DRIVING ISLAMIC ATTRIBUTES, DESTINATION SECURITY GUARANTEE & DESTINATION IMAGE TO PREDICT TOURISTS' DECISION TO VISIT JAKARTA

Agus Sudigdo1*, Gamal S. A. Khalifa2, Abuelhassan E. Abuelhassan3

1&3Faculty of Business & Accountancy, Lincoln University College, Selangor, Malaysia

2Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism, Lincoln University College, Selangor, Malaysia & Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Fayoum University, Egypt

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: agus.sudigdo@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to analyze the influence of independent variables, namely Islamic attributes of destination (worship facilities, halalness, and general Islamic morality) and security guarantee, on the decision to visit Jakarta among Saudi Arabians with tourism destination image serving as a mediator variable. The research data were obtained from 200 respondents who completed the administered questionnaires and visited Jakarta. The analysis was carried out using the SEM technique with AMOS. The results show that there was a significant impact of Islamic attributes of destination and security guarantee on the decision to visit Jakarta with tourism destination image as a mediator. In conclusion, the government must oblige all building owners to provide space for Muslims to worship, this place of worship must be available at malls, hotels, public spaces and etc. This research certainly has several limitations. Therefore, a qualitative approach can also be applied for future researchers to see differences with the results of this study.

Keywords: Worship Facilities, Halalness, General Islamic Morality, Security, Tourism Destination Image

INTRODUCTION

Tourism plays an important role as a source of foreign exchange income because in this sector (Khalifa & Abou-Shouk, 2014; Khalifa & Fawzy, 2017; Mohamud et al., 2017; Agwa et al., 2018), many challenges and opportunities can be taken advantage of. Moreover, tourist attractions will not be used up (never-ending industry). Some countries have proven that tourism can be a sector they can rely on to build up their national economic power (Khalifa & Abou-Shouk, 2014). In 2017, Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), Indonesia ranked 3rd after Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates as the largest halal tourist destination. The Government aims to become no. 1 in the 2020 GMTI. Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country (Muslimpro, 2018). However, in the context of halal tourist destinations, Indonesia still lags Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

One of the leading tourist destinations of Indonesia is Jakarta. It is currently preparing a strategy to constantly increase the number of incoming tourists. The Saudi Arabian tourists visiting Jakarta fluctuated in number over the years. Therefore, increasing the number of Saudi Arabian tourist visits has become a main target to the tourism managers of Jakarta. The number of tourist visits from Saudi Arabia to Jakarta decreased in 2017 (-21.61%). The

number is still below the target. All tourism stakeholders in Jakarta are required to provide more services and security guarantee that can satisfy the incoming tourists and increase the number of visits from Saudi Arabia. To make betterment to the services provided for the tourists in Jakarta, stakeholders may make information about halal-labeled restaurants, security, and worship facilities available.

Based on the phenomenon described above, Jakarta should further increase its competitiveness against other halal tourism providers in providing security guarantee and excellent services with some Islamic attributes to every tourist. The Islamic attributes of destination involved consist of worship facilities, halalness, and general Islamic morality (Battour, 2011; Battour, Battor & Bhatti, 2013; Battour & Ismail, 2015). Those attributes are very important and need more attention to raise the number of Saudi Arabian tourist visits.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Islamic Attributes of Destination

Islamic attributes of destination are formed based on several elements. First, the availability of halal food needed by Muslim tourists. Second, worship facilities that are also very much needed by Muslim tourists. Third, general Islamic morality which is a representation of Islamic values found in a tourist destination or in other words Islamic guidelines become part of daily life in a destination. These three elements refer to previous studies conducted by Battour & Ismail, (2014) and are used in this study as the basis of Islamic attributes. Some religious attributes proved to be able to significantly attract Muslim tourists such as halal- certified food, places of worship, dress according to Islamic guidelines, a friendly Muslim environment (Islamic morality), and call to prayer (Razzaq, Hall & Prayag, 2016). For Muslim tourists, the image of the destination is closely related to some crucial things such as places of worship (mosques) and places of ablution, halal food and drink, dress modestly (Abdullah, 2012).

General Islamic morality includes avoidance of places of prostitution, separation of places between men and women especially in swimming pools, and the use of clothing that is in accordance with Islamic guidelines (Batrawy, 2015; Battour & Ismail, 2015). Islamic attributes are very important and a concern in influencing the Muslim tourist's preference in choosing a tourist destination (Battour & Ismail, 2015; Razzaq, Hall & Prayag, 2016).

Security Guarantee

Many Muslims like to travel to destinations where Islamic culture and values are respected, including halal food and comfort which are part of the practice of Islam and thus, provide a comfortable sense of security (Iravani & Mozaffari, 2013). Fatima, Naeem & Rasool, (2016) in their research measuring the perception of individuals or tourists related to religious tourism, one of the dimensions measured is the safety and security dimension. Providing a good security and security system, helping residents in a destination feel safe and can increase tourism.

