ANALYSING THE HOLIDAY PATTERN AND TRAVEL DEMAND OF REPEAT TRAVELLERS: THE CASE OF PENANG

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the travel characteristics as well as tourism attributes that are perceived as important amid repeat travellers in Penang, paying attention on comparison between first time and repeat travellers among international tourists. A comprehensive 55-item survey was developed that solicited data in four major areas: respondents’ demographics, travel behaviour, perceived activities of importance, as well as evaluation on the level of satisfaction. The establishment of holiday pattern will lead to possible demand among the samples of study. This information is regarded as valuable resource that could be used by those in tourism planning to better determine the most preferred activities of these repeat travellers and how destination managers and developers might better attract and accommodate them. Suggestion will be made based on the findings to identify the marketing strategies, resource allocation as well as operational changes that could be effectively implemented out of both first time and repeat travellers current holiday behaviour within the study areaTravel behaviour, travel demand, repeat travellers, international tourist, Penang