90th and it is still in the process of developing the
proper standard of Islamic tourism. Indonesia receives about 20 percent of Muslim
tourists out of around 15 million tourists every year. This niche of Muslim tourist is still
small compared to total number of tourists visiting Indonesia every year and the
government is pushing hard to increase the number by having international campaign
to attract Muslim tourists, especially from Arab countries. Along with this campaign

156

the government is also trying to develop Halal tourism by designing the standards and
regulations to be followed by the players in the industry. In this regard, the Ministry is
drafting the guidelines of Halal tourism that includes destination, marketing, industry
and association (Tempo, 27/6/2019). According to the Ministry of Tourism, the Halal
certification is necessary in the industry because it will attract more Muslim visitors to
the country and at the same time it can improve the quality of service for tourists. He
added that Indonesia has a huge potential for Halal tourism industry due to its diverse
culture and wide natural tourist destination such as Lombok Island that develops to
be Halal tourist destination.

In the process of drafting the standard and regulations the Minister of Tourism of
Indonesia was stressing on the importance of having certification of Halal for hotel
industry including culinary, hotel, travel agent and spa services (Tempo,27/6/2019).
The standard of certification is also to clarify some misunderstanding among the
players in the industry such as in issue of separating the gender for the climbers of
Rinjani Mountain, Lombok. However the issue that created havoc weeks ago had been
clarified by the Chief of the Rinjani geopark Sudiyono that the plan to separate the
gender had been postponed and not to be implemented soon.
On the other hand, Lombok Island that has been declared as an icon of Halal tourism
by the Ministry in 2015 managed to attract 1.4 million Muslim tourists in 2017 and the
number increased almost 40 % within 2 years. Arif Yahya also reiterated that the
government is committed to improve the facilities for Muslim tourists by providing the
Muslim friendly airports with Mushalla (prayer room), with better facilities, Halal
certified hotel, restaurant at a reasonable rate and more cultural events (Tempo,
19/05/2019). Five destinations had been declared so far as Halal destinations by the
ministry that includes Aceh, West Sumatera, Riau and Riau Islands, Jakarta and
Lombok. According to Global Muslim Travel index (GMTI 2019) Indonesia and Malaysia
are positioned at No.1 of the most Muslim friendly destination for Muslim tourists
based on four criteria namely; accessibility, communication, environment and service.
Indonesia rose to the No.1 position in 2019 after four years of continuous effort done
by the government and the industry players to improve the infrastructures and
facilities. (Tempo, 24/5/2019).

According to Crescent the rating is based on the 6 common criteria of Halal tourism
namely:
1. Pork free food, non-alcohol and its products.
2. Availability of worship facilities\
3. Toilet and water for taking ablution.
4. Special service during Ramadan (breakfast and sahur)
5. Identification of non-Halal food
6. Recreation facilities that separate between male and female.

While according to Global Muslim Travel Index the rating is based on the following
standard:
1. Muslim family friendly destination

157

2. Safety for Muslim tourist
3. High volume of the Muslim tourists
4. Friendly service and facilities of Muslim tourist
5. Variety of Halal food
6. Easy access and comfortable place of worship
7. Good and friendly airport
8. Option of accommodation facilities
9. Halal awareness and marketing destination
10. communication facilities
11. Accessibility and awareness of the need of Muslim tourist
12. Connectivity of air transportation
13. Ease Visa requirement (Goodnewsindonesia,13/4/2019)

6.3.The Implementation in Brunei

Brunei Darussalam as a Muslim country in ASEAN is also struggling to develop its Islamic
tourism along with its continued campaign to attract tourists to this tiny country. Brunei
as a Muslim country has long history of Islam and rich with Islamic culture and heritage has
a lot to offer to the Muslims tourists. As a Muslim majority country, Brunei implemented
the Islamic laws since 2014 in different aspects including criminal punishment despite the
criticism raised by some countries. In addition to that, its small population that consists of
Muslim majority had contributed immensely to the Islamic environment and ambient. This
situation has formed more Islamic environment for Islamic tourism in Brunei and
contributed to the less effort to offer Islamic tourism compared to other countries.

However the adherence to the Sharia law should not be an obstacle to develop the Islamic
tourism market in the country. Instead Brunei has reached number 10 of GMTI Top-10 of
OIC destinations. Brunei scored 90/100 on GMTI benchmark criteria in term of safety and
dining facitilites. GMTI provides the Muslims with the scores of halal-friendly standards of
more than 100 destinations across the world. The main attraction to Muslims visitors to
Brunei includes Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque, Hasan al Bolkiah mosque, Darul Ifta building
with its valuable Islamic artifacts, the Royal Mausoleum, Brunei History etc. Brunei Tourism
is working closely with the Ministry of Religious Affairs to develop Islamic tourism that
includes offering mosque tourism and Islamic gallery. And the main source of Muslim
tourists in the country is from Asean countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,
Indonesia and Philippines.

Brunei Tourism Board is also promoting Islamic tourism by providing materials as well as
products and tours that would be an interest to the visitors. (TTG Asia, Nov. 2019)
According to Brunei’s Ministry of Primary resources and tourism, Malaysia and Indonesia
have consistently been among Brunei’s largest tourism markets since 2015. Out of 218,213
tourists arrival in 2015, Malaysian shared 26.6 % and Indonesian shared 23,5 % and this
trend seems to an ongoing one. (The Asean Post, 28/10/2019).

7. CONCLUSION

158

Based on the discussion above it can be concluded that Islamic tourism conceptually not a
new activity in Islam but it has transformed to be more commercial and recreational in
nature. However, Islam as a comprehensive way of life has provided the general principles
and guidelines on its concept of travel and journey. Tourism is not exempted from the
guidelines set by Islam. The guiding principles set by Islam are mainly related to this life or
the hereafter. As a new trend of activity and the new type of business and a new form of
national revenue, tourism has developed fast in the world and in the Muslim countries as
well. This situation challenged the Muslim nations and the Muslim countries to develop its
infrastructures and facilities to the new level to provide the best service for tourists in
general and the Muslim tourists in particular. The Asean region is dynamic economically
and rich with culture and natural tourist destinations is not spared from the trend to attract
travelers to visit the region. In order to attract more travelers to the region, particularly
Muslim travelers, some works need to be done in order to fulfill the needs of Muslims
travelers be it in service, accommodation, food, etc. It also requires the Muslim countries
to develop its infrastructures and accessibility as well as its promotions to other countries
especially among the OIC countries to provide them with better services and indirectly it
could strengthen the relation and brotherhood among the Muslim ummah in general.

REFERENCES

1. Arasteh, M., & Eilami, R. M. (2011). The Role of Religion and Islam in the Tourism
Industry of Iran. Available at SSRN 1773827., 1–13 retrieved from

https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1773827

2. Battour, M., Ismail, M. N., & Battor, M. (2011). The Impact of Destination
Attributes on Muslim Tourist ’ s Choice. International Journal of Tourism
Research, 13, 527–540.

3. Essoo, N., & Dibb, S. (2004). Religious Influences on Shopping Behaviour: An

Exploratory Study. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and

Social Sciences 2017, Vol. 7, No. 12 ISSN: 2222-6990 retreived from

https://doi.org/10.1362/0267257041838728

4. Mukhtar, A., & Butt, M. M. (2012). Intention to Choose Halal Products: The Role
of Religiosity. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 3, 108–120. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1108/17590831211232519

5. Henderson, J. C. (2003). Managing Tourism and Islam in Peninsular Malaysia.

Tourism Management, 24(4), 447–456.retreived from

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(02)00106-1

6. Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak in SlideShare (Slide No:9) retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/maarji/my-quotes-58836218. Retrieved on 30th

August 2019

7. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/24/malaysia-launches-muslim-

friendly-hotel-recognition#q3bDsVKsDZoDGt20.99
8. Yuni Aryanty & Nor ‘Ain Othman. (2010). Awareness and Attitudes Towards

Hotel Operation According to Syariah Compliance In Malaysia. Proceeding of

159

Seminar Pengurusan Perhotelan & Pelancongan Islam 2010, CITU, UiTM, 268-
275
9. Tempo.co.id. 2019
10. Al Ma’ani Arabic dictionary(2019).
11. Siti Salwa Md.Sawari(2015), Standard Piawaian Halal di Malaysia Menurut
Perundangan; Kelebihan dan Kekurangan, UMRAN – International Journal of
Islamic and Civilizational Studies. vol. 2, no. 2 ,(2015) 55–60
12. Hassan Saad Sanad Ayman Mounier Kassem Minya University (2010), Tourism
and Islamic law, Egypt Noel Scott The University of Queensland, Australia,p.17
13. Shakiry, A. S. (2006). The academy of Islamic tourism project; Islamic Tourism,
25, September-October.[Online] retrieved from
http://www.itmitw.com/Articles/articles.php? Issue 25 [Accessed on 3rd July
2013].
14. Hassan A. R. (2004). Islamic tourism: The concept and the reality. Islamic
Tourism, 14, 2.
15. Amna Puri Mirza(2018), Travel, Tourism and hospitality, Saudi statistics of the
pilgrims 2018. Retrieved from www.statista.com/statistics/617696/saudi-arabia-
total-hajj-pilgrims/
16. New Strait times, 16th July 2019, Malaysia hajj quota ,
www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/440147/malaysias-haj-quota-remains-
30200-2019-nsttv
17. Lee, C. and C. Chang (2008) “Tourism development and economic growth: A
closer look at panels”, Tourism Management Vol.29, pp. 180–192.
18. The Asean Post, 28/10/2019).

