Cultural heritage tourism is the fasted growing segment of the tourism industry, because there is a trend toward an increased specialization among tourists. This is evident in the rise in the volume of tourists who seek adventure, culture, history, archaeology and interaction with local people. Specially, tourists who come to visit Malacca State are interesting in cultural heritage sites have increased recently and are expected to continue. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between cultural heritage destination attributes and tourist satisfaction, and to identify the relationship between cultural heritage destination attributes and tourist satisfaction in terms of selected tourists¡¦ demographic characteristics and travel behavior characteristics. In this study, expectancy-disconfirmation theory was used to provide a conceptual framework. The theory holds that consumers first form expectations of products or service performance prior to purchasing or use. Subsequently, purchasing and use convey to the consumer beliefs about the actual or perceived performance of the product(s) or service(s). Then the consumer will compare the perceived performance to prior expectation. Consumer satisfaction is seen as the outcome of this comparison. The study area for this study was Malacca State, Malaysia. Malacca State is a historical city centre which has been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 7 July 2008. Malacca has adopted as its slogan, ¡§Visiting Malacca Means Visiting Malaysia¡¨, because Malacca have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanged between east and west in the straits of Malacca. Besides that, Malacca also demonstrates the early stages of history originating in the 15th century Malay Sultanate, Portuguese, and Dutch periods beginning in the represents the British era from the end of the 18th century. Furthermore, in year 2009, total of 8.9 million tourists has visited Malacca. It increased about 1.7 million tourists flowing in compared year 2008. The data of this study were collected from the on-site survey method. The sample population for this study was composed of tourists, who visited Malacca State in May, 2010. The survey was conducted at two sites in the cultural heritage sites of Malacca State. Out of 150 questionnaires, 115 were usable. Therefore, the data from 115 respondents were analyzed in this study. A few of appropriate statistical analyses such as frequencies, descriptive, factor analysis, linear regressions analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used according to respective objectives and descriptors. The factor analysis was conducted to create correlated variable composited from the original 23 attributes. Using factor analysis, 23 analysis attributes resulted to three dimensions: General Tour Attraction, Culture and Heritage Attraction, and Differentiate and Amenity Attraction. These three factors then were related with overall satisfaction. The linear regression analysis revealed that was relationship between cultural heritage destination attributes and tourists¡¦ overall satisfaction. ANOVA showed that there was significant difference between derived factor in relation to gender, age, education, country of origin, household income, past experience to cultural heritage sites, length of stay, and information selected, such as internet, newspaper, holiday exhibition, brochure or travel magazine or guidebook, and local or town trail among the demographic and behavior characteristics. The lastly, ANCOVA showed that origin of country, household income per year, and decision time of the control variables controlled the relationship between the overall satisfaction of tourists and derived factors. According to the results of this study, origin of country and household income controlled the relationship between the overall satisfaction of tourists and derived Factor 3 (Differentiate and Amenity Attraction) and time planning showed significant in relationship between the overall satisfaction of tourist of tourists and derived Factor 2 (Cultural and Heritage Attraction). Based on the results several recommendations can be made to improve and increase tourists¡¦ satisfaction of the cultural heritage tourism in Malacca State, such as comprehending what tourists seek at cultural heritage attractions will help tourism marketers better understand their customers. Through this study, planners or marketers can identify which attributes satisfy the tourist who visit cultural heritage destinations will help tourism planners develop appropriate strategies to attract their customers and serve them effectively. Besides that, it allow planners or marketers knowing who the satisfied tourists are may help reduce marketing costs and maintain cultural heritage destinations¡¦ sustainability.

Cultural/heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry because there is a trend toward an increased specialization among tourists. This trend is evident in the rise in the volume of tourists who seek adventure, culture, history, archaeology and interaction with local people (Hollinshead, 1993). Especially, Americans' interest in traveling to cultural/ heritage destinations has increased recently and is expected to continue. For example, cultural/heritage sites are among the most preferred tourism experiences in America. (Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 1998) The recent studies about cultural/heritage tourism focused on the characteristics of tourists who visited cultural/heritage destinations. The study attempts to investigate the relationship between cultural/heritage destination attributes and tourist satisfaction, and to identify the relationship between cultural/heritage destination attributes and tourist satisfaction in terms of selected tourists' demographic characteristics and travel behavior characteristics. The expectancy-disconfirmation theory provided a conceptual framework for this study. The expectancy-disconfirmation theory holds that consumers first form expectations of products or service performance prior to purchasing or use. Subsequently, purchasing and use convey to the consumer beliefs about the actual or perceived performance of the product(s) or service(s). The consumer then compares the perceived performance to prior expectations. Consumer satisfaction is seen as the outcome of this comparison (Clemons & Woodruff, 1992). The study area for this study was Virginia Historic Triangle (Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown). Virginia Historic Triangle has been called the largest living museum in the world. Furthermore, it is one of America's popular vacation destinations, attracting more than 4 million tourists each year. The data of this study were collected from the on-site survey method. The sample population for this study was composed of tourists who visited Virginia Historic Triangle between June and August in 2001. The survey was conducted at five different sites in the Virginia Historic Triangle. Out of 300 questionnaires, 251 were usable. Therefore, the data from 251 respondents were analyzed in this study. Appropriate statistical analyses such as frequencies, descriptive, factor analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regressions, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) were used according to respective objectives and descriptors. The factor analysis was conducted to create correlated variable composites from the original 25 attributes. Using factor analysis, 25 destination attributes resulted to four dimensions: General Tour Attraction, Heritage Attraction, Maintenance Factors, and Culture Attraction. These four factors then were related with overall satisfaction. Correlation analysis revealed that four factors were correlated with tourists' overall satisfaction. The multiple regression analysis revealed that there was relationship between cultural/heritage destination attributes and tourists' overall satisfaction. MANOVA revealed that there was significant difference between derived factors in relation to only total household income and the length of stay among 10 demographic and travel behavior characteristics. ANOVA revealed that there is a significant difference in the overall satisfaction of tourists by gender, past experience, and decision time to travel. Finally, MANCOVA revealed that only one of the control variables (past experience) controlled the relationship between the overall satisfaction of tourists and derived factors. Based upon the results of this study, several recommendations can be made to increase tourists' satisfaction with the Virginia Historic Triangle. First, comprehending what tourists seek at cultural/heritage attractions will help tourism marketers better understand their customers. Second, identifying which attributes satisfy the tourist who visit cultural/heritage destinations will help tourism planners develop appropriate strategies to attract their customers and serve them effectively. Third, knowing who the satisfied tourists are may help reduce marketing costs and maintain cultural/heritage destinations' sustainability. / Master of Science

The purposes of the study were to: 1) identify Indian tourists' demographics and travel patterns; 2) examine Indian tourists' motivation to take the Bangkok area trip; 3) examine the level of importance of information sources; 4) identify the level of satisfaction of Indian tourists on their travel experience on the Bangkok area attributes; and 5) examine the intention to return and willingness to recommend the Bangkok area and Thailand. The findings showed that Indian tourists were motivated to visit the Bangkok area by both push and pull factors. Family and/or friends and the Internet were considered as important sources in trip decision making. Indian tourists were generally satisfied with the Bangkok area's attributes. They also showed the desire to revisit and recommend Bangkok and Thailand as travel destinations.