Factors influencing the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination: a case study of Penang, Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors of environmental attitude, motivation, destination image, word-of-mouth, and perceived service quality to predict the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourist destination. It also aims to investigate the moderating effect of knowledge on the relationship between environmental attitude and the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourist destination.

Using survey design, 300 self-administrated questionnaires (both online/hard copy) were distributed to both local and international tourists at different tourism locations in Penang state in Malaysia. A total of 161 questionnaires were returned and analysed by using SPSS and smart PLS software.

The findings found that environmental attitude, motivation, and word-of-mouth significantly influenced the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination, while destination image and perceived service quality have not a significant influence in this study. Furthermore, this study proved that knowledge negatively moderates the positive effect of the environmental attitude on tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination.

The findings offer important managerial implications for managers of tourism destinations and decision makers in understanding what motivates influence tourists’ intention in selecting sustainable tourism destination. The research scope was limited to convenient sampling and one city (Penang). Thus, the results could not be generalised to all Malaysia or other countries.

This research contributes to extending knowledge in sustainable tourism destination in the context of emerging markets, especially Malaysia. Moreover, this study found a way to examine the relationship between the environmental attitude and tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination.