A study on customer expectations towards service quality of homestay in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah / Mohammed Irfan Esmadol

This study examined "CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY
TOWARDS HOMESTAY IN KOTA KINABALU, SABAH". The tourism sector has been an
important contribution to the national economy. Within the tourism industry, Sabah tourism
product such as the homestays programmer was seen as having great potential. Homestays at
Sabah offers the opportunity for tourists to stay with their local community or host and most
important thing being able to experience the local lifestyle and local culture of the community.
Sabah was the second largest state in Malaysia. It lies on the island of Borneo bordering with
the northern state of Sarawak, the Sultanate of Brunei and the Indonesian provinces of
Kalimantan. It was home to 27 ethnic groups, each with its own distanced language, culture
and lifestyle. Sabah also known as the "Land Below The Wind" had all the elements required to
become Malaysia's next desirable destination, from natural beauty, history, heritage, festivals to
modem city living and luxury. Indeed, it had become a potpourri of experiences appreciated by
travelers from all over the world.
In Sabah, there were many 'kampung' or villages that were successfully engaged in homestay
programmers. This research needs for particular in Sabah homestays because there were
limited research on Sabah's homestays among the operators and tourist. The main purpose of
this research was to know the critical success factors for homestays in Sabah such as service
quality, infrastructure, food tourism, product and promotion. Additionally, the researcher wants
to develop profile of homestays in Sarawak and to determine the tourist perception towards
homestay business in Sabah. Lastly, it also looks at the potential and the roles of homestays in
the alternative tourism contact and in the Sabah tourism scenario.