19. The Travels of Ibn Battutah(2003), Ibn Battuta,Tim Mackintosh-Smith (Editor), Picador publ.
New York

160

Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference
2019

Sustaining Global Development Goals through
Language, Education and Tourism

Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University
Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

MEASURING TOURISTS’ SATISFACTION WITH MULTIPLE MOSQUE
DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES

Nor Afira Yasmin Mohammad Roffe*1, Siti Salwa Md Sawari2

1, 2 Department of Tourism, Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic
University Malaysia, Johor, MALAYSIA.

(E-mail: *[email protected], [email protected])

ABSTRACT
The developing of the mosque in Malaysia represent the socio-cultural of Muslim people.
Besides being developed as a place for religious activities, the mosque also has other roles
to function such as in Malaysia, the mosque was utilized space for learning activities as well
as an education center. Mosque tourism can be tourist experience of travel that retreats
from the hectic life with expectation and satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to investigate
the significant relationship between destination attributes and tourist satisfaction in
mosques destination. This study is a quantitative in nature, whereby researcher used
questionnaire to assess the tourist satisfaction and mosque destination attributes. Non-
probability sampling was used in this study. This method is a convenient sampling method
process which is used to select the sample. The sample size for this study was 200
respondents. Pearson Correlation was employed to identify the relationship among the
variables. From the analysis it was found that destination attributes have a positive
relationship with tourist satisfaction on mosque destination in Malaysia. This research is
necessary to provide a better understanding of the mosque destination attributes in
Malaysia focused on tourists’ satisfaction in Islamic tourist destination
Keywords: Islamic Tourism; Mosque; Muslim Friendly Tourism; Tourism

161

INTRODUCTION

In today’s globalised world where seeking experience has made traveling a part and parcel
of everyday life, tourism has become a broad industry for many countries. Globally,
Muslims were the second largest religious group with 1.8 billion or 24% of the world
population, followed by other religions such as Hindus (15%) and Buddhist (7%) (Pew
Research Center 2017). The greatest growth in number was experienced by Muslims among
all other religious groups including Christians. In Islam, mosque is not just the main place
for Muslims to perform their religious activities, but also an institution for social gathering.
In Malaysia, the development of mosque in any district has increased from time to the time
which represents the socio-culture of Muslims in Malaysia. Mosque functions as a place for
religious and learning activities as well as an education centre. Mosque tourism can satisfy
the tourists through the experience of travelling far from hectic life.

In Islamic tourism industry, mosque becomes a ‘concrete symbol’ of Islam and
significantly turns out to be a role model and symbol in promoting Islam to other nations
and races. Until today, mosque still stands up as a focal institution to the Muslim
community, but the role of large-built mosque is not fully exploited and maximally used to
attract new and revisit tourists, and even local people itself (Aziz, Ibrahim, Jahnkassim &
Abdullah, 2016). Moreover, mosque is only appeared as the symbol of ‘architectural pride’
of Muslim society and does not really function to create understanding about Islam (Aziz
et al., 2016). If we notice, we could find that many mosques in Malaysia have forms and
structures which are similar in nature; most of them have the outer structure of big
domes with minarets, the inner decorations and other similar features, for instance, the
design of Masjid Putra in Putrajaya (Othman, Yazid, Yunos & Ismail, 2015). This scenario
shows that mosque institution in Malaysia is just used for tourism purpose only and to
receive foreign interest. Thus, this research aims to investigate the significant relationship
between destination attributes and tourists’ satisfaction towards mosques destination.

2.1 MOSQUE: A HUB IN ISLAMIC TOURISM

2.2

Nowadays, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion, and mosques have been built more
than any other places of worship. Large, iconic and architectural mosques serve as a hub
for spiritual and religious activities for communities. Moreover, heritage features and
designs, unique characteristics and accessibility make them a push and pull factor for a
large scale of tourist visits (Toyib, 2009). Mosque is generally known as Masjid in Arabic
language, which is used in the Quran and it literally means as a place of prostrations. In 622
Century, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina was built after the immigration of Muslims from
Mecca to Medina. Prophet Muhammad SAW himself had actively participated in the
construction of the mosque which was called as Nabawi Mosque. From that moment,
mosque becomes the centre of Islamic city and civilization as well as for political, religious,
cultural and social activities. However, when Muslim tourists travel for more than three
consecutive days, mosque is the place for them to perform the prayers. This is clearly

162

mentioned in the Quran:
"O you who believed, when the adhan is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah
(Friday), then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave the trade. That is better for
you, if you only knew" [Al Jumu'ah,62:9]

Apart from functioning as a place for worship, mosque is a central event of community
and it needs to follow certain criteria in terms of site planning and design. The ideal
location of mosque should be within the residential area that can be easily accessible by
public transportation, its entrance needs to be visible from the street, has wide parking
facilities and most importantly, it can be accessible by the visitors or the tourists. A great
example of the 21st-century mosque in Arab country that blends tradition with modernity
is Sultan Ahmed Mosque or popularly known as Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey which
was opened in 1616 and established as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. This mosque
is opened to Muslims and non-Muslims who want to pay a visit and are amazed with the
architectural view of Blue Mosque. It allows Muslims to pray, offers seminars and lectures
on the religious topics as well as permits tourists to visit the mosque outside the prayer
time. Tourists are also welcome to talk with the mosque tour guide on the topic related to
mosque and Islam. Henderson (2003) suggested that unique mosque with different values
could be considered as the tourist attraction.

2.3 TOURISTS’ SATISFACTION

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The tourist saisfaction is very
important for tourism businesses. It is because unsatisfied tourists are unlikely to return
visit. Since the rise of tourism websites and apps like TripAdvisor, Traveloka and others, it
is easier for the tourists to share their experience at particular destination by giving
feedback and rating (Verain, 2015). These might influence the motivation of other tourists.
If other tourists read about the experiences of unsatisfied tourists, it could affect and stop
them from coming to that particular destination. Tourists’ satisfaction is vital to successful
destination marketing because it influences the choice of the destination, the purchasing
of goods and services and the decision to revisit (Gok & Sayin, 2015). There are many
different definitions of satisfaction which are used by different researchers. According to
Ryan, (1995), satisfaction is seen as an analogy of need and performance. Moreover,
tourists’ satisfaction is related to the tourists’ mental and psychology compared to their
physical state. The tourists can sign their satisfaction when they visit their favourite
destinations (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). Pizam and his friend claimed that the satisfaction of
each attribute in tourism destination has to be identified in order to investigate the
satisfaction of tourism destination. There are quite many attributes which could affect the
tourist’ satisfaction related to the destination such as transportation, accommodation,
food and beverages services, entertainment services, the quality and price of the services,
communication with local community and tour operator. This statement was supported by
Voon & Lee, (2009) which highlighted that tourists’ satisfaction with destination was
determined by the following criteria: travel services, facilities, access, cleanliness, safety,
and experience.

163

3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study was quantitative which used descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. Three
mosques were selected for the study which were National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Jamek
Mosque in Kuala Lumpur and Putra Mosque in Putrajaya. The questionnaire were
distributed to the tourists in these three places.

Non-probability sampling was used in this study. This method is a convenient
sampling method process which is used to select the sample. The sample size for this study
was 200 respondents. Meanwhile, this study used a Likert scale questionnaire where the
visitors needed to rate the questions. The data was also collected through journal articles.
The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 25th edition. The
response rate for this study was 20 % which meet the minimum requirement.

4.1 FINDING

4.3 RESPONDENT DEMORAPHIC

Based on the Table 4.1, it can be seen that 47.5% (n=95) of the respondents are from group
age of 18-24 years old and followed by group age 25-40 years old which is 43% (n=86), the
age 41-60 years old is 12% (n=12), then age of above 60 years old is 3% (n=6). While, the
group age 13-17 years old is the least number of respondents which is 0.5% (n=1).

