A Confirmation Factor Analysis of the Potential Level Scale for Halal Tourist Sites in Lower Songkhla Lake

Waraporn Suksanchananun, Nhatphaphat Juicharoen, Suradetch Wangthong

School of Management Science, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi, Thailand

Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Keywords

ABSTRACT

confirmation factor analysis; potential levels; halal tourism; lower songkhla lagoon; Muslims

This research aims to examine the coherence between the potential levels of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists with empirical data. The sample consisted of 400 Muslim tourists. This research used questionnaire to collect the data which had a confidence value of Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha with a confidence value of 0.960. The researchers analyzed the structural validity of the potential levels about halal tourist attractions around the lower Songkhla lagoon for Muslim tourists by analyzing the second corroborative component using a statistical computer program.  The second corroborative component analysis revealed that the potential levels of Halal Tourist Sites in the Lower Songkhla lagoon consisted of 6 components of equal importance with component weights of 0.78, 0.84, 0.83, 0.93, 0.90, and 0.87. The results of checking the consistency of the empirical component model found that the chi-square statistic is 391.24 at 259 degrees of freedom, the probability is 0.00, the relative chi-square statistic is 1.51, the Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) is 0.93 and the Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) is 0.90, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) is 0.99, the Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) is 0.02 and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation: RMSEA) is 0.04, which indicates that the potential levels of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists consistent with the empirical data and it consists of 6 components: Accessibility, Environment, Tourism Management, Facilities, Value, and Response.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, the Muslim market is more important from the factors of population and economic potential of Muslim countries. A study of Pew Research Center found that Islam is growing faster than other religions. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be 2.8 billion Muslims or 29.67 percent of the world's population. The region with the most Muslim populations is the Asia-Pacific region, South Africa of the Sahara Desert and the Middle East - North Africa. In Thailand, it was predicted that Muslims living will continue to increase with 5.6 million Muslims by 2050. The main reason for the growth of Islam is that Muslims have a higher fertility rate than other religions and the lowest average age in all major religious groups. Dinar Standard forecasts that Muslims will spend up to $2.4 trillion by 2024 at a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.1 percent (TPSO, 2021). Therefore, halal tourism which is not contrary to Islamic principles has started to play a role and is more attractive. The expansion of Muslim tourists will also lead more diversified demand for halal tourism products such as Halal Airlines, halal restaurant and halal hotels. It is foreseeable that after the vaccination of the coronavirus, the coverage of many regions will increase and expand again. Therefore, the development of tourism to support the expansion of the Muslim world is an issue that many countries should pay attention again. Although halal tourism has started to play an increasingly important role in the tourism industry, halal tourism in accordance with halal principles is still new in Thailand. From the research study on “Halal Hotels: New Opportunities for Thailand's Hospitality Industry” found that if Thailand can increase the supply of halal tourism, It will changes Muslim tourists mind who was not initially choose come to Thailand because there are less halal tourism options and turning back to Thailand more, It will bring the tourism revenue from a group known for its high potential customers (Uruyos, 2021).

Generally, Muslim tourists come to Thailand to travel in every region but southern region is the most popular places to travel. It can be seen from tracking the arrival of tourists after Thailand canceled the Test & Go system. It was found that More than 2,000 Malaysian tourists traveled through the Sadao border during May 1-2, 2022 (Thansettakij, 2022). Therefore, the research teams created a model to measure the potential level of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists to come up in order to prepare to support halal tourism that will return after the COVID-19 situation unfold.

The potential of tourist attractions is availability of tourist attractions that are conducive to development, improvement or change, including the attractiveness of the locality which is sufficient to attract tourists to decide to go to that attraction or not.

The research team has compiled the criteria for consideration and determination of potential from researchers as shown in Tables 1 and 2 as follows:

Table 1 The Latent Variable summary table that is used for the potential levels of halal tourism resource

	Accessibility	Environment	Tourism Management	Facilities	Value	Response	Reputations
Collier and Harraway (1997)	/	/		/	/
(Plee, 1998)	/		/	/	/	/
(Chittangwattana, 1999)	/			/	/
(Chaibunyaphak, 1986)	/	/	/	/	/	/	/
(Nanti, 2009)		/	/	/
(Ratinthorn, 2012)	/	/	/			/
(Phikun & Mathayombut, 2013)	/		/	/		/	/
(Ungjarean & Thalang, 2017)	/	/		/	/		/
(Juansang, 2021)		/		/	/	/

Table 2 Definitions of Latent variables of the potential levels of halal tourism resource

