TY  - JOUR
T1  - Exploring Travel Motivation Within a South East Asian Ecotourism Context
AU - Kasim, Azilah AU - Chi, Christina AU - Gursoy, Dogan AU - Srivanisan, Jayashree 
JO  - The Social Sciences
VL  - 11
IS  - 30
SP  - 7251
EP  - 7257
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1818-5800
DO  - sscience.2016.7251.7257
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=sscience.2016.7251.7257
KW  - Ecotourists
KW  -travel motivation
KW  -marketing
KW  -Asia
KW  -ANOVA
AB  - This study focuses on ecotourist’s travel motivations to Sabah a state in Borneo that is largely
popular for ecotourism. It uses the ‘push-pull theory’ to understand why ecotourists travel. The methodology
chosen for this study was on-site survey at selected ecotourism destinations in Sabah. Survey assistants
approached potential respondents and assisted them to complete the questionnaires. The sample consisted
of 254 of the targeted 599 respondents who completed the questionnaires. To determine the differences
in travel motivation among participants according to their demographic background, independent sample t-test
and one-way ANOVA were applied. Analysis showed one key finding, i.e., that the primary travel motivation
for ecotourists to Sabah is not culture or nature as found for ecotourists in many previous studies but bonding,
i.e., spending time with family and friends. Other important motivations include socialization, pleasure and
species/wildlife sighting. The study ends with a discussion of both the theoretical and managerial implications
of the findings.
ER  -