OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this paper is to provide an insight into the profile of visitors to Pulau Payar and their preferences and motives for making their visit to the island and their attitudes towards nature and environment in general. This paper is a preliminary report on a larger study funded by the Ministry of Science and Environment, Malaysia, under the IRPA program conducted by the authors at the Universiti Utara Malaysia.

METHODOLOGY

Preliminary discussion with the Head of Pulau Payar Marine Park, Department of Fisheries, was conducted in the early stage to procure some secondary data and background information. Primary data were obtained by means of a questionnaire survey. An initial English version of the questionnaire was given to a focus group prior to a pilot survey that was completed in March 2000. After further refining and correction, it was then translated into Mandarin and Japanese before launching the survey proper. Thus, three sets of questionnaires were used to collect data for the study. This survey took place between late April 2000 and early May 2000. Five trips were made to Pulau Payar for this purpose.

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