Latent Variable	Literature Support	Definitions	Observe Variable
Accessibility	Collier and Harraway (1997)	Transportation	1.Road Characteristic 2.Accessible Vehicles
	Boonlert Chittangwattana (1999)	transport network	1.Road Characteristic 2.Accessible Vehicles
			3. Accessible Public Transportation
	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak (2007)	Distance from city center to tourist attractions	4.Distance
	Jarut Klindeeplee (1998)	Path condition and distance from the	1.Road Characteristic
		tourist center in the area	4.Distance
	Saengduen Ratinthorn (2011)	Readiness to provide tourism information	5.Road Signs
	Jarinya Napikul and Warat Mathayombut (2013)	Convenience in traveling	1.Road Characteristic
			2.Accessible Vehicles
			3.Accessible Public Transportation
			4.Distance
			5.Road Signs
	Rungratri Ungcharoen and Chawalee Na Thalang (2017)	the condition of the route, the nature of the journey, the length of time from the city to the attraction	1.Road Characteristic
			2.Accessible Vehicles
			3.Accessible Public Transportation
			4.Distance
Environment	Collier and Harraway (1997)	waste disposal system	1. Perfection of Nature
			5. Pollution Free
	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak (2007)	physical condition, weather, ecosystem and other conditions of attraction	1. Perfection of Nature
			2. Perfection of Culture
			3. Cultural Diversity
			5. Pollution Free
	Chonrada Nanti (2009)	The environment was protected	4. Fire Protection System
	Saengduen Ratinthorn (2011)	beauty of nature	1. Perfection of Nature
	Rungratri Ungcharoen and Chawalee Na Thalang (2017)	physical, weather, ecosystem and other conditions of a tourist attraction	1. Perfection of Nature
			2. Perfection of Culture
			3. Cultural Diversity
			5. Pollution Free
	Passakorn Juansang (2021)	does not harm the environment	1. Perfection of Nature
			2. Perfection of Culture
			5. Pollution Free
Tourism Management	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak, (2007)	tourist safety	5. Security System
	Jarut Klindeeplee (1998)	Local organizations take part in the supervision.	2. Administrative Organization
			1. Tourist Service Center
	Chonrada Nanti (2009)	Regulations related to tourism, safety	3. Information Label
			5. Security System
	Saengduen Ratinthorn (2011)	A variety of recreational and unique	4. Unique of Festival
		activities
	Jarinya Napikul and Warat Mathayombut (2013)	The need for obtaining tourist information	1. Tourist Service Center
			3. Information Label
Facilities	Collier and Harraway (1997)	Infrastructure	1. Public Utility
	Boonlert Chittangwattana (1999)	Must have facilities to serve tourists who come to travel to tourist attractions	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak (2007)	accommodation, restaurants, beverages, various service places, electrical systems, water supply, telephones	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Jarut Klindeeple (1998)	facility management	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Chonrada Nanti (2009)	Availability of tourism supply	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Jarinya Napikul and Warat Mathayombut (2013)	Electricity, water supply, telephone, toilet and car park	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Rungratri Ungcharoen and Chawalee Na Thalang (2017)	Accommodation, hotels, restaurants, beverages, services, electricity, water, telephone.	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
	Passakorn Juansang (2021)	Provide facilities	1. Public Utility
			2. Halal Standard for Accommodation
			3. Halal Standard for Food
			4. Halal Standard for Toilet
Value	Collier and Harraway (1997)	Places can be natural, created or man-made and impressive events.	1.Beauty of Tourist Attraction
	Boonlert Chittangwattana (1999)	A tourist resource that must have some sort of attraction for tourists to visit a particular place.	1.Beauty of Tourist Attraction
			2. Culture Reflection
			3.Tourist Experience
			4. Halal Tourist Activity
	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak (2007)	Self-characteristic beauty, historical oldness, cult and religious significance, atmosphere, natural landscape and way of life.	1.Beauty of Tourist Attraction
			2. Culture Reflection
			3.Tourist Experience
			4. Halal Tourist Activity
	Jarut Klindeeplee (1998)	Unique or unique natural resources, history, antiquities, places that are related to local ecosystems, cultures, and traditions.	1.Beauty of Tourist Attraction
			2. Culture Reflection
	Rungratri Ungcharoen and Chawalee Na Thalang (2017)	Beauty, distinctive character, historical oldness, cult and religious significance, atmosphere, natural landscape and way of life.	1.Beauty of Tourist Attraction
			2. Culture Reflection
			3.Tourist Experience
			4. Halal Tourist Activity
	Passakorn Juansang (2021)	local identity	2. Culture Reflection
Response	Wiwat Chaibunyaphak (2007)	tourist support	1. People’s Willingness
			2. Public Participation
			3. Maintaining Identity
			4. People’s Benefit
	Jarut Klindeeplee (1998)	Local people are satisfied or interested in developing the locality into a tourist destination.	1. People’s Willingness
			2. Public Participation
			3. Maintaining Identity
			4. People’s Benefit
	Saengduen Ratinthorn (2011)	Local people prepare for tourist attractions.	1. People’s Willingness
			2. Public Participation
			3. Maintaining Identity
			4. People’s Benefit
	Jarinya Napikul and Warat Mathayombut (2013)	Local people cooperate to develop tourist attractions	1. People’s Willingness
			2. Public Participation
			3. Maintaining Identity
			4. People’s Benefit
	Passakorn Juansang (2021)	Local people in the area have clearly divided duties in carrying out tourism activities.	1. People’s Willingness
			2. Public Participation
			3. Maintaining Identity
			4. People’s Benefit

