Mondes du Tourisme

8 | 2013 Varia

Sustainable in Policies and Practices

Pradeep Kumar Nair and Toney K. Thomas

Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/tourisme/88 DOI: 10.4000/tourisme.88 ISSN: 2492-7503

Publisher Éditions touristiques européennes

Printed version Date of publication: 1 December 2013 Number of pages: 60-69 ISSN: 2109-5671

Electronic reference Pradeep Kumar Nair and Toney K. Thomas, « Sustainable Tourism in Malaysia », Mondes du Tourisme [Online], 8 | 2013, Online since 01 June 2015, connection on 21 December 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/tourisme/88 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/tourisme.88

Mondes du tourisme est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modifcation 4.0 International. PRADEEP KUMAR NAIR & TONEY K. THOMAS

Sustainable Tourism in Malaysia Policies and Practices

P RADEEP K UMAR N AIR [[email protected]] T ONEY K . T HOMAS [[email protected]] Taylor’s University, Malaisie

Abstract. The success of tourism has been conventionally measured by tourist arrivals and revenues, but today this is not enough to maintain competitiveness. The current challenges of tourism development in developing countries are the tug-of-war between tourism development plans for economic purposes and sustainable tourism plans. In most of the cases there are reciprocal relationships between “tourism development” and “sustainability”. The context is significantly different from country to country when the analysis is focused on economic development goals of tourism. The economic goal of the country, private partnership, and local community involvement together with customer’s expectations make tourism a complicated area for sustainable practices. This paper elucidates the performance of “doing tourism” in a sustainable manner complying with the National Sustainable Tourism Policy of Malaysia. It is found Malaysia has a competitive sustainable tourism plan, which has a strong linkage with the goals of public, private and NGOs’ goal on socio-economic development. However there is a significant gap in incorporating policies on the macro level of the tourism system.

Résumé. On mesure généralement le succès du tourisme au flux des touristes et aux revenus qui en sont tirés, mais ces critères ne suffisent plus aujourd’hui à garantir sa compétitivité. Dans les pays émergents, les enjeux actuels en matière de développement touristique font l’objet d’une lutte acharnée entre plans de développement du tourisme à des fins économiques et plans pour un tourisme durable. Dans la plupart des cas, il y a réciprocité entre “développement du tourisme” et “durabilité”. Le contexte est tout à fait différent d’un pays à l’autre lorsque l’accent est mis sur les objectifs de développement économique du tourisme. L’objectif du pays au plan économique, l’engagement des partenaires privés et des communautés locales, ainsi que les attentes des consommateurs, tout cela peut faire du tourisme un domaine peu propice à la mise en œuvre de pratiques durables. Cet article explicite comment “faire du tourisme” d’une manière durable grâce à la politique nationale pour un tourisme durable en Malaisie. À l’évidence, la Malaisie dispose dans ce domaine d’un plan de développement compétitif, alliant de façon étroite les objectifs publics, privés et ceux des ONG en matière de développement socio-économique. Il reste cependant une lacune importante à combler en ce qui concerne l’intégration des politiques dans les éléments externes du système touristique, au niveau macro.

