International Tourists Interest in Street Vendors Souvenirs : A Descriptive Study

The aim of this study is to analyse international tourists’ interests on street vendors souvenirs sold in Melaka UNESCO sites. Their interests are then matched with the actual souvenirs sold by the vendors. Selling the wrong types of souvenirs creates a misfit between buyers and sellers and will neither benefit the tourists nor the vendors. The study was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, using judgmental sampling the survey questionnaires was distributed to international tourists walking around Christ Church and A Formosa. Of the 181 data collected, only 127 tourists expressed that they were interested in street vendors’ souvenirs. This cohort of tourists and their interests were analysed using SPSS. In the second phase, using structural observations, the researcher used smart phone digital camera to capture pictures of street vendor’s stores items. The photographs were uploaded in computer and the details of the items sold were zoomed in for analysis. The latter was then compared with international tourists’ interests. The findings indicated that only two categories of souvenirs fulfilled the tourists’ interests. This implies that the vendors have room for enhancement to include different categories of souvenirs to capture the tourists’ attention.


Introduction
In 2011, Malaysia was ranked 9th as the most popular tourist destinations in the world and 3rd in Asia after China and Turkey.This achievement was made possible when UNESCO announced Melaka as a World Heritage City in July 7, 2008.With the proclamation by the government that 2014 is the 'Visit Malaysia' year, more tourists are expected to visit the country.In conjunction with this declaration and the Melaka state government's vision of 'Visiting Malacca means visiting Malaysia' past tourism records from 1999 to 2012 indicated that Melaka had 85.2 million tourists, comprising 75.7% domestic tourists and 24.3% international tourists.In 2012, the tourism statistics showed an increase of 12.9%, totalling 3.7 million in one year [1].Tapping on the previous records, there was 3:1 ratio of domestic and international tourists in Melaka and reflecting on the income brought to tourism industry, it provides substantial income that spread across the product and service sectors.
Focusing on sale of souvenirs in the tourism industry, we revealed most souvenirs are sold in permanent outlets.For examples, the specialty store, departmental shop, merchandise retailers, dutyfree shops, gift shops, and other retailers [2].Contrasting these outlets are street vendor stores.Street vendors are mobile and can position their stores at the vicinity or close to the tourist sites.Previous studies on souvenir items sold by fixed retail stores are well-investigated [2][3].Currently, there is a dearth of study on vendor souvenirs sale [4][5] and we are uncertain on the demand of souvenirs by international tourists.The demand of the souvenirs is the combined result of attractions, prices, and quality to tourists.The key issue here is whether the local street vendors can satisfy the specific requirements of the tourists [6].Based on this inquiry we raised two research questions for this exploratory study: 1) What types of souvenirs international tourists are looking for from the street vendor stores?2) According to international tourists' interests, are street vendors selling the right souvenir items to them?
To answer the research questions, this study was organised in two phases.In the first phase, primary data was collected from international tourists.In the second phase, structural observation on the street vendors' stores was carried out.Photographs were taken on the displayed items in the stores.The photographs details were analysed and inferred.The outcome of this study will provide an insightful of souvenirs product purchase-selling fit.Understanding this fit will improve the revenue of these low income group traders.Finally, the study is briefly concluded.

Table 1 .
Demographic profile of international tourists

Table 2 .
International Tourists Interest in Street Vendors' Souvenirs