Investigating the Effect of National Park Sustainability on National Park Behavioral Intention: Kinabalu National Park

Abstract

National Park Sustainability (NPSus) is an important construct in the context of national parks which will lead tourism industry to move towards sustainable national parks. Although previous studies examined the tourist behavioral intention through deployment of sustainability principles or destination sustainability, there is a lack of research on the effect of NPSus on National Park Behavioral Intention (NPBI). To address this gap, this study developed a model which investigates the effect of NPSus as an independent variable, and National Park Satisfaction (NPSat) as mediator on tourist NPBI. The research hypotheses where NPSus and NPSat have a significant effect on NPBI was examined. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among 600 tourists from developed countries visiting Kinabalu National Park (KNP). The data was examined through deployment of structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that NPSus does not affect NPBI directly, however, NPSus has a significant indirect effect on tourist NPBI through mediation effect of NPSat. Furthermore, NPSat was a full mediator. Findings of this study had practical implication to enhance destination sustainability by better understanding the NPBI.