Malaysia as a Backpacking Destination for Millennial Solo Female Travellers: Examining Destination Image, Motivation, and Intentions

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24191/e-aj.v12i2.12217

Keywords:

Solo Traveller, Backpackers, Destination Image, Travel Motivation, Travel Intention

Abstract

This study explores Malaysia's appeal as a backpacking destination for millennial solo female travellers. The study aims to fill a gap in the knowledge focussing on understanding the way millennial solo female travellers see their destination, what motivates them, and how their views can help to shape their travel choices interconnected with their travel plans. The factors affecting this demographic’s choice of destinations and travel intentions are thoroughly examined in this study using a quantitative approach. The 164 respondents were assessed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and the findings demonstrated that psychological motive, cultural
motive, personal motive, and destination image positively influence tourist travel intention among millennial solo female travellers. The study's findings offer important information for modifying marketing plans and offerings to suit the requirements and preferences of this growing and powerful tourism market, helping to position Malaysia as a welcoming and inclusive female traveller - backpacking destination.

Author Biographies

  • Muhammad Zulhilmi Zulkurnain, MARA University of Technology

    Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
    Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Selangor
    Kampus Puncak Alam, Malaysia

  • Quratul Ain Syahirah Awang Ali, MARA University of Technology

    Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
    Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Selangor
    Kampus Puncak Alam, Malaysia

  • Tressy Belly, MARA University of Technology

    Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
    Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Selangor
    Kampus Puncak Alam, Malaysia

References

Abad, P. E. S., & Borbon, N. M. D. (2021). Influence of travel vlog: Inputs for destination marketing model. International Journal of Research Studies in Management, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsm.2021.m7729

Abdullah, M., Dias, C., Muley, D., & Shahin, M. (2020). Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on travel behavior and mode preferences. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 8, 100255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100255

Agyeiwaah, E., & Bangwayo-Skeete, P. F. (2021). Backpacker-community conflict: the nexus between perceived skills development and sustainable behavior. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(8), 1992–2012. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1995396

Agyeiwaah, E., Dayour, F., Otoo, F. E., & Goh, B. K. (2021). Understanding backpacker sustainable behavior using the tri-component attitude model. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(7), 1193–1214. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1875476

Ahmad, A., Jamaludin, A., Zuraimi, N. S. M., & Valeri, M. (2020). Visit intention and destination image in post-Covid-19 crisis recovery. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(17), 2392–2397. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1842342

Ahmad, N. F. I., Alias, N. I. N., Faizal, A. M., Zaidi, N. M. M., Musa, N. M., & Gatu, A. (2023). Millennial perceptions of Airbnb in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. ESTEEM Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7, e-ISSN 2600-7274.

Al-Gasawneh, J. A., & Al-Adamat, A. M. (2020). The relationship between perceived destination image, social media interaction and travel intentions relating to NEOM City. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 19(2), 1. https://www.abacademies.org/articles/The-relationship-betweenperceived-destination-image-social-media-interaction-and-travel-intentions-relating-to-NEOMcity-1939-6104-19-2-529.pdf

Álvarez-Díaz, M., Lampón, J. F., & Lampón, J. F. (2022). Analyzing the main determinants of being a cultural traveler: the case of domestic cultural trips in Spain. Journal of Tourism Futures. https://doi.org/10.1108/jtf-10-2021-0237

Artawa, K., Paramarta, I. M. S., Mulyanah, A., & Atmawati, D. (2023). Centripetal and centrifugal interconnection on hotel and restaurant linguistic landscape of Bali, Indonesia. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2023.2218189

Atsız, O. (2021). The family experiences in the daily local-guided tours: Evidence from the sharing economy platform (Withlocals). Journal of Vacation Marketing, 28(4), 387–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/13567667211070014

Backhaus, C., Heußler, T., & Croce, V. (2022). Planning horizon in international travel decision-making: The role of individual and cultural determinants. Journal of Travel Research, 62(2), 432–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211066112

Batra, A. (2020). Beyond travel dreaming, planning, check-in, boarding . . . stress? Anatolia an International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 32(1), 46–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2020.1844773

Brough, R., Freedman, M. L., & Phillips, D. (2021). Understanding socioeconomic disparities in travel behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of Regional Science, 61(4), 753–774. https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12527

Buckley, R., & Westaway, D. (2020). Mental health rescue effects of women’s outdoor tourism: A role in COVID-19 recovery. Annals of Tourism Research, 85, 103041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103041

Cai, Y., Ma, J., & Lee, Y. S. (2020). How do Chinese travellers experience the Arctic? Insights from a hedonic and eudaimonic perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 20(2),144–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2020.1744185