Table 1: Table of Respondent Demographic : Age

13-17 years old Frequen Age Valid Cumulati
18-24 years old c Perce ve
25-40 years old nt Percent
Valid 41-60 years old y .5 Percent
Above 60 years 1 .5 .5
47.5 47.5
old 95 43.0 43.0 48.0
Total 6.0 6.0
86 3.0 3.0 91.0
12 97.0
100.0
6 100.0

200 100.0

From the Table 2, there is 76% (n=152) of the respondents female and 24% (n=48)
of the respondents were male.

164

Table 4.2: Table of Respondent Demographic: Gender

Male Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Valid Female Percent Percent
48 24.0 24.0 24.0
Total 152 76.0
200 100.0 76.0 100.0
100.0

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES AND TOURIST
SATISFACTION

The Table 4.11 shows that there are correlations between the variables. A Pearson
correlation was run to assess the relationship between destination attributes and tourist
satisfaction. There was a moderate correlation as r =0.435 with p < 0.001 based on n=200
that reflects the destination attractiveness have relationships with tourist satisfaction.

Furthermore, the results correlation test between religious motivation and tourist
satisfaction shows that there was strong correlation between religious motivation and
tourist satisfaction as r= 0.505 with p < 0.001 based on n = 200 that shows religious
motivation have relationships with tourist satisfaction.

Table 4.11: Correlation score between destination attributes and tourist
satisfaction

Correlations

Destinatio

n Religiou Tourist
s Satisfacti
Attractiven Motivati on
on
es .435
s .774 **
**
Destination Pearson 1 .000
Attractiven .000 200
ess Correlatio 200
.505**
Religiou n Sig. (2- 1
s .0
Motivati tailed) N 2 200 00
on 0 20
Pearson 0
Correlation
.774

**

Sig. (2- .000
tailed)

N 200

165

Tourist Pearson .435 .505 0
Satisfacti Correlation 1
on Sig. (2- ** **
tailed) 20
N .000 .000 0
200 200

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

In general, it can be implied that if the level of destination attractiveness and religious
motivations about the mosque destination increases, the tourist satisfaction towards
mosque tourism tend to increase as well. Based on the correlation analysis, it can be found
that there is a positive relationship between destination attractiveness and religious
motivations as independent variables and tourist satisfaction towards mosque tourism as
dependent variables. Hence, all of the hypothesis testing in this study is accepted and
supported. To fully convince with the relationship between independent variables
(destination attractiveness and religious motivation) and tourists satisfaction in mosque
tourism as dependent variable, the regression analysis was performed.

5.1 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this study proves that destination attractiveness and religious motivation of
mosque destination is closely related with tourists’ satisfaction. The researcher was able to
identify which factor that influenced tourists’ satisfaction the most towards particular
destination. This study will become a stepping stone to the great experimental study with
the use of complex correlation designs. The first major practical contribution of the study
is that it has significant contribution to the policy and management of Islamic tourism such
as Islamic Tourism Centre of Malaysia (ITC) under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture
Malaysia as well as National Mosque, Putrajaya Mosque and Jamek Mosque in promoting
mosque as successful mosque tourism attraction in Malay.

References

Goeldner, C. R., & Ritchie, J. R. B. (2009). Tourism Principles, Practice, Phiosophies (11th
ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
http://doi.org/10.1159/000470892

Gok, T., & Sayin, K. (2015). South Korean Tourists ’ Expectation , Satisfaction and Loyalty
Relationship, 9(8), 2850–2855.

Henderson, J. C. (2003). Managing Tourism and Islam in Peninsular Malaysia, 24(June
2002), 447–456. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(02)00106-1

Joppe, M. (2002). Marketing in travel and tourism, 3rd edn, by Victor T.C. Middleton and
Jackie Clarke. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2001. No. of pages 487. Price
£19.99/US$37.95. ISBN 0-7506-4471-0. International Journal of Tourism Research.

166

http://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.367
Kessler, K., & Kessler, K. (2015). Conceptualizing Mosque Tourism : A central feature of

Islamic and Religious Tourism . Conceptualizing Mosque Tourism : A Central Feature
of Islamic and Religious Tourism, 3(2). http://doi.org/10.21427/D7RB0G
Khan, A. H., Haque, A., & Rahman, M. S. (2013). What makes tourists satisfied ? An
empirical study on Malaysian Islamic tourist destination. Middle-East Journal of
Scientific Research, 14(12), 1631–1637.
http://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2013.14.12.2250
Kim, S., & Lee, C. (1977). Push and Pull Relationships. In Annal of Tourism Research (pp.
257–260).
Verain, L. (2015). Tourist Motives , Expectations and Satisfaction. Wageningen University.
Yoon, Y., & Uysal, M. (2005). An Examination of the Effects of Motivation and Satisfaction
on Destination Loyalty : A Structural Model An examination of the effects of
motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty : a structural model, 26(February
2005), 45–56. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.08.016
Bibliography
Nor Afira Yasmin Binti Mohammad Roffe currently is final year student at Kulliyyah
Languages and Managment, International Islamic University Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub
Malaysia. Majoring in Tourism Planning Hospitality and Managment. She can be
contacted through email address [email protected]. Title of paper measuring
tourists’ satisfaction with multiple mosque destination attributes.

167

Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through Language, Education and Tourism
Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia,

Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

MODELING AND FORECASTING:
A CASE STUDY OF TOURIST ARRIVALS IN MALAYSIA

Nur Haizum Abd Rahman*1, Nur Nabilah Jamal2 and Nur Hidayah Abd Rahman3
1, 2 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang,

Selangor, MALAYSIA.
(E-mail: *[email protected])
3 Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia, Pagoh
Campus, 84600 Pagoh, Johor, MALAYSIA.
(E-mail: [email protected])

ABSTRACT
Tourism industry has become one of the main sources for Malaysia's income. It affects other
sectors such as hotels, retail businesses and transportations. Thus, it is important to
monitor the development of tourism industry, so that proper planning can be enforced.
Therefore, forecasting by using time series analysis, which is the Box-Jenkins method will
be discussed here to provide future information to support the decision-making processes.
The forecast performance has been compared by using magnitude error measurements.
The empirical result shown that SARIMA (0,1,0)(0,1,1)12 is the best model in forecasting
tourist arrivals with only 8% different between 12 of the actual and forecast values.
Keywords: Tourism; forecasting; Box-Jenkins; time series

168

1. INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is separated into two regions which are the Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo with
variety of ethnics and cultures. Malaysia has been blessed with cultural diversity and the
amazing background. Therefore, Malaysia is seen as one of the most perfect spots for
tourists’ destinations around the world. For instance, Malaysia is a well-known destination
as one of the most fascinating travel destinations in South East Asia.

Tourism is one of the vigorous sectors in contributing world’s economy (Kadir & Karim,
2012). This is because tourism activities can gain huge profit where it becomes an
economic savior to many countries. The tourism industry in Malaysia has been started in
the 1970s, after the 1972 Conference of the Pacific Areas Travel Association (PATA) in
Kuala Lumpur (Marzuki, 2010). This conference gave a relatively huge impact since it
provides information on the profitable gain from the tourism industry. Since then, the
government had put a lot of efforts in developing tourism industry in Malaysia. As an
example, the Malaysian government has highlighting the tourism strategy
developments in five Malaysian Plans (MPs) (Mosbah & Salleh, 2014). The
successfulness of the tourism industry has proven since 1987 where the country’s
economic growth has been partially depended through this sector (Ooi, Hooy, & Mat
Som, 2013).

The economic growth in tourism sector can be proven with the data recorded by the
Ministry of Tourism, Art and Cultural Malaysia (MOTAC). The available data where it is
in the form of time series give valuable information for future planning and
management. Thus, the time series analysis is suitable as statistical approach that gives
inside of the recorded data. The main purpose of using time series analysis is to develop
a mathematical model that can produce forecasts of future observations (Khandelwal,
Adhikari, & Verma, 2015). Forecasts are crucial for planning and inventory control in
many applications. For tourism, the forecasts can help in define various data types such
as the numbers of tourist arrivals, length of stay and expenditures. Therefore, this paper
aims to model and forecast the tourism demand based on the data of tourist arrivals in
Malaysia.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Forecasting in Tourism

Forecasting is important in the tourism sector since it will predict the trend of tourism
demand and supply in a specific destination. Therefore, forecasting is seen as an
important component in the tourism planning and management process (Elena et al.,
2012). Previously, there are two approaches in demand forecasting which are
qualitative approach and quantitative approach (Uysal & Crompton, 1985; Peiris, 2016).
According to Uysal and Crompton (1985), the qualitative approach consists of
Traditional Approaches, Delphi Model and Judgement-aided Model, meanwhile, the
quantitative approach requires the existence of previous data which can be categorized
as Time Series, Gravity and Trip Generation Model, and Multivariate Regression. Based

169

on Uysal and Crompton (1985), the quantitative approach is seen as the suitable
approach in which, the time series methods through the Box and Jenkins model (Box &
Jenkins, 1976) can provide a direct statistical result to forecast the future of tourism
demand. Based on the Box-Jenkins model, the time series approach that commonly
being applied in previous studies is simple ARIMA model or seasonal ARIMA model
(Peiris, 2016). The SARIMA model is seen as the most suitable and direct method to
forecast the tourist flows and arrivals in a specific destination (Suhartono, 2011). Hence,
this study is intended to model and forecast the tourist arrivals in the context of
Malaysia through the SARIMA model.

