Expectation, perceived quality and satisfaction of Nigerian tourist in Malaysia

Tourism is currently recognized as the second largest income generating industry in the global economy, particularly as a driver for economic development and poverty reduction. The primary objective of this research is to empirically validate reasons for the continuous increase of Nigerians in Malaysia despite their negative image by testing the relationship between Nigerian tourist’s expectation, actual experience and satisfaction with Malaysian tourism products. A theoretical framework was developed based on literature review, to test the above relationship. Importantly, tourist’s expectation and the perceived quality were considered as critical antecedents to Nigerian tourist’s satisfaction. In this quantitative study, a survey of 108 Nigerian students in Malaysia was analysed through SPSS, constituting an overall 43% response rate. The research findings indicated that the four hypothesized relationships were supported: tourist expectation is positively related to satisfaction and perceived quality, while perceived quality is also positively related to tourist satisfaction. The findings also indicated that perceived quality mediates the relationships between Nigerian tourists’ expectation and satisfaction with Malaysian products. Key benefits for practitioners and academics were discussed under the theoretical and practical implications, for example, availing tourism manager the practical implications by establishing the tourist’s expectations before designing their service standards. Moreover, it is of benefit to the academic by establishing the theoretical linkages that exist between Nigerian tourist’s expectation, perceived quality and satisfaction with the tourism products. Researcher finally recommends that future researchers should explore new variables that can influence tourist’s satisfaction