The Role of Muslim Tourist Satisfaction as a Mediating Factor in the Relationship Between Islamic Attributes of Destination and Service Quality on Desination Loyalty

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages: 808-813

J. Environ. Treat. Tech. ISSN:

309-1185

Journal weblink: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

The Role of Muslim Tourist Satisfaction as a

Mediating Factor in the Relationship Between

Islamic Attributes of Destination and Service

Quality on Desination Loyalty

Reni Yuliviona ¹^,²^*, Mokhtar Abdullah , Zuraini Alias ¹^,³, Sefnedi ¹

1,2

¹Faculty of Economy , Universiti Bung Hatta Padang, Indonesia

Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Universiti Selangor, 40000 Shah Alam, Malaysia

Received: 04/04/2019

Accepted: 28/08/2019

Published: 15/09/2019

Abstract

Muslim traveler is expanding and their travel expenditure estimated about USD 300 billion in 2026. As a Muslim country and

have the most Muslim population in the world, Indonesia has less sensitivity to the Islamic destination and become ranking third in

the Muslim tourist destination. However, their satisfaction on Islamic attribute and service quality toward destination have never been

studied. Thus, this research study intends to investigate the tourist satisfaction as a mediating variable in the relationship between the

Islamic attributes, service quality and destination loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists in the Padang city. A convenience

sampling was implemented to gain the primary data of 160 Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting Padang city and only 119 usable

replies. Data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation method. The result showed a positive and significant

influence of the service quality, the Islamic attributes and the tourist satisfaction on loyalty destination. The results also established

that tourist satisfaction were positively and significantly influenced by the service quality and the Islamic attributes. This finding

suggests that the tourism industry in Indonesia, especially in Padang must provide the Islamic attribute and quality service to the

Muslim tourist satisfaction in order to motivate them to revisit Padang.

Keywords: Islamic attributes, Service quality, Tourist satisfaction, Destination loyalty

manage the tourism destination in Indonesia (8, 9). The theory

Introduction

of Muslim tourism, especially Muslim tourist satisfaction that

relates to halal destination still has not developed. However,

there exist several studies that explored physical Islamic

attributes toward satisfaction and revisit intention (1-4) From

the discussion above, this research study utilizesfour variables

as stated; the quality of the service, Islamic attributes of the

destination, the tourists' satisfaction and loyalty destination.

Therefore, it is very important for Indonesian tourism to

explore Muslim tourist satisfaction in order to increase their

loyalty to revisit the destination. The goal of this study is to

analyze empirically the impact of the tourist satisfaction as a

mediating variable in the relationship between the quality of

the service, the Islamic attributesand destinationloyalty of the

Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting the Padang city. The

Malaysian Muslim tourist is chosen as a respondent because

they are the largest number tourist visiting in Padang.

Halal tourism is currently one of the focused areas of

marketing. Some countries are aware of halal tourism as an

important niche market. The revenue from this niche market is

estimated to be around USD 156 million by the year 2020.

Additionally, the travel expenditure reaches USD 220 billion

and the Muslimtravel expenditureis estimatedabout USD 300

billion in 2026 (10). Halal tourism has just attained around

0% of its development, even though Halal tourism in

Indonesia is very extensive. Many elements like lack of

Islamic cultural sensitivity, unsupported halal program,

bureaucratic nature of halal certification played a vital role in

the slow development of the Halal tourism in Indonesia. On

the other hand, the government realized the potential of

Indonesia tourism, but it has not been supported by the

development of its with infrastructure and a good system to

Corresponding author: Reni Yuliviona, (a) Faculty of Economy , Universiti Bung Hatta Padang, Indonesia, (b) Faculty of Business

and Accountancy, Universiti Selangor, 40000 Shah Alam, Malaysia. E-mail: reniyuliviona@bunghatta.ac.id.

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages: 808-813

Table 1: Global Muslim Travel Index 2017

Muslim Countries (OIC)

Non Muslim Countries (Non- OIC)

Rank

Country

Malaysia

Unites Arab Emirates

Indonesia

Turkey

Score

82.5

76.9

72.6

72.4

71.4

70.5

68.1

69.7

Rank

Country

Singapore

Thailand

Score

67.3

61.8

60.0

53.6

53.2

52.8

52.4

52.1

48.8

48.6

United Kingdom

South Africa

Hongkong

Japan

Saudi Arabia

Qatar

Morocco

Oman

Taiwan

France

Bahrain

Spain

Iran

66.8

United States

Source : Mastercard & Crescentrating, 2017

who are satisfiedwiththe travel experiencesaremore probable

to travel back to the same destination and shared their

encouraging travel experiences with their contacts (6).

