ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following work: Saikim, Fiffy Hanisdah Binti (2018) Wildlife viewing preferences of visitors to protected areas in Sabah, Malaysia: implications for the role of wildlife tourism in conservation. PhD Thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: https://doi.org/10.25903/5d3654e8f6d9c Copyright © 2018 Fiffy Hanisdah Binti Saikim. The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owners of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please email [email protected] WILDLIFE VIEWING PREFERENCES OF VISITORS TO PROTECTED AREAS IN SABAH, MALAYSIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ROLE OF WILDLIFE TOURISM IN CONSERVATION A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at James Cook University of Queensland on 31 December 2018 FIFFY HANISDAH BINTI SAIKIM BSc. (Hons) UNIMAS, MSc. (Nature Tourism) UMS James Cook University College of Business, Law & Governance STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY AND DEDICATION To the best of my knowledge and belief, the work presented in this thesis is original, except as acknowledged in the text. All sources used in the study have been cited, and no attempt has been made to project the contribution of other researchers as my own. Further, the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. “Every reasonable effort has been made to gain permission and acknowledge the owners of copyright material. I would be pleased to hear from any copyright owner who has been omitted or incorrectly acknowledged” (JCU, 2018). Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others is acknowledged in the text, and a list of references is given. I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act; and, I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that the electronic copy of this thesis provided by James Cook University Library is an accurate copy of the printed thesis submitted, within the limits of the technology available. Fiffy Hanisdah Binti Saikim ii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family, my parents, and my siblings Untuk ‘mummy’, ‘oma’, abang dan anak-anak… Junaidah Md. Ali, Jaiton Saridi, Mahadimenakbar, Aqil, Arif, Amir dan Ksha… Khasnya buat ayahanda tercinta… Dr. Saikim Gimbang… 22.09.1956 – 30.07.2014 Dan anakanda puteri tersayang… Nur Khayriyyah Zafirah… 01.06.2013 – 04.06.2013… To my mums, husband and children… Junaidah Md. Ali, Jaiton Saridi, Mahadimenakbar, Aqil, Arif, Amir and Ksha… Especially to my late father… Dr. Saikim Gimbang… 22.09.1956 – 30.07.2014 And my late daughter… Nur Khayriyyah Zafirah… 01.06.2013 – 04.06.2013 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Pisang emas bawa belayar, Masak sebiji di atas peti, Hutang emas dapat dibayar, Hutang budi dibawa mati. With golden plaintains sail away, Whilst on a chest lies one that’s ripe, The debts of gold we can repay, But debts of kindness last through life.1 First and foremost, my gratitude first goes to my principal supervisor Chair Professor John Hamilton, and to my co-supervisors Dr. Josephine Pryce and Dr. Singwhat Tee (as well as my former early-stage supervisor Professor Bruce Prideaux), for their endless support, and enthusiasm across this PhD project, plus their ongoing kindness – which that has kept me on task. Second, my appreciation goes to the Director and colleagues at the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC), UMS for their guidance and help. I would also like to thank my amazing friends who had supported me all the way: Cristina Rodrigues, Anja Pabel, Peter Wood, Grace Guaigu, Adrian Mendoza, Karen McArthur, Betty Jessop, Heather Jones and Kalsum Mohd. Yusah, I am filled with gratitude for your optimism, support and wonderful friendship for all these years. I am forever indebted to my family, parents and siblings (Mala, Anet, Lina, Ah Chung, Hafeez, Nurul and Yayat), for their boundless support and always being there for me, and finally, to those who had helped me directly or indirectly in this journey: Please note that the data for this thesis was collected across April-May 2011. Fiffy Hanisdah Binti Saikim ___________________________________________________________________ 1 Pantun (pantoum) is a Malay traditional poem equivalent to Japanese Haiku, widely recognised in the Malay Archipelago as one of the classical ways to express feelings courteously. It is characterised by quatrains, often with pleasing assonance; using simple language, nevertheless with deep meaning. The aforementioned pantun was translated by: Hamilton, A. W. 1941. Malay Pantuns: Pantun Mělayu. Australasian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd. iv STATEMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF OTHERS The research contained herein this thesis is a result of team-based collaboration between myself, Chair Professor John Hamilton, Dr SingWhat Tee, Dr Josephine Pryce and Professor Bruce Prideaux. Chair Professor Hamilton spent considerable time teaching me to transform my writing style, and to learn and use the stats required herein. Chair Professor Hamilton guided me through the research process, connecting with me in Malaysia via Skype, and via email on a regular basis across the past three years. Professor Prideaux and Chair Professor Hamilton guided my initial brain-storming and research agenda plans, Dr Tee added data capture techniques and analysis, Dr Price assisted with my tourism thesis approach. Chair Professor Hamilton assisted with how to frame and triangulate my research, my stats and my write-up. These assistance patterns persisted across the research process Ethics associated with this research and thesis complies with the current laws of Australian and all permits necessary for the project was obtained. Original research data is retained at JCO, and in the College of Business, Law & Governance in accordance with JCU research data: storage and management guidelines. Fiffy Hanisdah Binti Saikim v ABSTRACT This study uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the preferences of tourists who visit protected areas in Sabah, Malaysia. It considers the implication that such visits have against the conservation of wildlife tourism destinations. Several theoretical frameworks are employed in this investigation - including critical theory, grounded theory, experience theory, animal encounter theory, biodiversity hotspots theory, and scheme theory. Other theories of importance are involvement theory, theory of planned behaviour, and user-and-gratification theory. This study’s wildlife tourism behaviour path model shows that tourist experiences and activities can drive memories, loyalty and satisfaction with the destination’s offerings. The study shows that wildlife tourist’s expectations are framed around Sabah’s endemic wildlife, rainforest, diversity of animals and abundance of animals, as well as around traditional culture. A good portion of respondent tourists (42%) indicate that their tourist expectations are substantively met, with a further 39% seeing their experience as less than very-highly-met. As such, there is room for improving Sabah’s wildlife tourism industry. The orang utans, followed by the rhinoceros, and then the elephants, are the most popular animal species. Approximately sixty seven per cent (66.9%) of study respondents are in the 25 – 44 age group, with a majority being professional’s females, and often from the UK. A majority (63%) of respondents were first time visitors. Regarding environmental conservation, 33.90% (majority of tourists) learned of threats facing the wildlife species in these tours, and indicated that wildlife threats needed attention. The real world contributions of this study include encouraging wildlife destination sites to seek solutions for the improvement of the appeal of wildlife tourism, and raising both the loyalty and satisfaction levels of outbound wildlife tourists. This study was limited in terms of the tourist respondent convenience sampling employed over as a short period-of-time in Sabah, and conducted at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The paper – ‘Saikim, F.H., & Prideaux, B. (2014). Rainforest wildlife: a key element in Sabah's destination appeal. In Prideaux, B. (Ed.) Rainforest Tourism, Conservation and Management: Challenges for Sustainable Development (pp. 241-258), New York, NY: Routledge (ISSN 978- 020308718-3; 978-041563582-0),’ offers some of this researcher’s early views around this PhD research topic. Keywords: wildlife tourism, Sabah, wildlife, loyalty, destination appeal, wildlife threats vi TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE TITLE i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY AND DEDICATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv STATEMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF OTHERS v ABSTRACT vi LIST OF FIGURES xv LIST OF TABLES xvii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Prologue 1 1.2 Aims of the Study 1 1.3 Terminology 7 1.4 Background of the Study 9 1.4.1 Animal-based Tourism as a Form of Tourism 9 1.4.2 Animal Encounters And Changes In Animal-Based 17 Tourism 1.4.3 Destination Of Animal-Based Tourism 22 1.5 Theoretical Framework: Experiences in Tourism 27 1.6 Justification 29 vii 1.7 Methodology 30 1.7.1 Secondary Data Sources 31 1.7.2 Primary