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Measuring the Satisfaction Level of Tourists: Empirical Evidencefrom Taman egara Visitors
 Normala Daud, Sofiah Abdul Rahman, Mior Harris Mior Harun and Ainul Azreen Adam
 Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA,Shah Alam, MALAYSIAnormala648@salam.uitm.edu.my 
ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to analyse the satisfaction level of tourists visiting Taman Negara.Intention in sustainable practices and participation in sustainable activities were posited to influencesatisfaction. Data were collected from 230 tourists who had traveled to Taman Negara using factor analysis dimensions of Likert scales. The data for this study was gathered through questionnaires thatwere distributed to a cross section of tourists in Taman Negara in various manners in order to secure adiverse range of tourists. Results indicated that tourists were most satisfied with ‘setting andatmosphere’, followed by ‘quality of experience’, and activities in Taman Negara. It was also foundthat tourists that participated in sustainable activities have a positive and significant effect onsatisfaction.Keywords: satisfaction level, tourists, intention in sustainable practices, participation in sustainableactivities.
1. ITRODUCTIO 
This paper is part of a larger study being conducted on Sustainable Tourism in Taman Negara. Tourism isa form of recreation and leisure away from "home". Thus a tourist is often defined as a person who visitsfor rest, relaxation and entertainment. Tourism for many countries is a most important source of income,engine of growth in many areas. For some, it is amongst their top industries. Understanding what drivessatisfaction for a tourist is one of the most relevant areas of research for the tourism industry (Petrick,2003; Prebensen, 2006), as satisfied tourists tend to transmit their positive experience to others and torepeat their visit (Alen, Rodriguez and Fraiz, 2007; Hallowell, 1996; Kozak and Rimmington, 2000;Pizam, 1994; Operman, 2000). The literature reveals that the level of tourist satisfaction with a particular trip is the result of different factors (Peter and Olson, 1996). Numerous studies have been carried out tomeasure the degree of tourist satisfaction, but very few papers have focused on analyzing the antecedents behind this variable and the possible relationships between them. This paper aims at determining the levelof satisfaction amongst tourists visiting Taman Negara and whether the intention in sustainable practicesand participation in sustainable activities influence the satisfaction level of tourists.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Tourist Satisfaction
Although there are many definitions of satisfaction, it is generally recognized as a post-purchase constructthat is related to how a consumer likes or dislikes a service or product after experiencing it (Woodside,Frey and Daly, 1989). In terms of travel, Moutinho (1987) notes that this post-purchase construct is primarily a function of pre-travel expectations and travel experiences. Similarly, Pizam, Neumann andReichel (1978) define tourist satisfaction as the result of comparison between “a tourist’s experience at thedestination visited and the expectation about the destination”. According to Jang and Feng (2007) and
 
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Kozak and Rimmington (2000), satisfaction is one of the most relevant variables when analyzing tourist behavior, as it influences the choice of destination, the consumption of products and services, and thedecision to return. For this reason, tourist’s satisfaction has been a priority subject of research in recentyears. Tourist satisfaction with a particular destination may be the result of multiple factors, including theexpectations generated before and during the trip, as well as the tourist’s perception of the servicereceived. The literature has analyzed tourist satisfaction from a wide range of contexts: cultural trips(Ross and Iso-Ahola; 1991); research into tourist satisfaction with the chosen destination (Chon & Olsen,1991; Danaher & Arweiler, 1996; Joppe, Martin and Waalen, 2001; Kozak & Rimmington, 2000).
2.2 Sustainable Tourism
Travellers choose their destinations to fulfill a range of motivations. Apart from visiting relatives andfriends or to shop, eat, rest and recreate in cities, it is the natural and cultural features of a country whichare the most important draw-cards – the mountains, beaches, forests and wildlife, and the people. National parks, marine parks and other protected areas are among the most important natural environments whichare tourist destinations. The responsibility implicit in managing a national park is protection andenhancement of its flora, fauna and landscapes, so any nature tourism in protected areas must besustainable. Managing for sustainability cannot be left to chance, and systems for monitoring impacts andmanaging use are essential.An attempt to define sustainable tourism brought about a myriad of terms including ecotourism,environmentally and culturally responsible tourism, ethical tourism, alternative tourism and naturetourism. So numerous are the interpretation of sustainable tourism that there are over 300 definitions of this concept (Jayawardena, 2003). For the purpose of clarification and delimitation, the terms ecotourismand nature tourism - the two most commonly associated and contrasted terms with sustainable tourism aresummarized in this section. Nature tourism is “
travel to natural places”
.Ecotourism is
"responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people" 
.Sustainable tourism is the “
development that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems”
WorldTourism Organization (2001)
.
