The Moderating Effect of Motivation in the Relationship between Experience and Cultural Tourism Participation: A Study in Politeknik METrO Betong Sarawak

Abstract

This paper evaluates the potential reason underlying the decision to participate in cultural tourism. A total of 179 respondents that include students and staff of Politeknik METrO Betong Sarawak were involved in this study. The result indicates that motivation and experience has shown a moderate relationship towards cultural tourism participation, with motivation (p-value=.695) and experience (p-value=.668) respectively. Besides, it was also found that motivation moderates the relationship between experience and cultural tourism participation, where 51.7% of the variance in cultural tourism participation were collectively explained by both motivation and experience and the remaining 48.3% explained the non existing variables that are not being discussed in this research. These findings contribute to the body of knowledge in the area of tourism experience, in which embodied the aspect of social interaction of the cultural tourists. Furthermore, the knowledge can be of use to the related businesses on the importance in providing distinctive tourism activities that can make up the overall experiences. Understanding the factors that motivate individuals to engage in cultural tourism is crucial for destination marketers and policymakers in attracting cultural tourists.