ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF HARD AND SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE ON PERCEIVED DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS: PERSPECTIVE FROM VISITORS IN SARAWAK

Tourism is one of the rapid growing economic sectors in the world. Destination competitiveness became an imperative aspect for every country as it determines the tourism revenue of the country. Infrastructure is one of the determinants of destination competitiveness. There are two kinds of infrastructure namely hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure. The current study investigated the impact of hard infrastructure (transportation, telecommunication, accommodation) and soft infrastructure (government tourism policy, health services, and safety and security) on perceived destination competitiveness from tourists’ points of view. The study was conducted based on quantitative research. A PLS-SEM analysis was performed by using WarpPLS. The result indicated that transportation, accommodation, and health services have a significant relationship with perceived destination competitiveness. This study is expected to benefit policymakers and industry players in terms of decision-making. Besides, this study will equip more literature and evidence for scholars to perform further studies in the field.