Enriching the International Tourist Experience of Local Malaysian Cuisine and a Guarantee of a Purchase Intention

Abstract

Gastronomy tourism contributes to about one-fifth of the Malaysian economy, indicating that people travel to the country are probably interested in experiencing the taste of the food. This study aims to identify the tourists’ experience as well as their purchase intention of local Malaysian food. The findings of 202 international tourists at Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur highlighted both the characteristics of local Malaysian food and environmental factors as significant influences in the tourists’ willingness to purchase and to savour local food again. Their potential return visit to the country will benefit the tourism industry and the country’s foreign exchange.Keywords: Environmental Factors; Gastronomy Tourism; Malaysian Local Food, Purchase IntentioneISSN 2398-4295 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v4i16.176