Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing

In this era of globalization, individuals are increasingly looking forward reconnection with the Mother Nature. The richness of destination resources in these destinations leads ecotourism to become one of the rapidly growing industries in Malaysia. Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism which commonly...

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Main Author:	Jun Zhou, Thong
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2021
Subjects:	H Social Sciences (General)
Online Access:	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35197/1/Thong%20Jun%20%20ft.pdf
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id	my-unimas-ir.35197
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-unimas-ir.351972024-02-19T07:01:47Z Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing 2021 Jun Zhou, Thong H Social Sciences (General) In this era of globalization, individuals are increasingly looking forward reconnection with the Mother Nature. The richness of destination resources in these destinations leads ecotourism to become one of the rapidly growing industries in Malaysia. Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism which commonly takes place in natural areas have become a main source of attractor for tourists, regardless domestic or international. Nevertheless, the literature relating to the destination resources and ecotourism competitiveness in natural protected areas (NPAs) is rather limited. Social media marketing, a form of digital marketing initiative plays an important role in helping national parks in Sarawak, Malaysia to enhance their competitiveness. The main objective of the present research is to examine and provide empirical evidence on the interrelationships between destination resources, social media marketing, and destination competitiveness. In the present study, the moderating impact of social media marketing on the relationship between destination resources and ecotourism competitiveness is attempted to be ascertained. The survey was conducted with a sample of 189 comprises of both domestic and international tourists visiting to Mulu National Park, Bako National Park, Kubah National Park, Niah National Park and Gunung Gading National Park. The analysis was done using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and discovered that the dimensions of destination resources play an important role in enhancing the ecotourism competitiveness in Sarawak, Malaysia. Four out of six destination resources, namely natural resources, cultural heritage attraction, destination accessibility and quality of tourism services were found to have significant and positive relationship with destination competitiveness. Besides, social media marketing was discovered to moderate natural resources and tourism infrastructure in their relationships with destination competitiveness. The findings of the present research provide contributions to scholars and practitioners by offering empirical evidence on the moderating impact of social media marketing, destination resources on the destination competitiveness in national parks of Sarawak, Malaysia. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2021 Thesis http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35197/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35197/1/Thong%20Jun%20%20ft.pdf text en validuser masters Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Faculty of Economics and Business
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
collection	UNIMAS Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	H Social Sciences (General)
spellingShingle	H Social Sciences (General) Jun Zhou, Thong Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
description	In this era of globalization, individuals are increasingly looking forward reconnection with the Mother Nature. The richness of destination resources in these destinations leads ecotourism to become one of the rapidly growing industries in Malaysia. Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism which commonly takes place in natural areas have become a main source of attractor for tourists, regardless domestic or international. Nevertheless, the literature relating to the destination resources and ecotourism competitiveness in natural protected areas (NPAs) is rather limited. Social media marketing, a form of digital marketing initiative plays an important role in helping national parks in Sarawak, Malaysia to enhance their competitiveness. The main objective of the present research is to examine and provide empirical evidence on the interrelationships between destination resources, social media marketing, and destination competitiveness. In the present study, the moderating impact of social media marketing on the relationship between destination resources and ecotourism competitiveness is attempted to be ascertained. The survey was conducted with a sample of 189 comprises of both domestic and international tourists visiting to Mulu National Park, Bako National Park, Kubah National Park, Niah National Park and Gunung Gading National Park. The analysis was done using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and discovered that the dimensions of destination resources play an important role in enhancing the ecotourism competitiveness in Sarawak, Malaysia. Four out of six destination resources, namely natural resources, cultural heritage attraction, destination accessibility and quality of tourism services were found to have significant and positive relationship with destination competitiveness. Besides, social media marketing was discovered to moderate natural resources and tourism infrastructure in their relationships with destination competitiveness. The findings of the present research provide contributions to scholars and practitioners by offering empirical evidence on the moderating impact of social media marketing, destination resources on the destination competitiveness in national parks of Sarawak, Malaysia.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Jun Zhou, Thong
author_facet	Jun Zhou, Thong
author_sort	Jun Zhou, Thong
title	Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
title_short	Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
title_full	Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
title_fullStr	Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
title_full_unstemmed	Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing
title_sort	destination resources towards ecotourism competitiveness: the moderating impact of social media marketing
granting_institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
granting_department	Faculty of Economics and Business
publishDate	2021
url	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35197/1/Thong%20Jun%20%20ft.pdf
_version_	1794023023525756928

Destination Resources towards Ecotourism Competitiveness: The Moderating Impact of Social Media Marketing

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