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he policy question often Mowforth and Munt, 2003; Van Egmond, to protect that natural, built and raised is: can tourism be 2007). But the practice of tourism cultural environment while being Teconomically viable for pri- as an extradisciplinary (Tribe, 1997) compatible with economic growth vate companies and local commu- is less discussed in the successful (Edgell, Allen, Smith and Swanson, 2008). nities, while also being sensitive to tourism management. The United Practicing sustainable tourism in environmental, cultural and social Nations World Tourism Organi- developing countries is even more needs? The short answer is “yes” zation (UNWTO) strongly advocates crucial, as shows Malaysia as an (Edgell, Allen, Smith and Swanson, 2008). tourism as tool for alleviation of example of South East Asia countries Mowforth and Munt (2003), Van poverty in poor countries. All over now opened to the Asian market. Egmond (2007) refer to a highly Latin America, Africa and parts of Tourist flows to the regional coun- polarized and simplified debate, Asia numerous tourism projects are tries are widely heterogeneous. Thus, equating to “tourists = mass tourism initiated by local authorities, com- the potential tourism markets of the = bad” and “travelers = appropriate munities or non-governmental orga- South East Asian countries are hete- travelling = good”. Misconceptions nizations (NGOs) to contribute to rogeneous in nature. Managing tou- are misleading the world’s largest local and regional economic deve- rism to the heterogeneous tourists industry in terms of sustainable deve- lopment. Many projects, however, is extremely complex and practicing lopment and management of tourist fail to reach economic goals. They sustainable tourism is further a com- destinations. The power of tourism either have problems in attracting plex process. The problem here is is a very large research area and the the required volume of visitors, so that the sustainable tourism products legitimate utilization of “doing tou- as to pass the break-even point, or can be successfully sold to tourists rism” has a power to change, reju- host the “wrong” (i.e. non lucrative who are not specifically seeking it. venate or literally to define the and/or harmful) visitors. Most pro- Thus, sustainable development is world’s sociocultural and economic jects are inward-oriented rather than not to be used in the tourist desti- system. Sustainable tourism is an market-oriented. Here the issues nation but it is a process that should interesting topic of discussion and associated with tourism development be used on the “tourism system” as it is crucial to assess where the dis- are that sustainable development is a whole. cussion of sustainable tourism has a global holistic approach for any arrived at. tourist destination in the world. OBJECTIVES Most of the studies illustrate the Many destinations lack knowledge AND METHODOLOGY host-guest encounters or an index of potential markets. Understanding model, simplifying the sustainable the “tourist” phenomena as well as The objectives of this study are : development practices, limiting them- the ability to employ specific mar- – to analyze the tourism policy in selves to give non-practicing mea- keting tools, are crucial success fac- terms of the existing need to imple- sures a wide publicity with existing tors for tourism development and ment the development sectors of scenario of environmental issues. for defining a more sustainable tou- tourism; But relating tourism to holistic sus- rism. – to benchmark the major sustai- tainable practices is rarely seen and Managing sustainable tourism nable tourism practicing plans with there is an extreme research gap in depends on forward-looking policies major international sustainable tou- the practice of sustainability in tou- and sound management philosophies rism policy guidelines; rism and its allied sectors. Many that include a harmonious relation- – to identify the gaps of the existing authors argue that tourism should ship among local communities, the sustainable tourism policy initiatives be the subject of interdisciplinary, private sector and governments with the current scenario of tourism multidisciplinary (Wang, 2000; regarding developmental practices development in Malaysia.

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The qualitative approach of this are unique in characteristics, and this characteristic itself is a major study mainly deals with analysis of historical development of tourism threat for the sustainable develop- the National Tourism Policy in in the country indicates it has attrac- ment and management of tourist Malaysia, includes also the evalua- ted by wildlife, scenery, forests and destination in Malaysia. Sustainable tion of the Ninth Ecotourism Plan beaches. The well-known sites are development has always been mea- of Malaysia. Generic benchmarking mainly full of multiple attractions. sured in terms of the three indicators of the strength and weakness of this Malaysia has diversified tourism of sustainable tourism, social, eco- plan has also been discussed in com- resources, ranging from beaches, nomic and environmental dimen- parison with local Agenda 21 gui- cities, culture, heritage, jungles, food, sions. Narrowing down these dimen- delines of sustainable tourism deve- resorts, health, business and shop- sions we will see that many other lopment in Malaysia, and with inter- ping. The location of Malaysia is factors are influencing the sustai- national sustainable tourism plans another strategic advantage of the nable development of tourist desti- and policies, such as UNWTO, future development of tourism. nations. Global Observatory on Sustainable Located at the centre part of South The “12 sustainability aims” and Tourism (GOST), United Nations East Asia, Malaysia has the follo- the policy instruments described in Environnement Progamme (UNEP), wing strategic advantages: the UNWTO/UNEP guide: Making and Pacific Asia Travel Association – Malaysia is price effective. In deve- Tourism More Sustainable. A Guide (PATA). A comparative analysis of loping countries the middle class for Policy Makers have become other national, local and NGOs people’s ambition is to have a foreign international references for initiatives plans for sustainable development trip as tourists, and Malaysia offers at different levels. These aims are: has also been done to arrive at a the best value of money for the 1. Economic visibility specific conclusion on the effective- middle class tourists. 2. Local prosperity ness of the Malaysian Sustainable – As a multicultural country, 3. Employment quality Tourism Policy. Malaysia has sentimental visits: VFR 4. Social equity (Visiting Friends and Relatives) from 5. Visitor fulfillment TOURISM IN MALAYSIA the countries such as and 6. Local control . 7. Community well-being Tourism in Malaysia is compa- – Malaysia climate is de facto equa- 8. Cultural richness ratively young. As a result, Malaysia torial, which allows for traveling 9. Physical integrity remains a relatively unknown des- throughout the year. 10. Biological diversity tination, and after 1980’s tourism – Malaysia’s variety of attractions 11. Resource efficiency development, Malaysia recognizes and tourism resources can cater all 12. Environmental purity that tourism can play a vital role in categories of tourists. As a comparison, Global social and economic development, – Geographical proximity to the Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) as well as in fostering national inte- new coming budget markets paves focus mainly on demonstrating that gration and unity. Prior to the cam- the way for tourism boom in effective sustainable management paign “Visit Malaysia Year 1990”,’ Malaysia. The role of budget carriers maximize social and economic bene- Malaysia was frequently marketed to the exploring of markets boosts fits to the local community and mini- as only an element of a wider “tou- the tourists’ arrivals from countries mize negative impacts, maximize rist circuit”, including the neighbo- in Asian continent. benefits to cultural heritage and ring countries of , Analyzing the above facts, minimize negative impacts as well and (King, 1993; Hamzah, Malaysia’s tourism market is very as maximize benefits to the envi- 2004). Malaysia’s tourism resources much diverse and heterogeneous; ronment and minimize negative

