Assessment of Destination-specific factors of Bangladesh: A review of Saint Martin Island as an emerging Tourist Destination

Abstract

The study is conducted on Saint Martin Island, one of the most visited
tourist attractions of Bangladesh. It views Saint Martin Island as an emerging
tourist destination and evaluates the requirements of the tourists that can turn it
into an emerged full-fledged tourist's place of visit. Bangladesh has plenty of
opportunities to earn foreign exchange and create jobs through promoting the
tourism sector. The study is conducted on 200 tourists through interview with a
designed self-administered questionnaire by applying suitable sampling method.
Data were analyzed using factor analysis. The research applies both
investigative and empirical research methods. Multiple regression model has
been used to test the influence of various factors on the travelers’ tour purpose
to Saint Martin. Moreover, ten factors related to various aspects of tourism were
taken as indigenous variables. The indigenous variables taken for this study are:
natural beauty, service quality, awareness about the destination, adventure,
convenient lodging, security, easy and comfortable transportation, safe and
quality food and shopping facility and relaxation opportunity. The travel motive
has been taken as exogenous variable of the model. The outcomes of regression
analysis reflect that natural beauty, service quality, adventure and relaxation
opportunities are statistically significant. Therefore, these factors indicate the
traveler’s intention to travel to Saint Martin over other destinations. The main
attributes, features and types of tourists’ motivations are analyzed in this study.