Resources Confirmation for Tourism Destinations Marketing Efforts Using PLS-MGA: The Moderating Impact of Semirural and Rural Tourism Destination

Abstract

This study presents a framework to empirically validate the relationship between the tangible and intangible measures on tourism destination marketing efforts. Uniquely, a case study was developed involving two different nature of tourism destinations (semirural and rural) and is incorporated into the framework to assess its moderating effect on the relationships among the predictors and destination marketing efforts. Two hundred and ninety-three usable responses were collected using a questionnaire survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was utilized to perform latent variable and multi-group analyses (MGA). The findings revealed that destination appeal was found to be the biggest concern among tourists visiting semirural and rural tourism destinations in Sarawak. For intangible components, both service quality and destination image were found to be significantly related to destination marketing efforts at a semirural tourism destination. Interestingly, for MGA results, it was worthwhile to learn that the relationship between service quality and destination marketing efforts happened to have a stronger impact on semirural than rural tourism destination. Hence, the proposed framework and research findings from this case study have provided significant insights that help various tourism stakeholders to better strategize and position semirural and rural tourism, particularly in the scenario of Sarawak, Malaysia. Future studies can examine this framework and test at other tourism destinations in Malaysia or in some other countries.

Influence of Site Personalization and First Impression on Young Consumers’ Loyalty to Tourism Websites

“…Regarding composite reliability (CR), it is an indicator similar to Conbrach's alpha that is more appropriate in structural equations. Results showed that all reliability values reached the required levels (λ ≥ 0.70, CR ≥ 0.70) [114] (Table 3). Therefore, it was accepted that the measurement model was internally consistent and that all the observed variables were measuring their corresponding construct [117].…”

“…Moreover, it is unnecessary to assume a normal distribution of data when using PLS [112]. The ultimate guidelines in applying PLS-SEM in tourism research have been followed, and an Importance-Performance Analysis (IPMA) has been included [113,114].…”

Purpose Implementation: Conceptualization and Measurement

“…The results of the MICOMs (Table 11) showed that the means and variances of composites across the two groups do not differ, and thus a full measurement invariance criterion could be established. Thus, meeting the three requisites, we can establish that the two groups are suitable for analysis using the MGA method [75,76]. Concerning the reliability of both models, the Cronbach's alpha and the CRI of the OCB variable when testing the high purpose implementation group were 0.841 and 0.904, respectively [62,63].…”

Vendors’ Attitudes and Perceptions towards International Tourists in the Malaysia Night Market: Does the COVID-19 Outbreak Matter?

“…The interventions can be categorised into two main policies, including (i) increasing the diagnostic testing, improving the clinical producers, and rapid isolation of confirmed cases [4]; and (ii) restriction of mobility in global, national, and regional levels [5]. The tourism industry is one of the most affected sectors by COVID-19 [6], as most countries have implemented entry restrictions on all foreign nationals in response to the COVID-19 outbreak [5,7]. Consequently, international tourism slowed down by 22% in the first quarter of 2020, and the number of international tourists is forecasted to drop by 60-80% in 2020 [8].…”

“…Although the negative impacts of COVID-19 on economic, employment, and household income are unknown to date [6], negative relationships exist between the development Sustainability 2021, 13, 1553 2 of 20 of international tourism and pandemic outbreaks [1]. Consequently, a loss of 75 million tourism industry jobs is estimated in 2020 [8].…”