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impacts. The practicing areas of sus- Figure 1 • Structuring sustainable tourism policy tainable tourism are more or less in the tourism system similar from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) or UNEP criteria. As regards the environmental protection and tou- Micro Sustainable Tourism Macro rism development, Malaysia has adopted the PATA code for envi- ronmentally responsible tourism Policy Initiatives within a legal and institutional fra- mework. Above indicators are not only managed in the tourist destination only, their performance is further Figure 2 • Tourism, a shared service industry influenced by the nature of visit and the type of tourists. Therefore, the effectiveness of sustainability must Tourism Tourism Tourism be operated in micro and macro levels. As shown in the representa- Forestry Hospitality Hospitality tion of the tourism system (cf. figure 1), traveler-generating regions play Sustainable Tourism an important role in defining the best practice. Most of the sustainable Tourism Tourism destination management policies limit the policy in the destination Transport Support services level. This can be one of the major reasons for dropping the expected level of benefits on practicing sus- tainable tourism in many tourist tem, which is further affecting effec- in many countries national parks destinations. tive implementation. A policy fra- and biosphere reserves are directly Figure 1 shows the macro and mework only within the micro level under the control of wildlife autho- micro level approach of sustainable at the tourist destination is half- rities or forest department. Their development of tourist destinations. hearted and isolated. It offers less ultimate aim is not a monetary Destinations micro level planning effectiveness in the overall practice benefit, but the conservation and will internally strengthen the sta- of sustainability in the entire tou- preservation effort. The ownership bility of destination development rism system. of resources is therefore a potential and management. Most of the des- The ownership within tourism source of conflict within the total tinations have an internal policy many times falls under different sustainable management of the tou- and planning on sustainable tourism competences. For example a natio- rist destination. Many times there development. Many times the effi- nal park has high value in the will be conflicts of interest in policy ciency drops due to the lack of potential tourism market and the implementation or one policy does control of the development autho- utilizing of the park’s resource could not comply with the policy of the rity to the macro level tourism sys- trigger economic development. But other.

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On the macro level of the tourists, policy and legislation is in line with ronmental benefits it has to bring. it is a different problem. The visitor’s the Agenda 21. There is evidence Although the Ministry of Culture, attitude and perception varies highly that indicate that Agenda 21 have Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) acts from one market to another. Like been adopted in the national master as a single coordinating body to other products, tourism also becomes plan. To speed up the development spearhead the overall implementa- more consumer centered, consumers of tourism industry, the Malaysian tion of the National Ecotourism focus less on the sustainability aspects Tourism Policy was formulated in Plan, the Ministry recognizes the because their visit is temporary and 1992. The policy had identified eco- imperative role of the private sector highly influenced by the factors such tourism as one form of tourism to and specifies roles for all sectors of as modernity, rationalization, alie- be expanded and sustained. It was federal, state and local authority, nation, romanticism, etc. Destination followed by a more specific national private business, NGOs and other policy and planning may not be the ecotourism plan three years later. players. Under the Ninth Malaysia only solution for destinations sus- The National Ecotourism Master Plan a more integrated approach tainability. This issue is illustrated Plan was drafted in 1995 and was to tourism planning and manage- in figure 2. accepted by the government in ment is to be undertaken (Economic The foremost issue in implemen- 1996. This plan was intended to Planning Unit, 2006) through preser- ting the sustainable practices in tou- provide a general framework to ving as well as enhancing the exis- rist destination/attraction is the assist the government in developing ting and natural and cultural assets. ownership and power. Tourist the country’s ecotourism potential. In addition, the role of the State attractions imply governance pro- Under the plan, the definition of Tourism Action Councils (STAC) blems, and in several areas, tourism “ecotourism” follows that of the will be further expanded to include authority has less control. Most of International Union for the regular monitoring and evaluating the time the destination planning Conservation of Nature (IUCN). of project outcomes. At the local and development is overshadowed Ecotourism is defined as “respon- level, local authorities and commu- by objectives of the actual controlling sible travel and visitation to relati- nities are encouraged to have a more authorities. From the figure 2 it is vely undisturbed natural areas in active role from the beginning of clearly understandable that tourism order to enjoy and appreciate nature the projects so as to minimize envi- itself is a shared service with other that conserves the environment and ronmental destruction. For busi- resources and infrastructure for sustains the well-being of local nesses, such as hotels and resorts, countries general development. people”. As a result, quite a number they “will need to incorporate, of the tourism destinations in among others, water and energy MALAYSIAN TOURISM POLICY Malaysia have been gazetted as ter- conservation as well as waste dis- INITIATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE restrial or marine protected areas posal aspects in the implementation, TOURISM DEVELOPMENT in various categories such as forest management and maintenance reserves, wildlife reserves, sanctua- plans” (EPU, 2006). More emphasis Malaysia is one of the twelve ries, wetlands and marine parks. In will be put on the preservation of mega-diverse countries in the world order to ensure the success of the the natural attractions to enhance that accepts the importance of ecotourism plans, joint efforts bet- ecotourism as well as preservation preserving its social, environmental ween the various levels of govern- of the heritage tourism such as his- and cultural wealth heritage ment, the private sector and the torical sites, buildings and artifacts (Organization for Economic Coope- local communities were planned that are categorized under preser- ration and Development, 2003). and carried out to maximize the vation of the natural attractions. Malaysia’s sustainable tourism economic, sociocultural and envi- For instance, Taiping is promoted