2.2 Tourism Industry in Malaysia

Malaysia has been blessed with multicultural people with various religions and unique
history which can contribute to tangible and intangible heritage. Hence, Malaysia owns
a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) which can be promoted to attract international
tourists to visit Malaysia. The tourism industry is seen as an important sector to boost
the Malaysia economy and therefore, there are various efforts have been done by the
Malaysian Government through Malaysian Plans, National Tourism Policy (NTP),
National Ecotourism Plan (NEP), and Malaysia Tourism Transformation Programme
(MTTP) (Mosbah & Salleh, 2014). Moreover, various efforts have been done by MOTAC
to increase the numbers of international tourist arrivals such as promoting the Visit
Malaysia Year (VMY). Thus, it is important for the current study to forecast the tourist
arrivals which in line with the target of Visit Malaysia Year 2020.

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Box-Jenkins Method

Box-Jenkins methodology is a class of linear models that is capable in representing
stationary as well as nonstationary time series (Rahman, Lee, Suhartono, & Latif, 2016).
This methodology refers to a set of procedures for model identifying, model estimating
and model checking using time series data (Hanke & Wichern, 2005). Forecasts follow
directly from the form of the fitted models. The Box-Jenkins aim to obtain a model that is
parsimony. Parsimony referred to a model that has the smallest number of parameters
needed to adequately fit the patterns in the observed data.

There are several types of Box-Jenkins model including autoregressive (AR), moving
average (MA), autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and autoregressive integrated
moving average (ARIMA). AR, MA and ARMA representing the model for stationary data
while ARIMA represent model for the non-stationary data. The general form of ARIMA
model can be written as:

 ( B) (1− B)d Y =  ( B) (1)

p tq t
where  (B) = 1− B − − Bp and  (B) = 1− B − − Bq .

p 1p q 1q

170

The ARIMA model is a generalization of simple model, AR, MA and ARMA and with the
integration, I, in data differencing. The form can be denoted as ARIMA (p,d,q). The
notation d represents the number of times that the raw observations been differences.

There also another form of Box-Jenkins method which is seasonal autoregressive
integrated moving average (SARIMA) model where the seasonal components are included
in the model. The generalized form of SARIMA model can be extended from (1) which is:

 (B) (BS )(1− B)d (1− BS )D Y =  (B) (BS ) (2)

where  (B) = 1− B − − Bp ,  (B) = 1−  B − −  BP ,  (B) = 1− B − − Bq and

p 1p P 1 Pq 1q

 (B) = 1−  B − −  BQ . The seasonal in seasonal ARIMA can be abbreviated as SARIMA

3.2 Forecast Evaluations

For this study that compare between single series, the root mean squared error (RMSE)
and mean absolute error (MAE) are used in the magnitude error group. MAE and RMSE are
commonly used since both are the scale-dependent measures (Hyndman &
Athanasopoulos, 2014).

The RMSE calculated the loss function associated with the average of the quadratic
or square error loss. For MAE, it measures the magnitude of forecast errors where it takes
the absolute value. Thus, it does not account for over-forecast or under-forecast. The RMSE
and MAE can be written as:

( )1 n 2

n t =1
RMSE = yt − yˆt (3)
(4)
MAE = 1 n yt − yˆt
n t =1

These measurements, RMSE and MAE are widely applied since it is simple and

understandable. Such error can be calculated directly from the actual and forecast values

without involving any unknown parameter that needs to be estimated (Elliott &

Timmermann, 2005).

4. MAIN RESULTS

The monthly tourist’s arrivals data in Malaysia is used from January 2000 until December
2017. The data is divided into two parts; (a) January 2000 to December 2016 as the training
data set to define the model, (b) 2017 (January to December) as the testing data set to
check the forecast performance. The data is shown in Table 1 meanwhile the time series
plot is given in Figure 1.

171

Table 1. Tourist arrivals data

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
2000 731,509 786,040 737,678 916,382 894,350 960,782
2001 1,052,854 1,09,0219 1,492,235 1,358,776 1,038,210 1,308,788
2002 834,519 986,408 1,272,810 1,106,053 1,153,033 1,297,536
2003 1,070,428 985,343 819,376 456,374 541,267 719,047
2004 1,408,378 1,295,913 1,274,230 1,266,824 1,262,717 1,381,355
2005 1,394,032 1,346,550 1,419,275 1,317,749 1,351,141 1,339,051
2006 1,453,803 1,384,479 1,541,056 1,422,576 1,393,656 1,368,651
2007 1,721,786 1,652,004 1,906,304 1,764,868 1,841,870 1,803,594
2008 1,780,134 1,742,468 1,819,689 1,760,326 1,899,148 1,961,355
2009 1,871,099 1,613,309 1,975,776 1,883,873 1,894,059 2,108,328
2010 1,896,918 1,832,300 2,022,590 1,877,934 1,992,277 2,246,084
2011 1,918,751 1,669,288 1,952,343 1,891,350 1,892,095 2,039,035
2012 1,817,061 1,773,471 1,972,006 1,924,129 1,951,925 2,193,886
2013 2,070,394 2,002,709 2,376,295 1,984,982 2,044,039 2,074,312
2014 2,44,7397 2,118,540 2,525,496 2,175,009 2,266,417 2,342,187
2015 2,291,603 1,949,016 2,242,077 2,071,922 2,118,890 1,893,792
2016 2,376,166 2,091,098 2,198,716 2,101,280 2,144,119 2,121,396
2017 2,350,270 2,043,215 2,238,184 2,145,734 2,039,016 2,134,647
Source: Ministry of Tourism, Art and Cultural (MOTAC)

a from year 2000 until 2017 Oct Nov Dec
990,658 806,648 1,042,572
Jul Aug Sep 596,202 759,321
811,876 764,500 778,587 975,771
1,015,946 1,061,229 1,253,941
1,125,504 1,149,987 927,206 994,858 1,135,493 1,328,940
1,135,691 1,163,724 1,029,120 1,329,208 1,303,445
1,359,498 1,432,317 1,417,236
753,029 826,234 943,526 1,367,735 1,564,286 1,539,329
1,227,052 1,268,237 1,326,549 1,540,070 1,764,586 1,886,022
1,317,276 1,393,666 1,335,027 1,673,922 1,845,645 2,058,684
1,450,319 1,503,748 1,384,890 1,818,304 2,048,595 2,141,071
1,713,951 1,642,899 1,601,016 2,078,485 2,081,354 2,123,021
1,928,082 1,839,235 1,599,418 2,137,735 2,225,534 2,269,773
2,003,724 2,030,337 1,997,535 2,189,014 2,236,473 2,436,613
2,214,092 2,099,485 2,053,406 2,205,979 2,045,850 2,806,565
2,406,100 2,166,937 2,094,104 2,106,569 2,130,022 2,447,845
2,306,675 2,240,687 1,973,803 2,247,666 2,004,694 2,583,467
2,129,393 1,980,960 2,093,392 2,082,866 2,054,165 2,646,810
2,229,920 2,273,271 2,233,545 2,326,487 2,007,965 2,435,564
2,216,049 2,182,536 2,084,339 2,068,995
2,296,615 2,282,173 2,118,367
2,263,478 2,1290,13 2,092,378

Figure 1: Time series plot for tourist arrivals from year 2000 until 2017

Roughly, based on Figure 1 and Table 1, the number of tourist arrivals is increasing from
year to year. In December 2013, the highest number of tourist arrivals is recorded with a
total of 2,806,565 tourists have visited Malaysia. On the other hand, the minimum tourist
arrivals recorded in April 2003 with the total number of 456,374 tourists. According to
Kusni, Kadir and Nayan (2014), the reason that caused huge decrement in number of
tourists visited Malaysia in April and May 2003 is because of the outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory System (SARS) disease. Since it affected human health and due to safety issues,
the number of tourist arrivals decrease not only in Malaysia but also in other Asian country
like Indonesia (Ooi, Hooy, & Mat Som, 2013). However, starting from June 2003, the
number of tourists increased due to a media statement from the Health Ministry director
general Tan Sri Mohamad Taha Arif. He had clarified Malaysia is free from SARS with no
reported death or suspended case (Edwards, Mustafa, & Koh, 2003).