From the theory and related research, the research framework is as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Potential Tourism aspects

Source: Researcher

Thus, this study aims to create a model to measure the potential of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon area for Muslim tourists..

METHODS

This research is a survey research. The tool used for collecting data is a questionnaire. The sample group is 400 Muslim tourists which is the maximum sample size for research, by using a stratified sampling method of Muslim tourists and selecting a simple tourist destination (Simple Random Sampling) as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.  Stratified Sampling of Muslim Tourists

The research tools consisted of 2 parts: 1) a questionnaire on personal data including gender, age, income, occupation, and education, parts 2) a questionnaire on the potential level of halal tourist attractions. The nature of the questions is a 5-level estimation scale, according to the Liquert format. The potential level scales of halal tourist attractions are the most, most, the moderate, the least and least. In order for the questionnaire to be Validity, the IOC was determined by gathering opinions from experts to calculate. The results of the analysis found that all items were valued between 0.6-1.00 and confidence was Reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient has a value of 0.960. The questionnaire is divided into 6 parts as follows: 1) Accessibility consists of 5 sub-questions, 2) Environment consists of 5 sub-questions, 3) Tourism Management consists of 5 sub-questions, 4) Facilities consist of 4 sub-questions, 5) Value consisting of 4 sub-questions and 6) Response consisting of 4 sub-questions. 

The data analysis was used computer program to analyse the Secondary Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (2nd CFA) to verify structural validity by considering the conformity of models based on theoretical structural equations with empirical data. The statistical measure of the level of conformity used Chi-square statistic, Relative chi-square statistic,   Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness index of Fit Index (AGFI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Root Mean square Residual (RMR), the root mean square of the approximation (RMSEA) and compared the significance weights of the elements with the empirical data to find the weights of all 6 elements. However, before analysing the second confirmation component, preliminary data must be screened and examined as follows:

1) Check data outliers using the Mahalanobis Distance method.

2) The remaining data from step 1 were used to check the normal distribution of the data with skewness and kurtosis.

3) Check for Multicollinearity Issues between latent variables in the structural equation model.

4) Check the suitability of the sample. (Kaiser-Mayor-Olkin: KMO)

5) Check the population correlation metric is an identity matrix using Bartlett's test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of the data analysis were divided into 2 parts as follows:

A. The results of screening and preliminary examination of the data were as follows:

1.    The results of the Mahalanobis Distance data outlier investigation showed that there were 31 outliers, so this study was left with 369 samples.

2.    The results of checking the normal distribution of the data found that the Skew Index (SI) was between -1.37 and -0.69, which was not more than 2 and it was considered symmetrical or not very skewed and the Kurtosis Index (KI) ranged from -0.153 to 2.537, no greater than 7. The data were considered normal distribution (West, Finch, & Curran, 1995 cited in Milfont & Duckitt, 2004).

3.    The investigating issue found that multicollinearity between latent variables in the structural equation model and correlation coefficient between latent variables not more than 0.80 as in Table 3, so there is no problem and multicollinearity between latent variables in the structural equation model.

Table 3 The correlation coefficient between latent variables

4.  The results of the examination of the suitability of the samples (Kaiser-Mayor-Olkin: KMO) KMO was 0.949, which is very high (nearly one) (de Vaus, 1991 cited by Mani Aphanantikul, Rujiret Thanurak, and Yuwadee lucha, 2008), mean that the sample group is suitable. The data can be analyzed for the second corroborative component.

5.  The results of checking the population correlation metric as an identity matrix or not, it was found that the Bartlett's test statistic was less than 0.05, indicating that the correlation metric was not an identity metric, meaning that the variables were completely independent of each other, therefore grouping of variables to form components is possible, so the second order confirmation component should be further analyzed.