Battour, Ismail, and Battor, also advocate the impact of

achieving customer satisfaction may give impact to the

company’s sustainibility and be more competitive (1). There

are empirical attestations within the tourism industry that

tourists’ satisfaction is a robust indicator of their intentions to

revisit and recommend the destination to other travelers (7).

Tourists who are satisfiedwith the travel experiencesare more

probable to travel back to the same destination and along with

it share their encouraging travel experiences with their

contacts (6).

Literature Review

In this study three observed variables are: (1) quality of

service; (2) Islamic attributes of destination; (3) satisfaction

and (4,5) loyalty destination. In order to attain tourists’

satisfaction, quality is theorized as a provider’s performance

measured as well as a benchmark to stakeholders in the

tourism industry.

2.1 Islamic attributes on destination

Muslim tourists are really concerned about their religious

need at every time and place. The factors to serve the Muslim’s

needs like providing and serving halal food, a prayer’s room

facility, dress code and restricting gambling and alcoholic

beverages are termed within Islamic attributes (2). These

Islamic attributes are usually provided in the Islamic nations

and as well as non-Islamic nations to entice the Muslim

traveler segments. Islamic attribution is important to Muslim

because it makes their worship easier and to avoid adultery,

gambling, consumption of pork and others haram food such as

alcohol. Study about motivating factors of Islamic tourist’s

destination loyalty conducted by Rahman, in Kuala Lumpur

stated that the good and proper Islamic attributescan motivate

Muslim more on travelling (11).

.4 Loyalty

Tourist loyalty is highly essential in the tourism industry.

For many tourist destinations, 50% of the total tourist arrival

are repeatingvisitors. Travel destination can also be perceived

as a product as it can be resold (revisiting the destination) and

recommend to other networks of friends and family members

who are potentialtourist. This study exploresthe role of tourist

satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between Islamic

attributes, quality of service and destination loyalty among

Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting Padang city. The

hypotheses development in this study is stated below:

2.2 Service Quality

According to Žabkar et al., the quality of services will

The hypotheses development in this study are stated below:

influence tourist satisfaction, however, it is really crucial for

the provider to provide it (15,16). Service quality is a holistic

termindicatingthe overall evaluationof the intangibleoffering

including destination, core products or services and all the

supporting services (17). In the tourism industry, quality is

created by the processes of service delivery, such as

friendliness, courtesy and efficiency and outcomes of services

13). On the other hand, Rahman et al. revealed that the

relationship between perceived service quality and tourist’s

satisfaction were significant and positive (12).

:There is a significant effect of Islamic attributes on

destination loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists

visiting Padang city

H2:There is a significant effect of quality of service on

destination loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists

visiting Padang city

:There is a significant effect of Islamic attributes on tourist

satisfaction among Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting

Padang city

(

:There is a significant effect of quality of service on tourist

satisfaction among Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting

Padang city

.3 Satisfaction

As a tourism provider, the Muslim tourist satisfaction is

really significant. There are provent that tourists’ satisfaction

are a robust indicator of their intentions to revisit and

recommend the destination to other travellers (7). Tourists

H5:There is a significant effect of tourist satisfaction on

destination loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists

visiting Padang city

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages: 808-813

:Tourist satisfaction mediates significantly in the

relationship between Islamic attributes and destination

loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting Padang

city

with 48.7% being females and 51.3 % being males. The

majority of respondents(46.2%)were 28 - 38 years old, 39.5%

and 7.6% of them were 39 - 49 years old and above 50 years

old respectively. Only 6.7% of respondents were 17 - 27 years

old. With respect to the income per month, the results

displayed that more than 50% of the respondents have income

less than RM 5,000 monthly. Furthermore, the most frequent

travelling were 3 – 4 time per year with 38.37% and followed

by 1-2 times 33.6%, and above 8 time only 5.7%.

H7:Tourist satisfaction mediates significantly in the

relationship between quality of service and destination

loyalty among Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting in

Padang city

Methodology

This study wanted to investigate the role of satisfaction as

Table 3: Outer Model

Factor Cronbach’s Composite

mediating factors in the relationship between the relationship

between Islamic attributes, quality of service and destination

loyalty among MalaysianMuslimtouristsvisitingPadang city.