Besides, SARS attack, there is also other major issue in year 2008 and 2009 where the
global economic crises occurred. However, Malaysia still progressively recorded
increased number of tourists compared to previous year up to 5% (Mosbah & Salleh, 2014).

For forecasting purposed in the year 2017, the Box-Jenkins method is conducted where
the stationary series is the important methodology. Data transformation is made
accordingly, with detrended, deseasonalised and differencing for both nonseasonal (d=1)
and seasonal order (D=12) (Suhartono, 2011). The models are identified from
autocorrelation function (ACF) and partial autocorrelation function (PACF). The best model
is chosen among the competitive models based on the smallest error. Three possible
models are determined from tourist arrivals training dataset which are SARIMA (0,1,0)
(0,1,1)12, SARIMA (0,1,0) (1,1,1)12 and SARIMA (0,1,0) (1,1,0)12.

Table 2: Forecast performance based on RMSE and MAE

Evaluations SARIMA Model
(0,1,0) (1,1,1)12
(0,1,0) (0,1,1)12 (0,1,0) (1,1,0)12

RMSE 193626.2 209971.6 207697.2

MAE 177451.7 195240.8 192581.6

173

Instead of comparing the performance in training data set, this study compared the
performance in testing data set due to the objective is to find the best forecast model. The
result is given in Table 2. As shown, the best SARIMA model is (0,1,0)(0,1,1)12 with the
lowest value in RMSE and MAE, 193626.2 and 177451.7 respectively. Therefore, the actual
and forecast plot is given in Figure 2. As shown, the developed model (forecast) can follow
most of the pattern recorded in the actual values.

Figure 2: Actual and forecast values for Malaysia tourist arrivals in 2017

5. CONCLUSION
The findings have shown that the best model to forecast the tourist arrivals in Malaysia is
SARIMA (0,1,0) (0,1,1)12. Although this method known to be the simplest or conventional
methods in time series research area, yet this result is acceptable since it provides high
accuracy with the difference between actual and forecast values is only 8%. Several
previous studies also have shown that simple method could outperform more advance or
complicated methods (Makridakis, Spiliotis, & Assimakopoulos, 2018). This is because the
model can immediately adapt to the change in the series.
The forecast result can be the benchmark idea since it can lead to better improvement in
the tourism industry. In addition, government or any related agencies can be beneficial
with the forecast values in planning tourism related programs such as providing enough
accommodation or facilities to the tourist.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nur Haizum Abd Rahman is a senior lecturer in the Department of
Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Any questions regarding this
paper, Modeling and Forecasting: A Case Study of Tourist Arrivals in Malaysia can be
contacted through her email [email protected].
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The authors would like to express their appreciation for the
support of the Putra-IPM research grant with Project No 9587700.

174

REFERENCES

Box, G. E. P., & Jenkins, G. M. (1976). Time series analysis: Forecasting and control San
Francisco. Calif: Holden-Day.

Edwards, A., Mustafa, M., & Koh, C. (2003). Malaysia ‘free from SARS.’ The Star. Retrieved
from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2003/04/01/malaysia-free-from-
sars/

Elena, M., Lee, M. H., Suhartono, Hossein, Haizum, N., & Bazilah, N. A. (2012). Fuzzy time
series and sarima model for forecasting tourist arrivals to Bali. Jurnal Teknologi
(Sciences and Engineering).

Elliott, G., & Timmermann, A. (2005). of Forecast Estimation and Testing Flexible Loss under
Rationality, 72(4), 1107–1125.

Hanke, J. E., & Wichern, D. W. (2005). Business Forecasting (8th ed.). New Jersey:
Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Hyndman, R. J., & Athanasopoulos, G. (2014). Forecasting: Principles and Practice: Notes.
OTexts.

Kadir, N., & Karim, M. Z. A. (2012). Tourism and Economic Growth in Malaysia: Evidence
from Tourist Arrivals from Asean-S Countries. Economic Research-Ekonomska
Istraživanja.

Khandelwal, I., Adhikari, R., & Verma, G. (2015). Time series forecasting using hybrid arima
and ann models based on DWT Decomposition. Procedia Computer Science.

Kusni, A., Kadir, N., & Nayan, S. (2014). International Tourism Demand in Malaysia by
Tourists from OECD Countries: A Panel Data Econometric Analysis. Procedia Economics
and Finance.

Makridakis, S., Spiliotis, E., & Assimakopoulos, V. (2018). The M4 Competition: Results,
findings, conclusion and way forward. International Journal of Forecasting, 34(4), 802–
808. Elsevier.

Marzuki, A. (2010). Tourism Development in Malaysia. Urban Management.
Mosbah, A., & Salleh, M. (2014). A review of tourism development in malaysia. European

Journal of Business and Management.
Ooi, C., Hooy, C., & Mat Som, A. P. (2013). Tourism Crises and State Level Tourism.

International Journal of Business and Society.
Peiris, H. R. (2016). A Seasonal ARIMA Model of Tourism Forecasting: The Case of Sri Lanka.

Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Sports, 22, 98–109.
Rahman, N. H. A. H. A., Lee, M. H. H., Suhartono, & Latif, M. T. T. (2016). Evaluation

performance of time series approach for forecasting air pollution index in Johor,
Malaysia. Sains Malaysiana, 45(11), 1625–1633. R
Suhartono. (2011). Time Series Forecasting by using Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated
Moving Average: Subset, Multiplicative or Additive Model. Journal of Mathematics
and Statistics, 7(1), 20–27.
Uysal, M., & Crompton, J. L. (1985). An Overview of Approaches Used to Forecast Tourism
Demand. Journal of Travel Research.

175

Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through Language,

Education and Tourism Kulliyyah of Languages and Management,International
Islamic University Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia
18th-19th October 2019

MOTIVATIONS OF FIRST-TIME, REPEAT, AND SERIAL BACKPACKERS: A
MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Nuraini binti Ismail1*, Samshul Amry Abdul Latif2
Kulliyyah of Languages and Management,
International Islamic University Malaysia,
Pagoh, Johor, Malaysia

(E-mail: *[email protected], [email protected])

ABSTRACT
The objectives of this study are to identify the main travel motivations of Malaysian
backpackers and to investigate the differences in travel motivations between different
groups of backpackers namely; first-time, repeat, and serial backpackers. This study used
convenience sampling approach, and the data were obtained through self-administered
online survey of Malaysian backpackers. Based on a sample of 249, the non-normally
distributed data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), assessment of
median scores and Kruskal-Wallis H tests. The findings show that the main factor which
motivates Malaysian backpackers to go on a backpacking trip is stimulation (push), while
the least is recognition (push). The results also indicated that there are differences in
Malaysian backpackers’ motivation based on their travel experience level. The limitation of
the study is that the samples are skewed toward females, and the majority (87%) are aged
between 21 and 35 years old.

Keywords: Backpacker; Travel Motivation; Travel Career; First-time; Repeat; Serial
backpackers

176

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the last twenty years with mass tourism in its prime, backpacking has been viewed
socially as quite an unusual element of travel and very different from the standard ways of
leisure travel (Ee & Kahl, 2016). According to some researchers, backpacking tourism is a
phenomenon that produces an extensive contribution to both developed and developing
countries (Richards & Wilson, 2003; Scheyvens, 2002, 2006). This is so since backpackers
spend a large portion of their total expenditure at the destination and provide direct
economic benefits to the host populations.

Backpackers are recognized as categorically different from mass tourism. Backpackers are
individuals who are viewed as passionate people in discovering new tourism horizons. This
segment is considered as destination pioneers and travel trendsetters which makes them
a particularly interesting group of tourists. They are often self-organized and travel to
multiple destinations with flexible itineraries (Jensen & Hjalager, 2018). Many researchers
associated backpackers as individuals who prefer budget accommodation, longer holidays,
itinerary flexibility, meeting other travellers, and involvement in participatory activities
(Chen et al., 2014b; Loker-Murphy & Pearce, 1995; Pearce & Foster, 2007; Pearce et al.,
2009).

Previous research on backpacking tourism mostly examined travellers from developed
countries on Euro-centric perspectives (Allon & Anderson, 2010; Brenner & Fricke, 2007;
Chitty et al., 2007; Huxley, 2004; Loker-Murphy & Pearce, 1995; Nash et al., 2006; Pearce
& Foster, 2007). Nevertheless, previous research also emphasized on the importance of
intensifying and widened the research range to include populations such as Asian
backpackers (Cohen, 2004; Teo & Leong, 2006; Winter, 2007, 2009). According to Wilkins
and Lee (2014), several studies on backpackers originating from Asia contributed to
developing towards an understanding of culture, norms, and behaviours of Asian
independent youth travellers or tourists.

