Abstract:
Homestay development has become one of the most important agenda in
Malaysia. The importance of homestay in tourism industry has drawn many scholars’ interests to
understand the factor that influences the visitors to stay in the homestay. The purpose of this
research is to study the visitor satisfaction and factors influencing their decision to visit
homestays in general, and Kanchong Darat Homestay in specific. To undertake this study,
quantitative research methods were utilized. Data was gathered using questionnaires as data
collection instrument in September 2015 at Kanchong Darat Homestay and analyzed using
SPSS 17. Visitors were chosen at random by simple random sampling. The finding of the study
shows that the quality of facilities and services have a positive impact on visitors’ satisfaction to
the homestay. Via the study, the homestay was also found to be in need of stakeholder action to
improve visitor satisfaction, enhance the infrastructure, safety, and services. This study found
that the marketing campaign for the homestay was very weak and needed improvement. Based
on the research findings, it is highly recommended that homestay should be promoted
aggressively in collaboration with government campaigns and private sector outsourcing
activities. Moreover, facilities and the quality of services must be upgraded through continuous
improvement and training, and aspects such as security, awareness, communication with foreign
visitors, and enhance the infrastructure must be improved. This study could be used as a
guideline and encourage other researchers for further studies.