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as the heritage city of and is In view of the grave danger and pre- vel and tourism in the consecutive listed as one of the ten tourism vious tragedies in highland areas, it years from 2004 onwards. Valuing attractions. As argued by Siti- was vital the proposed development the importance of protecting and Nabiha, Abdul Wahid, Amran, Che be relocated to a safer location” preserving the environment surroun- Haat & Abustan (2008), the decla- (The Star, 2010). The issues of defo- ding KLIA, Malaysia Airports is ration of Taiping as a heritage town restation and erosion or landslide committed to operate KLIA within by the STAC is “insignificant unless were considered serious. These pro- and above the confines of the envi- the state or municipal is serious at blems not only bring negative effects ronmental social sustainability policy promoting it as such. The status but also threaten the tourism sector that conforms to the final and given via ‘heritage’ should be res- in . In tourist highest level of the Green Globe cer- pected and acted upon fittingly.” perception, conservation measures tification program. This policy was In addition, more value added acti- are needed to protect the environ- designed by Malaysia Airports to vities are incorporated in the agro- ment in Cameron Highlands (Boon, achieve compatibility between the tourism and homestay programs 2007). economic considerations, the conser- (EPU, 2006). Looking on the above case, the vation of the environment and the development of tourism in Cameron protection of the social and cultural MINI CASE 1: Highlands is a threat to the ecosys- heritage of Malaysia that can be SUSTAINABLE CAMERON HIGHLANDS tem. The development is either not influenced by current and future The Cameron Highlands will ideally planned or unable to practice activities of KLIA. As such the air- always have environmental issues the sustainable development along port is attuned to: (i) an architectural as long as there are “tidak apa” with tourism. The consequence is concept of a symbiosis of building people in the government approving the gradual setback of tourism. and nature; (ii) eco-airport features projects without a care, perhaps due Practice of sustainable tourism that seek to preserve and foster the to the lack of transparency in the should not be after an issue, it must local ecosystem; and (iii) the com- process of approving projects. The be an upbeat initiation before an mitment to co-exist harmoniously Cameron Highlands is not be the issue. Most of the tourist destinations with the surrounding community. only affected place, there are many activate sustainable tourism initia- Apart from the travel sectors there examples of gross neglect in preser- tives “after” an issue. are nine hotel and resorts that suc- ving the environment in every part cessfully achieved the Green Globe of Malaysia. “The Kampung An analysis of local Agenda 21 certification upon their successful Tersusun (Melayu) Anggerik project implications in Malaysia practice of sustainable management in Cameron Highlands should be Air transport and hotels sectors of properties in Malaysia. They are: cancelled to prevent tragedies related have control over the major initia- Crowne Plaza Mutiara, Kuala to hill development. There should tives like environmental purity, Lumpur; Holiday Inn Glenmarie, not be any form of physical deve- resource efficiency, cultural richness ; Holiday Inn Melaka; lopment in this environmentally sen- and social equity. As part of the Holiday Inn Resort, ; Kuala sitive area. “Hillside hazard” which humble initiative of Green Globe Lumpur Convention Centre; Kuala said phase one of Kampung Benchmarking, Kuala Lumpur Lumpur International Airport Tersusun (Melayu) project had International Airport (KLIA) has Hotels; Melia Kuala Lumpur; Club encroached into “forbidden” zones. awarded the Green Globe certified Med Malaysia; eastern shore of The proposed settlement scheme fell status a prestigious accolade that Malaysia. These service providers on a hilly terrain within Mentigi recognizes KLIA’s operation policy in tourism have shown excellent Forest Reserve and Gunung Jasar. and best practices in sustainable tra- operations in line with the