It is then suggested that backpackers are experiencing an ongoing evolution since it first
emerged due to the changes in the social-historical context. In a study by Uriely, Yonay, and
Simchai (2002), the former definition of backpacker refers to visible institutional
arrangements and travel practices, such as length of trip, the flexibility of the itinerary,
visited destinations, and attractions. The latter refers to more intangible psychological
attributes, including travellers’ motivations, their attachments to home societies, and the
meanings they assign to their trips.

Backpackers are not only a social category but also a label demonstrating their social
identities. Previous studies on identity factors of backpacker attributed to primarily on
Western theories. According to Winter, Teo and Chang (2009), the majority of recent
backpacker research also focused on Western backpackers and their encounters with Asian
hosts. Though research on Asian backpackers has emerged since the early 2000s (Teo and
Leon, 2006; Muzaini, 2006, among others), there is limited research on the emergence of

177

backpackers from Asian countries. With more Asians travelling in their homeland (domestic
tourism), within their backyard (regional tourism) and further afield (international tourism)
for the purpose of leisure, business and others, it leads to the implications of new tourism
developments and academic research in the non-western world (Chang, 2015). Therefore,
it is essential to consider their practicality in the context of Malaysian backpackers. In other
words, what are the distinguishing criteria with which Malaysian backpackers practice and
define their identity? Furthermore, what are the factors that motivate Malaysian
backpackers with different experience level to go for a backpacking trip? This research
study attempts to address these questions.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Backpacker is a term introduced to describe how individuals differ from other travellers in
several aspects as agreed by researchers (Cohen, 2011; Pearce, 1990). However, there are
some arguments as to where the backpacker label was originated. Pearce (1990) had
recognized that the emergence of backpackers was partly because of the "marginal"
behaviour of the hippie or drifter type during the 1960s and 1970s (O’ Regan, 2018).
Whereas, other labels were applied to these travellers included independent travellers
(Hyde & Lawson, 2003), drifters (Cohen, 2010) and volunteer travelers (Chen & Chen, 2011;
Pan, 2012, 2014; Ooi & Laing, 2010; Wearing, 2001).

2.1 Backpackers’ Travel Motivations

Dann (1977, 1981) developed the push and pull framework which categorized tourists’
travel motivation into two types; namely internal socio-psychological drivers and external
forces. Internal socio-psychological drivers are the push factors that motivated tourists to
travel, such as escape, prestige, self-actualization, or adventure. On the other hand,
external forces are considered as pull factors that attract tourists towards a specific
destination, for instance; natural scenery, sunshine, or historical sites. In short, push factors
to trigger tourists to travel, while pull factors determine where they will go (Jensen &
Hjalager, 2018).

According to Chen, Bao, & Huang (2014), individuals may have different travel motivation
to destress and satisfy their inner needs. In recent times, studies have shown that
backpackers and mainstream travellers have several similarities in terms of travel
motivation, pre-trip planning and risk awareness. However, factors such as escape from
everyday work, seek for independence, personal development, making new friends, sense
of discovery, and experiencing other cultures and environments are among the travel
motivations regularly found to differentiate between backpackers and mainstream tourists
(Alves et al., 2016; Hecht and Martin, 2006; Maoz, 2007; Moshin and Ryan, 2003; Riley,
1988, Jensen & Hjalager, 2018). On the other hand, Cohen (1972) classified tourists into
four groups; organized mass tourists, the individual mass tourists, the explorers, and the
drifters.

178

2.2 Backpackers’ Travel Career

Following Pearce’s (1993) idea of a travel career, Loker-Murphy (1997), Paris and Teye
(2010), and Uriely (2002) suggested that the backpackers’ motivations are dynamic and
therefore likely to change over time and evolve from the first and to the next successive
trips. Remarks were made previously, but little is known about the motivation influencing
successive backpacker trips to reword and reconstruct (Jensen & Hjalager, 2018). Jensen
and Hjalager (2018) stated, there are several studies indicated that with more broad travel
experience, backpackers are less concerned with personal or social growth (Paris and Teye,
2010), intra-group status (Sørensen, 2003), and perceived risk (Adam, 2015). This can be
explained through a social theory of Kelman’s (1958), which is a well-established model for
understanding how people adopt a particular behaviour or attitude.

According to Kelman (1958), there are three different process modes of adaptations in
behaviour and mental states which are compliance, identification, and internalization.
Compliance refers to the acceptance of social influence to attain rewards and/or avoid
punishments from significant others. At this stage, the individual is primarily influenced by
external forces; for instance, a desire to impress other people or to arrange for future work
careers. Compliance seems relevant to first-time backpackers, who frequently take their
backpacking trip in a gap period between education and their first job (Snee, 2014).
Meanwhile, in the identification phase, the individual is no longer driven by the external
forces but rather an inner desire to be recognized within a community. For instance, a sense
of attachment and belonging to a backpacker community. This phrase meant for repeat
backpackers where backpacker trips may well be motivated by a need to maintain,
reinforce or ascertain their social identity as a backpacker. For example, re-experiencing
the lifestyle of backpacker, and eventually meet again with friends from the previous
backpacking trip. Next, the final phase which is internationalization, it is the induced
behaviour that incorporated with the individual’s values and became a part of their own
needs and norms. For instance, backpacking trips become a significant part of the
individual’s lifestyle.

There is significantly limited research on exploring whether there is any similarity in travel
motivation among first-time, repeat, and serial backpackers. Though, several researchers
agreed that travel motivations are inherently dynamic and may, therefore, change over
time. For instance, prior experience of the traveller through a destination or travel type
may affect the motivations for future travel decision, being the same travel form or
destination, or not.

3. RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Measurement Instruments

This study adopted an online questionnaire approach so that the researchers were able “to
reach a large sample of backpackers with varying degrees of experience as backpackers”
(Jensen & Hjalager, 2018, p. 3). The self-administered online questionnaire created using

179

Google Form included 36 motivational items obtained from previous studies on motivation
of backpacking. Guided by Jensen & Hjalager (2018), these previous studies included Chen,
Bao, & Huang, (2014); Chen, Zhao, & Huang, (2019); Chen & Huang, (2017); Hsu, Wang, &
Huang, (2014); Larsen, (2011); Paris & Teye, (2010). The Sun and Beach factor from Jensen
& Hjalager (2018) were not included and replaced with Destination Attributes from Kim
(2014).
The questionnaire measured were divided into sections which covered travel motivation,
backpackers’ experience and socio-demographic variables such as gender, age, and
education. The respondents were requested to attempt the items provided based on their
most recent backpacking trip. Screening questions to exclude non-Malaysian and
nonbackpackers were included at the beginning of the questionnaire. To categorize and
gauge their behaviour, the respondents were asked on how many trips they have had as a
backpacker, the destination they have visited (Asian, European, African, Middle Eastern,
American countries or domestic), duration of their trip and travelling partner(s) if any. The
motivation items were measured using the 5-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 = strongly
disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree.

3.2 Sampling Procedure

The survey respondents were selected through convenience sampling. The link to the
online questionnaire was disseminated to respondents through several electronic
channels, namely WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages. In the WhatsApp groups, the
researchers requested participation from those who have been on a backpacking trip. The
researchers further requested that the link be snowballed to their friends. On Facebook,
the researchers posted the request for participation and the questionnaire link on several
Facebook pages on backpacking such as Backpackers Buddies Malaysia and Malaysia
Backpackers. The request for participation and the questionnaire link were also placed in
the researchers’ personal Facebook page.

3.3 Sample Profile

The total number of respondents obtained was 364. There were 108 respondents who have
yet to travel as a backpacker and seven respondents who were non-Malaysian. These
nonqualifying respondents were excluded, leaving 249 respondents available for analysis.
The sample size is acceptable following the formula N>50+8m (where m = the number of
independent variables) as provided by Tabachnick & Fidell (2007, p. 123). Table 1 below
displays the sample profile.

The percentage of respondents were 23.3% males and 76.7% females. Approximately
74.4% of the respondents were under 30 years of age. Concerning education, 72.3% of the
respondents were reported to have a bachelor's degree as their highest education, 12.9%
holds master degrees, and 12.0% earned certificate/diploma education. From the total
number of respondents, 13.3% were reported to have travelled once as a backpacker,

180

31.7% twice or three times, and 55.0% four or five times or more.

Table 1: Profile of survey respondents

Total sample. First-time Repeat Serial
n= 249 backpackers, backpackers, backpackers,

n= 33 n= 79 n= 137

Gender % % %%
Male
Female 23.3 27.3 24.1 21.9
76.7 72.7 75.9 78.1
Age
< 20 4.1 15.2 5.1 0.7
21-25 55.4 72.7 74.7 40.1
26-30 14.9 0.0 12.7 19.7
31-35 12.4 9.1 1.3 19.7
36-40 6.0 3.0 1.3 9.5
41-45 2.8 0.0 1.3 4.4
46-50 1.6 0.0 0.0 2.9
51+ 2.8 0.0 3.8 2.9

Education 0.4 3.0 0.0 0.0
Primary School 1.2 0.0 0.0 2.2
Secondary School 12.0 12.1 8.9 13.9
Certificate/Diploma 72.3 84.8 86.1 61.3
Bachelor’s Degree 12.9 0.0 3.8 21.2
Master’s Degree 0.8 0.0 0.0 1.5
Ph. D 0.4 0.0 1.3 0.0
No formal
181
education
Occupation

Public Sector 12.4 3.0 5.1 19.0
30.5 27.3 15.2 40.1
Private Sector 42.6 54.5 60.8 29.2
8.4 9.1 10.1 7.3
Student 6.1 6.1 8.9 4.4

Freelance 23.3 30.3 29.1 18.2
20.5 18.2 16.5 23.4
Unemployed 0.3 0.0 5.1 14.6
7.2 0.0 1.3 12.4
Income (MYR) 0.8 0.0 0.0 1.5
17.4 9.1 1.3 11.7
<1500 30.5 42.4 46.8 18.2

1501-3000 57.6 68.4 50.6 65.0
36.4 10.1 75.9
3001-4500 6.1 0.0 2.5 27.7
0.0 0.0 1.5
4501-6000 3.6
42.4
6001-7000 48.5 5.1 17.5
6.1
>7001 3.0

No Income

Destination*
Domestic
Asia
Europe
Africa
America

No of days based
on last trip

<3 days
4-6 days
7-10 days
>11 days

43.0 16.8
43.0 45.3 8.9

20.4

* Sum of percentage exceed 100% as respondents could mark more than one destination.

The respondents were categorized into three different groups of travel experience level
(first-time, repeat, and serial) based on their previous number of backpacking trips.
Respondents who had travelled as backpackers only once (n= 33) were grouped as firsttime

182

backpackers. The 79 respondents who had travelled as backpackers twice or three times
were classed as repeat backpackers. Lastly, 137 respondents who had travelled four times
or more were labelled as serial backpackers.

The majority (55%) of the respondents were aged between 21 to 25 years and have earned
their bachelor’s degree (72%). While 42% of the respondents were categorized as students,
51% were employed. The largest employment category (30%) indicated that the
respondents were employed in the private sector. Of the total respondents, 6% of the
respondents were classified as unemployed, and 30% had no source of income. The income
of the employed respondents was mainly (23%) less than MYR 1,500 per month. The
second-largest group by income (20%) earned a monthly income of between MYR 1501 to
MYR 3,000. This is followed by the next group (17%) of which the respondents earned more
than MYR 7,001 per month.

A total of 36 items were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA) using SPSS
version 24. Before performing PCA, the suitability of data for factor analysis was assessed.
Inspection of the correlation matrix revealed the presence of many coefficients of .3 and
above. The Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin value was .922, exceeding the recommended value of .6
(Kaiser 1970, 1974) and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity (Bartlett 1954) reached statistical
significance, supporting the factorability of the correlation matrix.

With one item removed (FS3), principal components analysis revealed the presence of
twelve (12) components with eigenvalues exceeding 1, as depicted in Table 2 of the
variance, respectively. An inspection of the scree plot revealed twelve (12) breaks. The
twelve (12) component solution explained a total of 85.95% of the variance and converged
in seven (7) iterations. To aid in the interpretation, varimax rotation was performed and
revealed the presence of simple structure (Thurstone 1947), and strong loadings
accordingly to the factors. All of the correlations were found to be weak (ranging from 0.04
to 0.356) except for one component (r = 0.62) suggesting the scales are separated (Watson,
Clark & Tellegenm 1988). The structure was found to be almost identical to Jensen
& Hjalager (2018).

4. RESULTS

4.1 Assessing the Importance of Motivational Factors

The data were subjected to preliminary analyses as recommended by Pallant (2010) and
were found to be non-normally distributed. When involving non-normally distributed data,
the median is a better option at measuring the central tendency as it continues to reflect
the centre of the distribution more closely.

Based on Table 2 below, the results show that Stimulation PS has the highest median value
(5.0). This is then equally followed (4.67) with Autonomy PS, Escape PS and Nature PL

183

sharing the same median value. Both Destination Attributes PL and Famous Sites and
Attractions PL have the same median value (4.5). This is then followed in descending order
of importance, Low-budget travel (4.33) PL, Host site involvement (4.25) PS, Volunteering
/ Creating Friendship (4.0) PS, Gastronomic Experiences (4.0) PL, Self-actualization (4.0) PS
and lastly Recognition (3.33) PS. The top three highest-ranked motivational factors are push
motivations which may suggest that the backpackers’ travel motivations are internally
motivated. Out of the twelve motivations, only one factor (recognition) was below the
midpoint scale of 3.0.

Table 2: Factor analysis with Varimax rotation for travel motivations of Malaysian
backpackers

Motivational factors and items Loadings EV % of Reliability Median
variance

Factor 1: Host-site Involvement (HI) - Push 2.378 6.795 .888 4.25
HI2 Learn about other cultures 3.643 .889 4.000
HI1 Explore other cultures .783 4.958 .896 4.000
HI3 Interact with the local people .759 3.437 .895 4.667
HI4 Get authentic and genuine experiences .635 4.012 .928 4.333
.577 .904 4.667
Factor 2: Self-actualization (SA) - Push
SA2 Understand more about myself 1.275
SA3 Gain a new perspective of my own life
SA1 Challenge myself mentally .825
.814
Factor 3: Gastronomic Experiences (GE) - Pull .685
GE2 Experience different food cultures
GE3 Taste food prepared in other cultures 1.735
GE1 Get gastronomic experiences
.855
Factor 4: Nature (N) - Pull .848
N1 Have nature experiences .791
N2 Be closed to nature
N3 View beautiful nature sceneries 1.203

Factor 5: Low-budget travel (LB) - Pull .819
LB3 Travel far away without paying a fortune .785
LB2 Use cheap way to travel .659
LB1 Get many travel experiences for a modest
budget 1.404
.837
Factor 6: Escape (E) - Push .829
E2 Get away from everyday duties .734
E1 Get away from daily routine
E3 Temporarily not worrying about future 16.368 46.765

.870
.846
.833

184

Factor 7: Recognition (R) - Push .874 .940 2.686 .845 3.333
R2 To be recognized for having traveled as a .853
backpacker .582 1.855 5.3 .913 4.000
.530 1.514 .976 5.000
R1 Visit sites that will impress my friends and family 1.022 2.921 .927 4.667
.723 2.067 .961 4.500
R3 To get experiences that are worth telling others .649 1.855 .966 4.500

about

.851
Factor 8: Volunteering / Creating Friendship (VF) - .846
Push .763
VF2 To create joy and value for the local people VF1
To have the opportunity to perform charity work
VF3 To create new friendships

Factor 9: Stimulation (S) - Push .602
S2 To have once in a lifetime experiences .559
S3 To explore the unknown .540
S1 To have fun
.793
Factor 10: Autonomy (A) - Push .728
A1 To plan my own trip .624
A2 To do what i want
A3 To be independent .757
.719
Factor 11: Famous Sites and Attractions (FA) -
Pull .758
FA1 To visit famous sites and attractions FA2 .756
To visit cultural and historical sites .754

Factor 12: Destination Attributes (DA) - Pull
DA2 To experience a well preserved area
DA1 To visit different “ecology zone” (climate,

land-forms and land-covers)
DA3 To experience awe-inspiring landscape

4.2 Comparing Motivational Factors among First-time, Repeat, and Serial backpackers
As the data were found to be non-normally distributed, the Kruskal-Wallis H Test was
employed to analyse the differences in motivation score among the three different groups;
first-time, repeat, and serial backpackers. The Kruskal-Wallis H test (also known as the
"one-way ANOVA on ranks") is a rank-based non-parametric test to determine statistically
significant differences between two or more groups of an independent variable on a
continuous or ordinal dependent variable (Laerd-Statistics, 2015).

There are four assumptions of Kruskal-Wallis H test; 1) one continuous or ordinal
dependent variable, 2) one independent variable which consists of two or more categorical
independent groups, 3) independence of observations, and 4) obtaining a similar shape of

185

score distribution across each independent variable group (Laerd-Statistics, 2015). An
individual Kruskal-Wallis H test was run on all twelve (12) motivational factors to determine
if there were any differences in the score between the three groups of backpackers. The
distributions of all factors scores were similar for all groups, as assessed by visual inspection
of boxplot for each motivational factors. The prior examination was performed to identify
and remove any outliers for each factor.

