Effects of eco-tourism experiences on tourist satisfaction range in Malaysia: A case study of Melaka

Ecotourism is gaining in importance in Malaysia but to date no comprehensive study has been carried out in connection with the effects of ecotourism experience on the range of tourists’ satisfaction in Malacca. This study examined the experience effects of products, services and emotions in ecotourism on the range of tourists satisfaction in Melaka. Primary data were gathered from a total of 560 samples of domestic and foreign tourists from 12 ecotourism centres . The results of the statistical analysis revealed the respective effects of ecotourism experiences on the range of tourist satisfaction : ecotourism products effect (r = 0.691, p≤0.01), services effect (r = 0.720, p≤ 0.01), emotions effect (r = 0.723, p≤ 0:01) and total effect (r = 0.862, p≤ 0.01). The relationship is positive, that is the better aspects of the experiences, the better the range of tourist satisfaction . In conclusion, the ecotourism experiences did affect about 86 percent of the tourist satisfaction range although there was still a need for improvements with respect to the National Ecotourism Plan.