Malaysia’s Perceived Image as a Tourism Destination for Gulf Countries Potential Tourists

As tourism is a fickle industry, it is very important for a destination to have a strong and positive destination image from the consumer perspective, particularly the potential consumers who have no past experience with the destination. The challenge of providing high-quality tourist experiences as well as promoting tourism destination effectively becomes less difficult when managers know what their prospects think of their specific destination. Thus, this paper looks at the perceived image of Malaysia as a tourism destination from the perspective of two out of six Gulf Countries. Factors were adapted from previous literature about Malaysia image as a tourism destination and from previous studies about similar countries. Data collection was conducted from 19 February till 26 March 2010 on Saudi Arabian and Emirati potential tourists using mall intercept survey method. A total of 995 respondents were approached in both cities of Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jeddah in kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) within the data collection period. Out of this number, 491 agreed to participate. However, 405 were usable. Hence, the effective response rate was 41%. Data analysis showed that research respondents picture Malaysia as suitable for multipurpose destination and family vacations, a destination that has variety of beautiful leisure and environmental attractions such as beaches, relaxing places, natural and theme parks, Islamic country with the majority of Muslims residents and where the Halal food and Mosques are available everywhere, a destination where the tourists information and services are easily available, and a destination with pleasant and restful atmosphere. However, Malaysia still need to invest more in the marketing communication (MC) activities to improve the perception of the potential tourists about its ability to make tourists safe while visiting, provide food culture attractions, give tourists value for their money and allow tourists to communicate easily with the friendly local people. Keywords: Malaysia, Destination Marketing, Gulf Country Potential Tourist