Purpose This paper aims to investigate the socio-demographic variables that affect the motivation of Muslim tourists in Malaysia, and to examine the travel characteristics factors that affect the motivation in decision making of Muslim tourists travelling to Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The study surveys questionnaires for data collection. Convenience sampling technique was used on the selected sample. The study was conducted in Malaysia, where the target respondents included Muslim family tourists with ages ranging from 18 to 64 years. Findings The findings show that motivation differs significantly among different levels of the socio-demographic characteristics except for gender and income. The result also reported that a majority of tourists’ travel behaviour was significantly different unless when it comes to seeking accommodation. Results also revealed a tendency for long holiday stays among Muslim tourists in Malaysia. Research limitations/implications In this study, the examination of motivation on the Muslim family tourists has provided significant influence in managing the family tourist experience. On the other hand, most previous studies have shown that motivation is positively guided by general “push and pull” factors. However, this research demonstrates that components such family financial income and age of respondents has an effect on Muslim family tourists’ motivation, thus justifying the experience effect. Practical implications It is crucial for the service provider and destination management organizations to differentiate their products and services so that the packages and experience will be more meaningful. Social implications Destination packages should be appropriately designed and positioned in the target markets to meet the needs and wants of different Muslim family groups. Communication should emphasize not only the most distinctive characteristics but also the most suitable holiday packages that the family tourist can afford to pay. This would assist the family in the decision-making process and choice processes and facilitate the family’s expectation. Originality/value This research paper related to Islamic tourism marketing which can be used to formulate appropriate marketing strategies, build a viable market segment and design practical marketing strategies to attract potential Muslims travellers.

This study aims to identify the tourists’ expectation and satisfaction of destination attributes from the perspective of senior tourists in Malaysia. Two groups of tourists were chosen as the study sample, that is, future seniors (40–54 years old) and seniors (55 years old and above). It is hoped that, through recognizing and raising awareness on the need for equal traveling opportunities, senior tourists and future senior tourists will be encouraged to undertake more tourism activities. An importance-performance analysis (IPA) and paired sample t tests were employed to investigate senior tourists’ perceptions of senior-friendly destination attributes. Measures of destination attributes included the “4As” (i.e., attractions, accessibility, amenities, and ancillary services). The findings from a survey of 227 respondents revealed that the most important attributes for a senior-friendly destination are safety and cleanliness. Other attributes deemed important by senior tourists include the availability of leisure facilities and barrier-free public transportation. The findings also highlight attributes that tourism industry practitioners may use to improve tourists’ satisfaction and develop into competitive advantages against other tourist destinations. Both theoretical and practical implications of these important findings are discussed.

The demand for palm oil is steadily increasing where global consumption in 2020 has reached 77 million metric tons or equivalent to 7 kg of palm per capita usage. However, the industry is under critics for unsustainable production practice and environmental degradation due to unscrupulous deforestation. One of the measures taken to ensure sustainability practices in the industry in Malaysia includes certifications such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO). These certifications are offered to industry players/plantation giants in which all stakeholders/members need to fulfill stringent requirements in order to obtain the certification. Efforts are now being taken to ensure that every stakeholder in the palm oil industry obtain sustainable certification, and this includes effort to enable smallholders to also follow the guidelines and fulfill the certification requirements. However, as of 2021, only 30% smallholders were certified despite the rigorous efforts made. Several factors may have hindered the participation of these smallholders. Hence, it is crucial that the agencies involved in managing this industry identify the factors influencing the certification of smallholders. The identification of these determinants will help policymakers to strengthen policy in disseminating sustainability practices in the palm oil industry. The objective of the current study is to identify factors influencing smallholders' participation in palm oil certification in Malaysia. This study looks beyond rational choice theory and develops a model based on elements of social structure and interaction. Quantitative approaches through questionnaire survey were used in this study. Purposive sampling was used, and data collections involved 200 oil palm smallholders in Malaysia. Four elements, namely, “Perceived Economic Benefit,” “Social Interaction,” “Shared Identity,” and “Communication Discourse,” were found to have significant influences on smallholders' participation in palm oil sustainable certification. Implication and future recommendation were included in the concluding remark.

Changes in Malaysian's lifestyle have resulted in an increased demand for trusted agrofood products. Therefore, it is becoming a challenge for halal-certified agro-food SMEs in Malaysia to fulfil the demand by implementing marketing strategies and innovative market orientation. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between marketing strategies and innovative market orientation on performance of halal-certified agro-food SMEs. A systematic random sampling was used to select 321 halal-certified agro-food SMEs located in Peninsular Malaysia and a self-administered questionnaire using a structured questionnaire was employed to obtain responses from the target SMEs. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis were carried out to analyse the data. Majority of the halal-certified agro-food SMEs involved in the study were categorised as small-sized companies with at least 5 to 75 employees. The finding revealed that there was no association between annual average sales and overall performance of halal-certified agro-food SMEs. The finding further indicated that there was a strong positive relationship between the performance (market share, sales, profitability, and growth rate) of halal-certified agro-food SMEs and marketing strategies and innovative market orientation. It is suggested that the halal-certified agro-food SMEs utilize their experience to develop more effective marketing strategies for better performance.

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