Khuong & Phuong (2017) revealed that tourists would recommend Ho Chi Minh City if they perceived the beauty and the positive feelings. This factor can be improved through building a more favorable destination image and reducing negative attributes such as tricksters, thieves, beggars and street vendors as well as raising the level of safety and security in Ho Chi Minh City (Khuong & Phuong, 2017). A number of previous studies have suggested that security is the most important thing for the advancement of the tourism industry. Chauhan (2007) asserted that safety and security are conditions for creating a positive image of a destination.

Tourism Destination Image

Brand image has long been known as an important concept in marketing. Brand image is a consumer perception of a brand, as reflected by brand associations stored in consumer memory. In other words, brand association is a node of information related to brand nodes in memory and contains the meaning of a brand for consumers. Associations come in various forms and can reflect product characteristics or aspects that do not depend on the product (Keller, Parameswaran & Jacob, 2011).

Previous study, as conducted by Jalilvand & Samiei, (2012) shows that image plays an important role as a mediator variable. In line with that research, this study shows that destination image plays an important role as a mediator between Islamic attributes of destination and Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta. On the other hand, Samori & Rahman, (2013) suggested that service providers have to use the Islamic attributes, Islamic themes, Islamic ambiances, and even Islamic architecture so that the tourists can felt more comfortable, then they could still perform their obligations, and also it could create more values, and positive destination image. The empirical results showed that tourism destination image has positive impacts on travel decision-making.

Visiting Decision

Adoption of purchasing decisions on the visiting decision represents the decision to make a visit to a destination, and information gathering depends on the stage of the individual's life cycle (Albaity & Melhem, 2017). Kessler (2015) in his study revealed the concept or term of mosque tourism, visits to mosques in the context of Islamic Tourism where Muslims visit mosques as tourist destinations, Muslims continue to worship while traveling, and non- Muslims also visit mosques as tourist destinations or just looking for knowledge.

In the process of visiting decisions, individuals compare one destination with another destination. The destination chosen certainly has more advantages than the destination that was not chosen. Visiting decision is a series of processes up to the decision to choose. From the evaluation phase where tourists have a number of destination choices, then these destinations are compared until tourists make choices or make decisions. Steps related to concrete actions to buy products at certain prices on certain brands, and through certain distribution channels (Högström, Rosner & Gustafsson, 2010; Qoura & Khalifa, 2016).

Conceptual Model

The following research framework is designed based on the literature review above to show the relationship between Islamic attributes of destination and visiting decision with destination image serving as a mediator. This research adopted the Islamic attribute concept by (Battour, Ismail & Batto, 2011) and security construct by (Hsu, Lin & Lee, 2017). The research theoretical framework can be seen in the figure below:

Figure 1: Research Model

H1: Worship facilities has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H2: Worship facilities has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H3: Halalness has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H4: Halalness has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta H5: General Islamic morality has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H6: General Islamic morality has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta

H7: Security guarantee has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H8: Security guarantee has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H9: Tourism Destination Image has an impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H10: Islamic attributes of destination has an impact on Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta Through Tourism Destination Image

H1: Worship facilities has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H2: Worship facilities has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H3: Halalness has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H4: Halalness has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta H5: General Islamic morality has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H6: General Islamic morality has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta

H7: Security guarantee has a positive impact on Tourism Destination Image

H8: Security guarantee has a positive impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H9: Tourism Destination Image has an impact on Saudi Arabians’ Decision to Visit Jakarta H10: Islamic attributes of destination has an impact on Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta Through Tourism Destination Image

The main objective of this research was to identify the impact of Islamic attributes of destination and security guarantee on destination image and tourists’ visiting decisions. Saudi Arabian tourists are the population of this study. The targeted population size was 197,681. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed personally to all respondents. This method of questionnaire distribution was selected because it provides a high predictive value for assessing the efficiency of the individuals in various departments, especially when the target subject under the study is related to individual perceptions, beliefs, and opinions (Yalcinkaya, 2007).

In this study, 48 indicators were used. This study also used a Likert scale, which is generally used in questionnaire-based research (Lee Yoon & Lee, 2009). All variables were measured using a 5-point Likert scale. According to the instrument analysis, the determination of the minimum representative sample depends on the required size of sample (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Usually, N = 100–150 is considered the minimum sample size for conducting SEM. Based on the explanation above, 205 questionnaires were distributed, 200 (97.6%) of which

were returned and used for analysis. Data from 200 respondents were collected and analysed using the SEM method.