A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure all the items which

was later analyse by Smart PLS. The variable of Islamic

attributeswas measuredby 17 items adaptedfrom (3). In order

to measure service quality, this study adapted 6 items from

Variables

Items

AVE

alpha

reliability

IA1

IA2

IA3

IA4

IA5

IA6

IA7

IA8

0.762

0.808

0.771

0.800

0.791

0.855

0.932

0.871

(

17)Thisstudy’s measureof touristsatisfactionand destination

loyalty comprised 9 items, with 4 items measuring tourist

satisfaction (14), and 5 items measuring destination loyalty

(

14)

The questionnaires were set in English language and

Islamic

attribute

IA9

0.818

0.971

0.973

0.683

Bahasa Malaysia language. The targeted population of the

research was Malaysian Muslim tourists visiting in Padang

city. The research had been restricted to the sample due to the

constraints of cost, time and the difficulty to attain all the

respondents.The research study was conducted from February

IA10

IA11

IA12

IA13

IA14

IA15

0.890

0.797

0.871

0.810

0.851

0.839

–

April 2018, and the data were collected via drop and pick

survey of 5 hotels, after they fill in a questionnaire, then it

collected in respectively.

IA16

IA17

QS1

0.827

0.838

0.810

Table 2: Respondents’ Profile

Percentage

DemographyCategory

Frequency

(%)

QS2

QS3

0.838

0.763

Gender

Male

51.3

48.7

Quality of

service

.912

0.932

0.695

Female

QS4

0.850

Age

17 - 27 years old

6.7

QS5

QS6

ITS1

0.854

0.882

0.961

8 - 38 years old

9 - 49 years old

46.2

39.5

7.6

≥

50 years old

Islamic

tourist

satisfaction

ITS2

0.883

Income per

Month

0.930

0.927

0.950

0.945

0.827

0.773

≤

RM. 2,000

45.4

ITS3

0.902

RM 2,001 – 5,000

RM 5,001 – 7,500

22.7

25.2

6.7

ITS4

DL1

DL2

0.891

0.932

0.944

≥

RM 7,5001

Travelling

per year

– 2 times

33.6

Destination

loyalty

DL3

0.922

≥

– 4 times

– 7 times

8 times

38.7

21.0

5.7

DL4

DL5

0.941

0.908

Table 3 displayed the resultsof validityand reliabilitytests

or outer model. An item identified valid if the value of

measurement loading at least 0.700. The results of this study

found that the overall value of measurement loading is above

Results and Findings

The study utilized the purposive sampling method with

19 respondents participating in the conducted survey. Partial

0.700 so that it can be concluded that the construction of the

Least Squares-based Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-

SEM) was appliedto analyze the collected data. Table 2 shows

the distribution of the participants on the basis of the gender

variable is composed by a valid indicator. Furthermore, this

study assessed the model’s internal consistency using three

approaches namely, cronbach's alpha, composite reliability

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages: 808-813

and average variance extracted (AVE). For a scale to be

considered reliable, cronbach's alpha and composite reliability

must be equal to or greaterthan 0.70. All the scales used in this

study exceeded this threshold. AVE can also used to assess the

reliabilityof a scale. Chiu suggested that if a scale has an AVE

equal to or greater than 0.500 then it can be considered to be

reliable(7). The AVE of this study’s scales ranged from 0.683

to 0.827, exceeding the threshold value. The structural model

or inner model was evaluated by using goodness of fit tests to

see the percentage of variances. It is essential to observe the

values of R-square for latent exogenous construct and the

values of the path coefficients. The stability of this estimation

was evaluated using t-tests, which was obtained through the

bootstrapping procedure. The structural model was evaluated

based on the R-square with similar interpretation to regression

analysis. Table 4 above showed the result of discriminant

validity by using Fornell-Larcker criterion. The diagonal bold

value had higher scores compared to others. For instance, the

coefficient correlation variable of destination loyalty and itself

had 0.930 score and it had higher value compared to other

variabels.

The Table 5 displayed the values of R square adjusted

higher than zero (0) for the two endogenous variables. The R

square adjusted value of the destination loyalty was 0.689,

indicating that 68.9% of the variance in the destination loyalty

variable was explained by the Islamic attributes, quality of

service and tourist satisfaction. Additionally, the R square

adjusted value of tourist satisfaction was found to be 0.739,

indicating that 73.9% of the variance of tourist satisfaction was

explained by Islamic attributes and quality of service.

