Layang Layang: An Empirical Study on Scuba Divers' Satisfaction

Abstract

Scuba diving is a burgeoning special interest tourism product in Malaysia. Layang Layang Island in the middle of the South China Sea is one of the world's most exciting diving destinations known for its hammerhead sharks among the diving community. This study is a pilot survey aimed at measuring divers' satisfaction with Layang Layang. One hundred self-administered questionnaires were given out to divers on the last day of their stay in September 2004. Ninety-eight questionnaires were returned and analyzed. The results show that divers are generally Europeans, older, first timers, experienced, of high education and near equality between the sexes. The overall satisfaction is very high. The main contributors to diving satisfaction are underwater nature and the comfort and ease of access to dive sites. Divers are less satisfied with the provision of marine life education facilities, rental equipment, lodging, and the lack of other activities. It is suggested that in order to ensure divers' satisfaction, the management should appropriately manage divers' expectations by providing accurate information about Layang Layang using the most satisfactory diving variables in the marketing message. The resort at the same time should ensure that the natural features of the island are sustainable, because they are the reasons for divers' visits. Future research should improve on the questionnaire design and the size of diver sample population.

Scuba Diving Tourism Introduction to Special Issue

“…From a business management and marketing perspective, O'Neill, Williams, MacCarthy, and Groves (2000), Williams and Polunin, (2000), Musa (2002), Musa, Kadir, and lee (2006), Worachananant, Carter, and hockings (2006), Sorice et al (2007) and Uyarra, Watkinson, and Cote (2009) examined experiences with marine environment settings and hospitality service attributes, while Dimmock (2004) looked at the business challenges for dive tourism operators in New South Wales, Australia.…”

Scleractinian corals (Fungiidae, Agariciidae and Euphylliidae) of Pulau Layang-Layang, Spratly Islands, with a note on Pavona maldivensis (Gardiner, 1905)

“…The atoll is somewhat oval in shape situated in a SW-NE axis and measures approximately 7 km long and 2 km wide. Its rim is formed by a ring of 13 shallow reefs, which covers an area of over 4 km 2 (Musa et al 2006). The reef circumference is almost 17 km with a sandy cove at the western end and it encloses a shallow lagoon with a maximum depth of 20 m (Pilcher et al 1999, Sahari et al 2004, Svrcula 2008).…”

Assessing perceived crowding of diving sites in Hong Kong

“…However, crowding is but one of the many variables that may influence divers' satisfaction and their willingness to return to a specific site. Other valid factors include the quality of the coral or fish (Gazy et al, 2004), the underwater natural scenery (Musa et al, 2006) and underwater visibility (McCarthy et al, 2006). However, other things being equal, number of visitors theoretically begins to decline when it goes beyond the maximum tolerable visitor density.…”

“…As an important economic activity (Musa et al, 2006), reef based tourism accounts for more than 15% of gross domestic product in at least 23 countries and territories (Burke et al, 2011). Based on the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI), the world's largest diving training organization, at least 30 million people have been certified as competent to dive worldwide and over 900,000 new certifications have been added to active divers every year since 2001 (PADI, 2014).…”