Câmara, E., Pocinho, M., Agapito, D., & De Jesus, S. N. (2022). Positive psychology, well-being, and mindfulness: a successful partnership towards the development of meaningful tourist experiences. DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals). https://doi.org/10.34623/m7xe-a661

Carles, A. O., Vila, N. A., & Brea, J. a. F. (2022). Solo travel research and its gender perspective: A critical bibliometric review. Tourism and Hospitality, 3(3), 733–751. https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp3030

Carreira, V. A., Rodríguez, M. R. G., & Díaz-Fernández, M. C. (2021). The relevance of motivation, authenticity and destination image to explain future behavioural intention in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(4), 650–673. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1905617

Chi, N. T. K., & Phuong, V. H. (2021). Studying tourist intention on city tourism: the role of travel motivation. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 8(2), 497–512. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijtc03-2021-0042

Chu, Q., Bao, G., & Sun, J. (2022). Progress and prospects of destination image research in the last decade. Sustainability, 14(17), 10716. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710716

Cimbaljević, M., Stankov, U., Demirović, D., & Pavluković, V. (2019). Nice and smart: creating a smarter festival – the study of EXIT (Novi Sad, Serbia). Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 26(4), 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2019.1596139

Ejupi, R., & Medarić, Z. (2022). Motives of female travellers for solo travel. Academica Turistica, 15(2), 177–185.

https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.177-185

Feather, N. T. (2021). Human values and the prediction of action: An expectancy-valence analysis. In Expectations and actions (pp. 263-289). Routledge.

Ghai, A., & Chowdhri, S. (2022). Study on hotel trends designed for single lady travellers. Pusa Journal Of Hospitality And Applied Sciences, 8(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.48165/pjhas. 2022.8.1.4

Gidebo, H. B. (2021). Factors determining international tourist flow to tourism destinations: A systematic review. Journal of Hospitality Management and Tourism, 12(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.5897/jhmt2019.0276

Guttentag, D., Smith, S. L., Potwarka, L. R., & Havitz, M. E. (2017). Why tourists choose Airbnb: A motivation-based segmentation study. Journal of Travel Research, 57(3), 342–359. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287517696980

Güzel, A. E., Arslan, Ü., & Acaravci, A. (2021). The impact of economic, social, and political globalization and democracy on life expectancy in low-income countries: are sustainable development goals contradictory? Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(9), 13508–13525.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01225-2

Hamid, S., Ali, R., Azhar, M., & Khan, S. (2021). Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. Indonesian Journal of Tourism and Leisure, 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125

Han, H., Al-Ansi, A., Chua, B., Tariq, B., Radic, A., & Park, S. (2020). The Post-Coronavirus world in the international tourism industry: Application of the theory of planned behavior to safer destination choices in the case of US outbound tourism. International Journal of Environmental Research and

Public Health, 17(18), 6485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186485

Hattie, J., Hodis, F. A., & Kang, S. H. K. (2020). Theories of motivation: Integration and ways forward. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101865

Hosseini, S., Macías, R. C., & García, F. N. A. (2021). The exploration of Iranian solo female travellers’ experiences. International Journal of Tourism Research, 24(2), 256–269. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2498

Humagain, P., & Singleton, P. A. (2021). Exploring tourists’ motivations, constraints, and negotiations regarding outdoor recreation trips during COVID-19 through a focus group study. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 36, 100447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100447

Jiang, X., Qin, J., Gao, J., & Gossage, M. G. (2022). How tourists’ perception affects travel intention: mechanism pathways and boundary conditions. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821364

Kasim, A., & LimCha, L. (2019). Enhancing a destination’s marketing and promotion: lessons from Malaysia. In CABI eBooks (pp. 50–60). https://doi.org/10.1079/9781786394286.0050

Khan, M. J., Chelliah, S., & Ahmed, S. (2018). Intention to visit India among potential travellers: Role of travel motivation, perceived travel risks, and travel constraints. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 19(3), 351–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358417751025

Kongbuamai, N., Bui, Q., Hashmi, S. H., & Liu, Y. (2020). The impact of tourism and natural resources on the ecological footprint: a case study of ASEAN countries. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(16), 19251–19264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08582-x

Lee, S., & Bai, B. (2016). Influence of popular culture on special interest tourists’ destination image. Tourism Management, 52, 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.06.019

Lewis, C., & D’Alessandro, S. (2019). Understanding why: Push-factors that drive rural tourism amongst senior travellers. Tourism Management Perspectives, 32, 100574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100574