RESULT

The respondents in this study were predominantly men (62%). Furthermore, most of the respondents (34%) were 30–39 years old. This illustrates that most of the respondents were still in the productive age range. All the respondents were Saudi Arabian. Most of them (36%) visited Jakarta twice in one year. In relation to the visiting motive, most of the respondents stated that they visited Jakarta for vacation reason (86%). Most of the respondents were engaged in cultural tourism when visiting Jakarta (46.5%).

The results of the confirmatory factor analysis can be seen in table 2. The value of construct reliability on the results of data processing stood between 0.759 and 0.957. In other words, this value was above 0.7. Meanwhile, the value of composite reliability stood between 0.718 and 0.877. This value was also above 0.7. It can be concluded that this research has fulfilled the construct reliability and composite reliability, or, in other words, the indicators used in this study were reliable or consistent. A factor loading value of more than 0.50 is considered significant (Hair et al., 2010). Referring to table 1, all the indicators used in this study proved valid or was able to explain each research variable because the value was above 0.50.

Table 1: Confirmatory Factor Analysis Results

α= Cronbach’s alpha; CR = Composite Reliability, AVE = Average Variance Extracted

Figure 2: Structural Model

Source: Data Processing, (2018)

The confirmatory factor analysis results show that the model structure gains acceptance according to the Model Fit Index. All of the goodness-of-fit indices exceeded their respective common acceptance levels as suggested by Hair et al., (2010), demonstrating that the measurement model exhibited a good fit (CFI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.035, NFI = 0.925, TLI = 0.982). This represents that all models were appropriate to use.

Table 2: Structural Model Results

Source: Data Processing, (2018)

The hypotheses were tested using SEM as presented in the table 2. The model assessment as shown in the table provides the indication of the hypothesis tests, and all the ten hypotheses were supported. As a result, indirect effects, we find that there was indirectly impact Islamic attributes of destination on Saudi Arabians’ decision to visit Jakarta through tourism destination image.

DISCUSSION

Islamic religious attributes are bound to be very important consideration when Muslims decide to travel abroad. Before traveling, a Muslim will ensure the availability of places of worship at the destination (Battour, Ismail & Batto, 2011). Islamic attributes can be a tourist attraction, such as the availability of places for worship for each individual belief, the availability of halal-certified food, prohibition of the consumption of alcoholic beverages, gambling, and pornographic content, and woman dress code (Battour, Battor & Ismail, 2012). The basic aspects of general Islamic morality involves common courtesy, for example, by avoiding red light spots and practices, adult channels, free mixing between male and female,

especially at swimming pools, and applying Islamic dress code (Batrawy, 2015; Battour & Ismail, 2015).

Furthermore, this research also supports the findings conducted by Khuong & Phuong, (2017) which revealed that tourists would recommend Ho Chi Minh City if they perceived the beauty and the positive feelings. This factor can be improved through building a more favorable destination image and reducing negative attributes such as tricksters, thieves, beggars and street vendors as well as raising the level of safety and security in Ho Chi Minh City (Khuong & Phuong, 2017). Chauhan (2007) states that security and safety are the main conditions for creating an idealized image. Travelers’ perceptions, motivations, and travel results are very sensitive to the safety and security of travel, which directly or indirectly influences their travel decisions. Finally, a strong association with Islamic values proved to have a positive impact on the image of a destination. Muslim tourists’ preference for the image of Islam is a brand perception that influences the choice of destination (Kim, Park & Lee, 2014). Hsu, Lin & Lee, (2017) revealed that tourism destination image is an antecedent of destination choice.

Saudi Arabia fell into top ten countries with the highest level of Internet penetration (91%). Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s growth rate of the number of social media users was the world’s highest (32%) (Kemp, 2018). Consumers use social media to share information, knowledge, and experiences to their friends in groups and communities (Rachbini & Hatta, 2018). This must be taken advantage of tourism stakeholders in Indonesia to carry out attractive promotions via social media with Saudi Arabian people being the target audience.

CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS

This research shows that three dimensions within Islamic attributes of destination and security play an important role in influencing a destination’s image and tourists’ visiting decision. The results of this study are expected to expand the study of Islamic attributes of destination which consist of worship facilities, halalness, and general Islamic morality.

The findings of this research also show that having vacation (86%) and visiting cultural destinations (46.5%) were the major motives behind Saudi Arabian tourists’ visits to Jakarta. Therefore, the marketing communication strategy that should be applied is creating an interesting content package highlighting culture-related destinations, such as religious tour, local culture tour, architectural tour, local-halal food, and historical tour. The content must be distributed effectively. The most appropriate, cost-effective way is distributing the content via social media and Indonesian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Further research in other cities, both in Indonesia and other Muslim countries, is highly recommended. Furthermore, a qualitative approach can also be applied for future researchers to see differences with the results of this study.

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