IMPACT OF GENDER ON SELF-EFFICACY: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA’S KARO TOURISM

Self-efficacy in tourist destination can influence the tourists’ level of satisfaction which may depend on how much the destination has fulfilled their needs. This research aims at investigating the relationship between gender preference and self-efficacy in tourist destination in Karo regency. Female tourists are usually significantly different, in which male’s self-efficacy tend to be higher than female’s. This research used a qualitative and quantitative method to obtain the varieties of perception, such as accessibility, comfort, confidence, and safety. The result reveals self-efficacy isindeed different for local male and female visitors; however, the male and female tourists from abroad do not indicate significant difference. The level of self-efficacy (LSE) for females is not always lower than males and, even, the activities cannot limit the LSE for males and females. The tourists’ activities in the masculine category proved that the females’ SE is higher than males. However, the males’ SE proved to be higher than females are only found among local people; however, the tourists’s SE between males and females look the same. In the development of tourism which is based on the tourists’ SE, preference of gender does not need to be considered; however, if it is done on the basis locals’ SE, then the preference of gender is really needed.