B. The results of the structural validity analysis of the potential level of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon area for Muslim tourists, a second confirmatory component analysis revealed that the weights of each of the six aspects were positive, high ranging from 0.78 to 0.94, and were statistically significant at the 0.001 level for all values. The descending order of component weights were 0.94, 0.90, 0.87, 0.84, 0.83, and 0.78 respectively, medium to high ranging from 0.51 to 0.90 and when considering the harmony with the empirical data, it was found that the chi-square statistic (2) was 391.24 at 259 degrees of freedom, the relative chi-square statistic (2/df) was 1.51, the Goodness index of Fit Index (GFI) 0.93, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) 0.90 Comparative Fit Index (CFI) 0.99 Root Power Index Root Mean Square Residual (RMS) is 0.02 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) is 0.04. This shows that the potential level of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon area For Muslim tourists, this is consistent with empirical data and it consists of 6 components: Accessibility, Environment, Tourism Management, Facilities, Value, and Response, as shown in Table 4 and Figure 3.

Table 4 Potential level of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists

Factor	Factor Loading	SE	t	R^2
1. Accessibility	0.78***	«	«	0.61
Road Characteristic	0.80	«	«	0.65
Accessible Vehicles	0.81	0.05	18.53	0.67
Accessible Public Transportation	0.89	0.05	21.13	0.79
Distance	0.90	0.05	21.03	0.81
Road Signs	0.82	0.05	18.61	0.67
2. Environment	0.84***	0.07	11.23	0.70
Perfection of Nature	0.69	«	«	0.48
Perfection of Culture	0.75	0.05	22.60	0.57
Cultural Diversity	0.85	0.08	15.52	0.72
Fire Protection System	0.85	0.09	14.68	0.72
Pollution Free	0.86	0.08	15.43	0.74
3. Tourism Management	0.83***	0.06	13.19	0.67
Tourist Service Center	0.69	«	«	0.41
Administrative Organization	0.77	0.10	11.42	0.59
Information Label	0.69	0.09	10.36	0.47
Unique of Festival	0.51	0.08	8.71	0.26
Security System	0.51	0.08	8.68	0.26
4. Facilities	0.94***	0.08	13.47	0.87
Public Utility	0.79	«	«	0.63
Halal Standard for Accommodation	0.79	0.06	18.41	0.62
Halal Standard for Food	0.74	0.07	14.89	0.55
Halal Standard for Toilet	0.67	0.07	13.24	0.45
5. Value	0.90***	0.09	12.14	0.80
Beauty of Tourist Attraction	0.79	«	«	0.62
Culture Reflection	0.83	0.06	18.28	0.70
Tourist Experience	0.85	0.05	18.82	0.72
Halal Tourist Activity	0.78	0.06	16.85	0.61
6. Response	0.87***	0.09	13.19	0.75
People’s Willingness	0.87	«	«	0.75
Public Participation	0.90	0.05	22.37	0.82
Maintaining Identity	0.63	0.05	13.06	0.40
People’s Benefit	0.67	0.07	14.05	0.45

Figure 3. A model for measuring the potential level of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists

            The results of the structural validity analysis of the potential scale of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla lagoon area for Muslim tourists by analyzing the second confirmation element, it was found that the statistical values used to determine the coherence of the model with the overall empirical data were all acceptable, which means the overall structure of the potential scale of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon area For Muslim tourists is consistent with the empirical data according to the established criteria. This may be due to this questionnaire being built in accordance with the research tool development principles with the review of the quality of the research tools meeting the established criteria.

When considering the weight of the components in each sub-component of the model for measuring the potential of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon for Muslim tourists, the weight of each component for most of the subjects was found to be high, greater than 0.50 and the main component weights of each aspect of the model for measuring the potential of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon there was a high elemental weight, indicating that the Halal Tourist Attraction Scale in lower of Songkhla Lagoon area was high for Muslim tourists and consistent with empirical data which includes Accessibility, Environment, Tourism Management, Facilities, Value, and Response.

CONCLUSION

Those involved should bring components of Accessibility, Environment, Tourism Management, Facilities, Value, and Response used to measure the potential of halal attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon area as a guideline to improve tourist attractions in order to prepare them to support halal tourism to return after the COVID-19 situation resolves. Moreover, the researcher should develop a model to measure the potential of halal tourist attractions in the lower Songkhla Lagoon for Muslim tourists to provide a standardized measurement that can be used with halal attractions in all places.

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