The median of motivational scores which were found to be statistically significantly
different between groups were then further processed with posthoc analyses. These
analyses involved pairwise comparisons were performed using Dunn's (1964) procedure
with a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. The posthoc analyses were primarily
done to locate the differences.

Table 3: Sample size by group, Chi Square values and difference results

HSI “First-time" (n = 30) χ2(2) = 7.425, Significant difference between repeat

"Repeat" (n = 75) p = .024 backpacker (4.00) and serial backpacker

"Serial" (n = 137) (4.50) (p = .020)

SA “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = 2.087, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 79) p = .352 groups

"Serial" (n = 137)

GEX “First-time" (n = 32) χ2(2) = .786, p No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 78) = .675 groups

"Serial" (n = 137)

NATURE “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = 1.446, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 77) p = .485 groups

"Serial" (n = 134)

LBT “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = 7.529, Significant difference between repeat

"Repeat" (n = 77) p = .023 backpacker (4.00) and serial backpacker

"Serial" (n = 129) (4.33) (p = .018)

ESC “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = 3.094, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 79) p = .213 groups
"Serial" (n = 137)

RECOG “First-time" (n = 32) χ2(2) = 5.821, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 77) p = .540 groups

"Serial" (n = 137)

186

VOL “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = .799, p No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 78) = .671 groups

"Serial" (n = 137)

STI “First-time" (n = 32) χ2(2) = 7.852, Significant difference between repeat

"Repeat" (n = 77) p = .023 backpacker (5.00) and serial backpacker

"Serial" (n = 116) (5.00) (p = .018)

AUT “First-time" (n = 33) χ2(2) = Significant difference between repeat

"Repeat" (n = 77) 13.361, p = backpacker (4.33) and serial backpacker

"Serial" (n = 133) .001 (5.00) (p = .003)

Significant difference between first time

backpacker (4.00) and serial backpacker

(5.00) (p = .049)

FS “First-time" (n = 31) χ2(2) = 2.472, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 78) p = .291 groups

"Serial" (n = 135)

DA “First-time" (n = 31) χ2(2) = 3.275, No significant difference between the

"Repeat" (n = 79) p = .194 groups

"Serial" (n = 136)

Based on Table 3, there are four motivational factors which are different among groups.
The first motivational factor is Host Site Involvement, which indicates that there is a
significant difference between repeat backpacker and serial backpacker groups (p = .020).
The second motivational factor is Low Budget Travel, with a significant difference between
repeat backpacker and serial backpacker (p = .018). The third motivational factor is
Stimulation with a significant difference between repeat backpacker and serial backpacker
(p = .018). Finally, the fourth motivational factor is Autonomy which suggests that there are
significant differences between repeat backpacker and serial backpacker (p = .003) and
between first -time backpacker and serial backpacker (p = .049).

Based on the results, the highest motivational factor for Malaysian backpackers is
stimulation, and this is similar to the previous findings (Jensen & Hjalager, 2018). This is
followed by Nature. Though it is ranked as second, Nature is the highest-ranked pull factor
for Malaysian backpackers which suggests that they are interested in nature-related
experiences. When examined carefully, both push and pull motivations are equally
represented in the top 50% factors. Unlike previously suggested (Hecht & Martin, 2006;
Jensen & Hjalager, 2018), this finding suggests that more or less both push and pull factors
are equally crucial to Malaysian backpackers. Surprisingly, Gastronomic experience is
among the least important factor (median score of 4) alongside Self-Actualization and

187

Volunteering. Similar to previous findings, Recognition is the least significant (median score
of 3.33) motivational factor for backpackers.

5. CONCLUSION

This study provides important information for both academics and practitioners. First, by
providing knowledge on Malaysian backpackers, it creates the possibility of comparing
backpackers’ travel behaviour and motivational factors across Asian countries. Second, by
detecting the highest push and pull travel motivational factors for Malaysian backpackers’,
this study offers a better basis for a comprehensive understanding of the current trend
among Malaysian backpackers. Third, although prior studies (e.g. Hsu et al., 2014; Paris &
Teye, 2010; Uriely et al., 2002; Yonay & Simchai, 2002, as cited from Jensen & Hjalager,
2018) have observed differences in backpackers’ travel motivation in relation to the travel
career (from the first and to the sequential backpacker trips) approach, however, this study
showed that Malaysian backpackers differ where they have the same pattern of travel
motivation across three different groups of experience level. Fourth, this study provides a
significant distinction in terms of the destination visited during a backpacking trip between
serial backpackers with first-time and repeat backpackers. Thereby, it emphasizes the need
for a more detailed division of backpackers in order to identify their interest and
preferences.

Travel motivation has become a central focus of tourism research for decades. It is seen as
one of the key elements in understanding tourist decision-making behaviour. A thorough
understanding of travel motivation plays a critical role in predicting future travel pattern.
By understanding the characteristics of backpackers and analysing their travel motivations,
the service provider will have the opportunity to cater to the demands of these individuals
who have made a significant contribution to the tourism industry.

6. DISCUSSION

There are several limitations of the current study that need to be acknowledged. Firstly,
there is little prior research that could be found in investigating Malaysian backpackers’
travel motivational factors. Therefore, the motivational items that are adopted in this study
have to be referred from previous studies on other countries. Therefore, as suggested by
Chen, Bao, and Huang (2014), future studies could conduct several qualitative approaches
in order to generate more comprehensive variables. Thus, it allows a more thorough
understanding of Malaysian backpackers’ travel motivations. Secondly, it should be noted
that this sample is heavily skewed towards more females than males. Hence, the result
would be biased as gender can influence the choices. Future studies may try to balance
between the number of males and females in the samples. Thirdly, the motivational items
should include several religious attributes such as visiting worship sites, understanding the
rituals of other religious, improving religious knowledge, and observing the uniqueness of
sacred architecture (e.g. mosque, temple, church, and etc.). The results may provide the
basis for tourism-related business operators in broadening and targeting their market.

188

REFERENCES

Ajayi, V. O. (2017). Primary Sources of Data and Secondary Sources of Data. ResearchGate,
10(2), 235.

Cao, Q. (2013). East Asian Backpacker Tourists’ Motivation for Participating in Backpacking.
California State University, Long Beach.

Chen, G., Bao, J., & Huang, S. (Sam). (2014). Segmenting Chinese Backpackers by Travel
Motivations. International Journal of Tourism Research, 16, 355–367.

Chen, G., & Huang, S. (Sam). (2017). Toward a Theory of Backpacker Personal Development:
Cross-cultural Validation of the BPD Scale. Tourism Management, 59, 630–639.

Choosing Between a Nonparametric Test and a Parametric Test.
(https://blog.minitab.com/blog/adventures-in-statistics-2/choosing-between-
anonparametric-test-and-a-parametric-test)

Cohen, S. A. (2011). Lifestyle Travellers. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(4), 1535–1555.
Cohen, E. (2010). Backpacking: Diversity and Change. Journal of Tourism and Cultural

Change, 1(2), 95–110.
Hyde, K. F., & Lawson, R. (2003). The Nature of Independent Travel. Journal of Travel

Research, 42(1), 13–23.
Jensen, J. M., & Hjalager, A. M. (2018). Travel Motivations of First-time, Repeat, and Serial

Backpackers. Tourism and Hospitality Research.
Mazur, A. (2015). Business Plan for a Backpacker Tour Operator in Western Australia.

Business Start-up in Tourism.
O’ Regan, M. (2018). Backpacking’s Future and Its Drifter Past. Journal of Tourism Futures,

4(3), 193–204.
Pan, T. J. (2014). Personal Transformation through Volunteer Tourism: The Evidence of

Asian Students. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 41(5), 609–634.
Paris, C. M., & Teye, V. (2010). Backpacker Motivations: A Travel Career Approach. Journal

of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 19(3), 244–259.
Paris, C. M., Musa, G., & Thirumoorthi, T. (2015). A Comparison between Asian and

Australasia Backpackers Using Cultural Consensus Analysis. Current Issues in
Tourism, 18(2), 175–195.
Prayag, G., Cohen, S. A., & Yan, H. (2015). Potential Chinese Travellers to Western Europe:
Segmenting Motivations and Service Expectations. Current Issues in Tourism, 18(8),
725–743.
Prideaux, B., & Shiga, H. (2007). Japanese Backpacking: The Emergence of a New Market
Sector - A Queensland Case Study. Tourism Review International, 11, 45–56.
Yoo. C., Yoon, D., & Park, E. (2018). Tourist Motivation: An Integral Approach to Destination
Choices, 73(2), 169-185.
Zhang, J., Morrison, A. M., Tucker, H., & Wu, B. (2018). Am I a Backpacker? Factors
Indicating the Social Identity of Chinese Backpackers. Journal of Travel Research,
57(4), 525–539.

189