Li, B., Mi, Z., & Zhang, Z. (2020). Willingness of the new generation of farmers to participate in rural tourism: the role of perceived impacts and sense of place. Sustainability, 12(3), 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030766

Liu, X., Mehraliyev, F., Liu, C., & Schuckert, M. (2019). The roles of social media in tourists’ choices of travel components. Tourist Studies, 20(1), 27–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797619873107

Luo, J. M., & Lam, C. F. (2020). Travel Anxiety, Risk Attitude and Travel Intentions towards “Travel Bubble” Destinations in Hong Kong: Effect of the Fear of COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 7859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217859

Maghrifani, D., Fang, L., & Sneddon, J. (2021). Understanding potential and repeat visitors’ travel intentions: the roles of travel motivations, destination image, and visitor image congruity. Journal of Travel Research, 61(5), 1121–1137. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211018508

Marengo, D., Montag, C., Sindermann, C., Elhai, J. D., & Settanni, M. (2021). Examining the links between active Facebook use, received likes, self-esteem and happiness: A study using objective social media data. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 101523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101523

Martins, M. a. F., & Costa, R. (2022). Concepts and segments of backpacker tourists. In Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks (pp. 9–27). https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-255-320221004

Mirehie, M., Gibson, H. J., Buning, R. J., Coble, C., & Flaherty, M. (2021). Towards an understanding of family travel decision-making processes in the context of youth sport tourism. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 21, 100644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100644

Mitsugi, J., Choi, Y., Lee, C., & Ahmad, M. S. (2020). Effects of place attachment and image on revisit intention in an ecotourism destination: using an extended model of Goal-Directed behavior. Sustainability, 12(18), 7831. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187831

Mtapuri, O., Camilleri, M. A., & Dłużewska, A. (2021). Advancing community‐based tourism approaches for the sustainable development of destinations. Sustainable Development, 30(3), 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2257

Nagaraj, S., Katkam, B. S., Bellamkonda, R. S., & Rodriguez, R. V. (2020). Impact of AI and robotics in the tourism sector: a critical insight. In Journal of Tourism Futures (Vol. 8). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/jtf-07-2019-0065

Nath, K. (2023). Solo Travel: A growing trend in 2023. Travel Daily Media.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/solo-travel-a-growing-trend-in-2023/

Nguyen, D. T. A., & Hsu, L. (2022). Exploring visit intention to India among Southeast Asian solo female travellers. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 25, 100725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2022.100725

Nguyen, X. T. (2020). Factors that influence the intentions to revisit Korea of Vietnamese tourists. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(4), 247–258. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no4.247

Nur’afifah, O., & Prihantoro, E. (2021). The Influence of social media on millennial generation about travel decision-making. Jurnal the Messenger, 13(3), 238. https://doi.org/10.26623/themessenger.v13i3.2328

Osman, H., Brown, L., & Phung, T. M. T. (2020). The travel motivations and experiences of female Vietnamese solo travellers. Tourist Studies, 20(2), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687/97619878307

Otegui-Carles, A., Vila, N. A., & Brea, J. a. F. (2022). Solo Travel Research and its Gender Perspective:

A Critical Bibliometric review. Tourism and Hospitality, 3(3), 733–751.

https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp3030045

Ovcharenko, N. P., Galenko, E., V., Orlovskaia, I., & Shumakova, E. (2021). Gastronomic tourism as a way of forming impressions. SHS Web of Conferences, 110, 06002. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202111006002

Park, E., & Widyanta, A. (2022). Food tourism experience and changing destination foodscape: An exploratory study of an emerging food destination. Tourism Management Perspectives, 42,100964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2022.100964

Pereira, V., Jyoti, J., & Hussain, S. (2019). Impact of travel motivation on tourist’s attitude toward destination: Evidence of Mediating Effect of destination image. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 46(5), 946–971. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348019887528

Pung, M. J. P. M., & Del Chiappa, G. (2020). An exploratory and qualitative study on the meaning of transformative tourism and its facilitators and inhibitors. European Journal of Tourism Research,24, 2404. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v24i.406

Rizki, M., Joewono, T. B., Belgiawan, P. F., & Irawan, M. Z. (2021). The travel behaviour of ride-sourcing users, and their perception of the usefulness of ride-sourcing based on the users’ previous modes of transport: A case study in Bandung City, Indonesia. Iatss Research, 45(2), 267–276.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2020.11.005

