Post-COVID-19 travel: Factors influencing Malaysian tourists' travel intention to visit Japan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/e-aj.v12i1.12234Keywords:
Travel intention, Japan tourism, COVID-19, Theory of Planned BehaviourAbstract
Japan is one of the most popular tourist destinations. In 2019, more than 31 million inbound tourists visited Japan, and over 500,000 were from Malaysia. This number ranks ninth in the world in terms of the number of inbound tourists for Japan. Therefore, Malaysian tourists are an essential segment of the Japanese tourism industry. Additionally, the Japanese government has identified the tourism industry as a pillar of its growth strategy and set a goal of increasing the number of inbound tourists to 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030. To achieve this goal, the factors influencing Malaysian tourists' intention to travel to Japan should be clarified and utilized for the effective and efficient development of the Japanese inbound tourism industry. However, no previous study has researched Malaysian tourists' intentions to visit Japan. Therefore, this research studies this area by examining Malaysian tourists living in Greater KL using the theory of planned behaviour and the push-pull factors theory. The examined factors include personal attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and tourism resources. This research adopts the quantitative research method and collects a total of 359 valid responses, analysing the relationships between the factors and Malaysian tourists' traveling intention to visit Japan based on the collected data. As a result, the researcher finds that all the mentioned factors positively correlate with Malaysian tourists' intention to visit Japan.
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(4), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.195
Abbasi, G.A., Kumaravelu, J., Goh, Y.-N. and Dara Singh, K.S. (2021), "Understanding the intention to revisit a destination by expanding the theory of planned behaviour (TPB)", Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 282-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-12-2019-0109
Aschwanden, D., Strickhouser, J. E., Sesker, A. A., Lee, J. H., Luchetti, M., Terracciano, A., & Sutin, A. R. (2021). Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Perceived Behavioral Control, Attitudes, and Subjective Norm. Florida State University College of Medicine. Retrieved from
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.662835/full
Beerli, A., & Martín, J. D. (2004). Tourists' characteristics and the perceived image of tourist destinations: A quantitative analysis—A case study of Lanzarote, Spain. Tourism management, 25(5), 623-636.
Boguszewicz-Kreft, M., Kuczamer-Kłopotowska, S., Kozłowski, A., Ayci, A., & Mohammd, A.(2020). The Theory of Planned Behaviour in Medical Tourism: International Comparison in the Young Consumer Segment. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084921/
Brookes, F. (2021). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/theory-of-planned-behavior.html
Burdett, M. (2017). Primary and Secondary Tourist Resources. GeographyCaseStudy.Com. Retrieved from https://www.geographycasestudy.com/primary-and-secondary-tourist-resources/
Chandra, P., Novani, S., & Lisandy, A. S. (2022). Tourists’ Intentions During COVID-19: Push and Pull Factors in Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour. School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Retrieved from
Chen, Z. (2017). Research on the Influencing Factors of the Outbound Tourism Decision-making of the Residents of Xi’an City - Taking Japanese Tourism Market for Instance. WAGENIGENUR. Retrieved from https://edepot.wur.nl/422123
Cheunkamon, E., Jomnonkwao, S., & Ratanavaraha, V. (2020). Determinant Factors Influencing Thai Tourists’ Intentions to Use Social Media for Travel Planning. Sustainability, 12(18), 7252. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187252
Coronavirus / COVID-19 Update. (2022). Walk Japan. Retrieved from https://walkjapan.com/blog/coronavirus-covid-19-update
Crompton, J. L. (1979). An assessment of the image of Mexico as a vacation destination and the influence of geographical location upon that image. Journal of Travel Research, 17(4), 18-23.
Dann, M. S. (1977) Anomie, Ego-Enhancement and Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research IV(4): 184-194.
Hardin-Fanning F, Ricks JM. Attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioral control factors influencing participation in a cooking skills program in rural Central Appalachia. Glob Health Promot. 2017 Dec;24(4):43-52. doi: 10.1177/1757975916636792. Epub 2016 Jun 16. PMID: 27312335; PMCID:PMC5161746.
Ghibli-park. (2022). ghibli-park official website. Retrieved from https://ghibli-park.jp/en/
Greenwood, D., & George, T. (2022). Your best look yet at the Studio Ghibli theme park. i-D NEWSFLASH. Retrieved from https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/pkba87/studio-ghibli-totoro-themepark
Hair, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M. and Sarstedt, M. (2017) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). 2nd Edition, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA.
Han R, Cheng Y. The Influence of Norm Perception on Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Comparison between the Moderating Roles of Traditional Media and Social Media. Int J Environ Res Public
Health. 2020 Sep 30;17(19):7164. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17197164. PMID: 33007908; PMCID:PMC7578989.
Imada, K., (2022). Survey: Japan is the number one tourist destination in the world. TimeOut. Retrieved
Japan Ranks First in the World in Tourism Attractiveness Ranking: Why is Japan Highly Rated in the Covid-19 pandemic?. (2022). FNN prime online. Retrieved from fnn.jp/articles/-/366312
Keller, P. A. (1993). The role of affect in the evaluation of consumer choice. In R. J. Davidson, G. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 355-386). Oxford University Press.
Kotler, P., Haider, D. H., & Rein, I. (1993). Marketing places: Attracting investment, industry, and tourism to cities, states, and nations. Free Press.