  Nature tourism, therefore, is a passive activity with little participation of the local community, whilethe opposite is true for ecotourism. In contrast, an eco tourist is the one who does not only visits a naturalattraction but also hires local guides and stays with the local community. As a result, from the perspectiveof a host destination, ecotourism is very much encouraged and aggressively promoted. Sustainabletourism extends the concept of ecotourism as it embraces all segments of the industry with guidelines andcriteria that seek to reduce environmental impacts, particularly the use of non-renewable resources, usingmeasurable benchmarks, and to improve tourism’s contribution to sustainable development andenvironmental conservation. Figure 1 illustrates the concept of sustainable tourism and its linkages todifferent aspects of tourism. As noted in Figure 1, three key elements: environmental, economic andsocio-cultural aspects of tourism development must exist and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee long term sustainability. In short, sustainable tourism should:1) Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development,maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity,2) Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living culturalheritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
 
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3) Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socioeconomic benefits to all stakeholdersthat are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and socialservices to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
Figure 1:
The Concept of Sustainable Tourism
 2.3 Challenges in Sustainable Tourism.
Putting in place the practice of sustainable tourism is a challenge to tourism developers as sustainabletourism requires strong commitment and participation of all relevant stakeholders. Likewise, achievingsustainable tourism is a continuous process and it requires constant monitoring of impacts, introducing thenecessary preventive and/or corrective measures whenever necessary. Further, a strong political leadershipis needed to ensure wide participation and consensus building.The quality of the environment, both natural and man-made, which is essential to tourism also presentseveral challenges for sustainable tourism practices. Tourism's relationship with the environment iscomplex. It involves many activities that can have adverse environmental effects. Many of these impactsare linked with the construction of general infrastructure such as roads and airports, and of tourismfacilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses and marinas. The negative impacts of tourism development can gradually destroy the environmental resources on which it depends on. Hence,getting the suppliers of tourism products to adopt sustainable tourism is another critical challenge facingdestination managers/policy makers. Driven by excessive needs for short tem profitability, it is commonfor these suppliers to opt for a less sustainable development practice.On the demand side, sustainable tourism also calls for maintaining a high level of tourist satisfactionand ensuring a meaningful experience to the tourist. Satisfaction will lead to positive word of mouth,repeat visits, price inelasticity, and higher profitability. Customer satisfaction has been often regarded asthe most accurate barometer for the success of a company. Thus, catchphrases such as ‘Customer is theKing’ and ‘Customer is always Right’ mark the growing acceptance that customer needs have to besatisfied at any cost. Failure will lead to consumers defecting to competing companies/ products/destinations. Keeping tourists satisfied, however, is challenging, as they are heterogeneous innature and seek different tourism products/experiences. However, while an increasing number of consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious in their purchase behaviours, there are alsotourists who are harmful to the environment and disrespectful to the socio-cultural authenticity of hostcommunities. Identifying and attracting the ‘right’ visitors, therefore, is a must, if park managers areconcerned with sustainable tourism. In short, park managers must make a conscious effort to draw touristsfrom an established market segment that practices sustainable tourism and try to reduce the number of tourists practicing unsustainable tourism to a destination.Thus, a key challenge to sustainable demand management, from the demand side therefore is, theactivities of market identification, market positioning and market reach. Looking from this perspective,successful sustainable tourism calls for a strong tourist database that accounts the characteristics of holiday makers, their travel motives, knowledge and attitudes towards sustainable tourism, intention toact, responsible behaviour, and travel satisfaction. Such an understanding provides opportunities for  planners and tourist operators to capitalize on emerging markets and develop actions that are moreefficient and effective.
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