Salah, M. K., Abdou, A. H., Hassan, T. H., El-Amin, M. a. M., Kegour, A. B. A., Alboray, H. M., Mohamed, A., Ali, H. M., & Mohammed, E. (2023). Power of eWOM and its antecedents in driving customers’ intention to Revisit: An empirical investigation on Five-Star Eco-Friendly hotels in Saudi Arabia. Sustainability, 15(12), 9270. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129270

Sengupta, S. (2021). Travel after tragedy: A phenomenological study on what it takes for women to travel solo after tragedy. Journal of Leisure Research, 53(1), 92–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2021.1899777

Seyfi, S., Hall, C. M., & Rasoolimanesh, S. M. (2019). Exploring memorable cultural tourism experiences. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 15(3), 341–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873x.2019.1639717

Sreen, N., Tandon, A., Jabeen, F., Srivastava, S., & Dhir, A. (2023). The interplay of personality traits and motivation in leisure travel decision-making during the pandemic. Tourism Management Perspectives, 46, 101095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101095

Stylidis, D., Woosnam, K. M., & Kim, S. (2022). Perceptions of attractions, residents as “more knowledgeable others” and destination image: Evidence from two destinations. International Journal of Tourism Research, 24(3), 472–486. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2515

Sun, B., Guo, R., & Yin, C. (2022). Inequity on suburban campuses: University students disadvantaged in self‐improvement travel. Growth and Change, 54(2), 404–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12654

Tao, Z., Chen, J., & Hu, B. (2019). Authenticity, quality, and loyalty: local food and sustainable tourism experience. Sustainability, 11(12), 3437. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123437

Terziyska, I. (2021). Solo female travellers: the underlying motivation. In Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks (pp. 113–127).

https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-322-320211007

Tian, M., Cànoves, G., Chu, Y., Font-Garolera, J., & Forga, J. M. P. (2021). Influence of cultural background on visitor segments’ tourist destination image: A case study of Barcelona and Chinese tourists. Land, 10(6), 626. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10060626

Trogisch, L., & Fletcher, R. (2020). Fortress tourism: exploring dynamics of tourism, security and peace around the Virunga transboundary conservation area. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(2–3), 352–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1857767

Türktarhan, G., Toker, A., & Kozak, N. (2022). The roots of tourism: hippies. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism, 7(2), 85–94. https://doi.org/10.31822/jomat.2022-7-2-85

Veréb, V., Nobre, H., & Farhangmehr, M. (2022). Cosmopolitan tourists: the most resilient travellers in the face of COVID-19. Service Business, 16(3), 503–527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-022-00482-z

Wei, C., Zhao, W., Zhang, C., & Huang, K. (2019). Psychological factors affecting memorable tourism experiences. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 24(7), 619–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2019.1611611

Włodarczyk, B., & Cudny, W. (2022). Individual Low-Cost Travel as a route to tourism sustainability.

Sustainability, 14(17), 10514. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710514

Wu, H., Chen, X., & Cheng, C. (2019). Relationships between experiential cultural distance, experiential relationship quality and experiential future intentions: the case of Mainland Chinese tourists. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 19(2), 250–273.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2019.1679160

Wu, T., Lin, Y. Q., Wall, G., & Xie, P. (2020). A spectrum of indigenous tourism experiences as revealed through means-end chain analysis. Tourism Management, 76, 103969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.103969

Xue, L., & Zhang, Y. (2020). The effect of distance on tourist behavior: A study based on social media data. Annals of Tourism Research, 82, 102916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102916

Yang, E. C. L. (2020). What motivates and hinders people from travelling alone? A study of solo and nonsolo travellers. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(17), 2458–2471. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1839025

Yang, T., Ruan, W., Li, Y., & Zhang, S. (2023). Virtual tourist motivation: the differences between virtual tourism and on-site tourism. Tourism Review, 78(5), 1280–1297. https://doi.org/10.1108/tr-07-2022-0331

Yang, Z., Liu, L., & Sun, X. (2022). The effects of perception of video image and online word of mouth on tourists’ travel intentions: Based on the behaviors of short video platform users. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.984240

Zainol, N. R., & Rahman, M. K. (2023). Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in Eco-Tourism.

Springer Nature.

Downloads

Published

26-11-2023

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Muhammad Zulhilmi Zulkurnain, Quratul Ain Syahirah Awang Ali, & Tressy Belly. (2023). Malaysia as a Backpacking Destination for Millennial Solo Female Travellers: Examining Destination Image, Motivation, and Intentions. E-Academia Journal, 12(2), 180-197. https://doi.org/10.24191/e-aj.v12i2.12217