SOUVENIR PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES: PREFERENCE OF YOUNG MALAYSIAN TOURIST

Abstract

Tourism industry is one of the major contributors to Malaysia’s socio-economic development. However, the Covid-19 pandemic that started in year 2020 has greatly affected the tourism industry. One year later, domestic tourism has become a pathway to revive the tourism industry in countries around the world. Several initiatives have been taken to promote domestic travel and local tourism operators in Malaysia are keen to welcome domestic travelers. As souvenir is also an essential component of the tourist experience, this paper explores souvenir product attributes that affect the purchase preference of domestic young tourists. To this end, a survey that involved 120 young Malaysians age between 15 to 30 were conducted. Findings of the study indicated that in general, postcards and booklets are the most popular souvenirs among young Malaysian tourists. Interestingly, aesthetic souvenir product attribute is the key factors that influences souvenir purchases decision. While the Ministry of Tourism has formulated and implemented the Tourism Recovery Plan under the National Tourism Policy 2020-2030, understanding the souvenir purchase preference of local tourists is also important as many retail businesses located nearby or at tourist destinations depend heavily on the selling of souvenirs for survival. Besides, information on tourist souvenir purchase preferences can be an indicator for marketing strategy as well as quality control guideline for countries that are tourism dependent.