Tabel 4: Discriminant Validity-Fornell-Larcker Criterion

Destination Loyalty

Islamic Attributes

Islamic Tourist Satisfaction

Quality of Service

Destination Loyalty

Islamic Attributes

Islamic Tourist Satisfaction

Quality of Service

0.930

0.082

0.022

0.347

0.865

0.153

0.383

0.954

0.343

0.884

Table 5: R Square and R Square Adjusted

Endogenous Variables

R Square

0.689

R Square Asjusted

Destination loyalty

Tourist satisfaction

0.687

0.737

0.739

Figure 1: T-Statistics for the Path Analysis

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages: 808-813

Table 6: Hypotheses Testing of the Study

Direct effects

Path coefficient

0.266

t-statistics

2.279

p-values

0.023

0.011

0.008

0.000

0.013

Islamic attribute Destination loyalty

Quality of service Destination loyalty

Islamic attribute Tourist satisfaction

Quality of service Tourist satisfaction

Tourist satisfaction Destination loyalty

0.389

2.554

0.376

2.681

0.615

4.381

0.344

2.491

Indirect effects

Islamic attribute Tourist satisfaction Destination loyalty

Quality of service Tourist satisfaction Destination

loyalty

0.230

0.212

2.749

2.035

0.018

0.042

Figure 1 and Table 6 summarized the results related to the

hypotheses testingof the study. The resultsof analysis showed

that destination loyalty was found to be influenced

significantly by islamic attribute (path coefficient = 0.266, t-

statistics = 2.279, p-values=0.023), quality of service (path

coefficient=0.389, t-statistics=2.554, p-values=0.011), and

tourist satisfaction (path coefficient=0.344, t-statistics=2.491,

p-values=0.013). These findings indicated that hypothesis 1, 2

features of destination, the eminence of destination, tourists’

satisfaction and their loyalty. Muslim tourists will be satisfied

if the destinations have fulfilled their needs (1). According to

Battour et al. (2). The advertising and marketing directed

towards the Muslim travellers could be directed by the

observation of the Islamic rules in the tourism events and

activities in order to enhance the Muslimtravellersatisfaction.

Thus, it is important for countries to ramp up a competitive

strategic planning for tourism to absorb higher rate of tourist

as well to be successful in achieving higher rates of Muslim

tourist and encourage revisiting their countries. Other

implications of this study are that the government and society

need to increase the role of the tourism sector through halal

attributes, destination attributes and service quality so as to

increase the satisfaction of the tourists.

1 2 5

and 5 (H , H , and H ) were supported. Furthermore, the

findings displayed that variables of islamic attribute (path

coefficient = 0.376, t-statistics = 2.681, p-values=0.008) and

quality of service (path coefficient=0.615, t-statistics=4.381,

p-values=0.000) were found to have significant effects on

3 4

tourist satisfaction. Thus, hypothesis 3 and 4 (H and H ) were

statistically upheld by the findings of this investigation.

Additionally, the findings of the indirect effects revealed

that tourist satisfaction mediated the relationship between

islamic attribute (path coefficient = 0.230, t-statistics = 2.749,

p-values=0.018), quality of service (path coefficient = 0.212,

t-statistics = 2.035, p-values=0.042) and destination loyalty.

5.2 Limitations and Directions for Future Research

The limitation some of the study before conversing the

directions for the future researches. The implementation of the

cross sectional design in the study is the first constraint of the

research study. In order to inspect the impact of the tourist

satisfaction as a mediating factor in the connection amid the

quality of service, Islamic attributes and destination loyalty,

the study should also emphasis towards the utilization of the

longitudinal research. Along with it, the future researches

should replicate this research study in the other developing

nations of Southeast Asia (such as, Thailand), in order to

validate the results of this research study via the usage of the

other developing nation as the targeted tourist destination.

These findings could be concluded that hypothesis 6 and 7 (H

and H ) were supported.

Conclusion

The present study has extended the literature on islamic

attributes, service quality, tourist satisfaction, and destination

loyalty. The results of this study found that islamic attributes

and service quality have significant effect on tourist

satisfaction and destination loyalty. It is also revealed that the

variable of tourist satisfaction is have significant effect on

destination loyalty. Furthermore, tourist satisfaction is proven

as mediator of the relationship between Islamic attributes,

service quality and destination loyalty. Thus, it is important

for Indonesia government especiallay for Padang local

government to ramp up a competitive strategic planning for

tourism to absorb higher rate of tourist as well to be successful

in achieving higher rates of Muslim tourist and encourage

revisiting their countries. Other implications of this study are

that the government and society need to increasethe role of the

tourism sector through halal attributes, destination attributes

and service quality so as to increase the satisfaction of the

Muslim tourists.

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