Kwok, H. C., & Leung, H. C., (n.d). Tourism in Japan. Jockey Club Ti-I College. Retrieved from
Lam, T., & Hsu, C. H. (2006). Predicting behavioral intention of choosing a travel destination. Tourism management, 27(4), 589-599.
Latip, M. S. A., Newaz, F. T., Noh, I., & Mohamad, M. A. (2020). Individual green consideration model: A conceptual study. International Journal of Management (IJM), 11(7).
Latip, M. S., Newaz, F. T., Mohamad, M. A., Tumin, S. A., Abdul Rahman, N. F., & Noh, I. (2021). The moderating effect of food safety knowledge on organic food purchase intention in a new normal. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 29(4), 2281–2299.
https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.29.4.10
Lawson, R. (1977). The tourist industry and its images. Proceedings of the Institute of British Geographers, 2(1), 30-44.
Lin, Y. (2016). The theory of Planned Behavior in the Context of Wine Festival Attendees. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved
from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1215&context=ttra
Lopes, S. D. F. (2011). Destination image: Origins, developments and implications. PASOS: Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 9(2), 37-46.
Madden, T. J., Ellen, P. S., & Ajzen, I. (1992). A comparison of the theory of planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167292181001
May, R. Y. Y., & Latip, M. S. A. (2021). The perspectives of street food traders on foreign worker dependency during the COVID-19 pandemic. SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research, 13(1), 61–77.
Mohammad Soliman (2021) Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Tourism Destination Revisit Intention, International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 22:5, 524-549, DOI: 10.1080/15256480.2019.1692755
Nabila, K. M. (2017). The influence of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on intention : The application of theory planned behavior in choosing double degree program. Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. Retrieved from http://eprints.ums.ac.id/65103/12/naspub.pdf
Omotenashi. (2022). JNTO. Retrieved from https://www.japan.travel/en/au/experience/culture/omotenashi/
Pahrudin, P., Chen, C.-T., & Liu, L.-W. (2021). A modified theory of planned behavioral: A case of tourist intention to visit a destination post pandemic covid-19 in Indonesia. Heliyon, 7(10). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08230
Pardana, D., Abdullah, R., Mahmuda, D., Malik, E., Pratiwi, E.T., Dja’wa, A., Abdullah, L.O., Hardin, & Hamid, R.S. (2019). Attitude analysis in the theory of planned behavior: green marketing against the intention to buy environmentally friendly products. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 343.
Pereira, V., Gupta, J. J., & Hussain, S. (2022). 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
Pratiwi, I. C., Novani, S., & Suryana, L. A. (2022). Tourists' Intentions During COVID-19: Push and Pull Factors in Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 30(2).
Salsabila, N., & Alversia, Y. (2020). Examining push-pull motivation and travel intention for potential travelers in Indonesia using theory of planned behaviour. In Proceedings of Tourism Development Centre International Conference (pp. 38-48).
Sansom, R. (2021). Theory of Planned Behavior. Brigham Young University. Retrieved from https://ascnhighered.org/ASCN/change_theories/collection/planned_behavior.html
Sato, Y., & Osugi, T. (2017). The influence of descriptive norm, and the number of other pedestrians, on illegal crossing at an intersection. Yamagata University
Sibi, P.S.; Das, A.; Ashraf, M. (2020). Changing Paradigms of Travel Motivations Post COVID-19.
International Journal of Management.11, 489–500.
Stabler, M. (1995). Tourism and the less developed world: Issues and case studies. John Wiley & Sons
Zulkefli, N. S., Mohd Radzol, A. R., Abdul Rahim, M., & Hashim, H. (2022). Malaysian tourists’ intention to travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, 14(1), 217-229.
Tourism Vision Council for Tomorrow's Japan. (2016). Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet. Retrieved from https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kanko_vision/dai2/siryou1.pdf
Uysal, M. & Hagan, L. A. R. (1993). Motivation of pleasure travel and tourism. In M. Khan, M. Olsen & T. Var (eds), Encyclopedia of Hospitality and Tourism, 798–810. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Visa-waiver resumption plus weaker yen to boost travel and shopping in Japan. (2022). malaymail. Retrieved from
Visitor Arrivals to Japan and Japanese Overseas Travelers. (2022). JNTO. Retrieved from https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/
Tsai, C. T. S., & Wang, Y. C. (2017). Experiential value in branding food tourism. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 6(1), 56-65.
Wonders of Traditional Culture in Japan. (2022). JNTO. Retrieved from https://education.jnto.go.jp/en/why-japan/traditional-culture/
Xie, W., & Ma, Y. (2021). Tourism Resource Evaluation and Countermeasures Based on Network Communication and TOPSIS Algorithm. Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2021, 1-13.
Xu, Y., Du, J., Khan, M. A. S., Jin, S., Altaf, M., Anwar, F., & Sharif, I. (2022). Effects of subjective norms and environmental mechanism on green purchase behavior: An extended model of theory of planned behavior. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 39.
Yagasaki, N. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on the Japanese travel market and the travel market of overseas visitors to Japan, and subsequent recovery. IATSS Research, 45(4), 451-458.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Karen Tsunokawa, Nabila Mohd Yunus, Muhammad Safuan Abdul Latip
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