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Agenda 21 Green Globe practices. MINI CASE 3: generating opportunities, but which Club Med’s efforts to preserve the PRACTICING COMMUNITY TOURISM also fosters a wider reinvigoration environment extend to energy and INITIATIVES of the local economic and social life water consumption. Energy is reco- : Pro-poor community- of the community (Harris, 2009). This vered to fuel boilers for hot water based approach. Practicing sustai- has a wider multiplier effect of sus- channeled to guests’ rooms. nable tourism is now widely spread tainable practices and enrichment to tourist attractions, especially the of sociocultural aspects together MINI CASE 2: authentic nature and culture of com- with economic development. PRACTICING SUSTAINABLE munities benefit from tourism deve- Homestay and community-based TOURISM: CLUB MED THROUGH lopment. The study of community- tourism initiative of tourism: GREEN SHADES based tourism concluded that few a success story. Homestay in Sabah Club Med Cherating Beach has projects have generated sufficient is another valuable project with a been committed to preserving the benefits either to provide incentives wider multiplier socio-economic environmental, sociocultural well- for conservation –the objective of effect of tourism in eastern Malaysia. being of its setting. The resort also ecotourism– or to contribute to local This initiative is a well-focused pro- has an efficient watering system that poverty reduction (Goodwin, 2006; ject with a great symbiosis with tou- uses water from a man-made lagoon Harris, 2009). Bario is an example of rism development and sustainability. for watering plants. The lagoon is an isolated collection of settlements The strategically located homestays: part of the resort’s natural waste- nestled in the Kelabit Highlands in Penangpang, Papar, Kota Belud, water treatment system. The resort the north of . Tourism in Kudat, Tambunan, Keningau, has started nature conservation awa- Bario has grown from its accidental Kundasang, Tamparuli and reness for young guests. This is a beginnings to being a mainstay of Sandakan, have developed with spe- new nature-based concept, with a the local economy, embracing along cific tourism development objectives focus on nature education and the the way many different forms, inclu- such as: (i) at tourist level, a unique use of sustainable local materials for ding ecotourism, adventure tourism, opportunity to experience the the refurbished clubhouse, use of cultural tourism, research tourism, authentic culture of Sabah, to expe- passive solar design for natural light, and its latest manifestation, deve- rience astonishing things like ethnic natural filtration fishponds and lopment conferencing. The growth food, real linkage of local people energy-saving lighting. Club Med of tourism in Bario is closely inter- and their culture without a distance also supports the Fisheries woven with other aspects of the (visitors are not guests but part of Department, with part of the resort’s social and cultural development of home); and (ii) at community level, proceeds going towards the depart- the community, which it has grown direct spending of money has higher ment’s turtle sanctuary activities. alongside, and the story of the indus- level of direct, indirect and induced Apart from committing to the Green try provides an insight into the pos- economic impact, opportunity for Globe program, the resort also sup- sibilities for other communities community conservation initiatives, ports the local community through wishing to take advantage of their and finally it is a responsible travel its Corporate Social Responsibility natural assets towards locally driven initiative. programs. The resort employs more development. Tourism in Bario The promotion of Malaysia with than 100 locals in the area, and orga- depicts how a pro-poor community- the aspect of gastronomic tourism nizes scheduled local cultural shows based approach to tourism can inte- by the Ministry of Tourism is ano- at the resort as well as bringing guests grate with local development in a ther successful step towards the to visit several places of interest mutually reinforcing process that social equity of tourism develop- nearby. has delivered more than income- ment in Malaysia. In the context

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of resource efficiency and environ- Figure 3 • National sustainable tourism policy in a nutshell mental purity, National Park is a good example. Taman Negara National Park Sustainable Tourism covers more than 400,000 hectares International of tropical rain forest and about Policies/Guidelines five times the size of the state of ; it was gazetted in 1939 for Ministry the conservation of indigenous of Tourism Local specific fauna and flora and as well as for Legislation the promotion of sustainable tou- rism. Conservation of the biodi- Government versity resources within the park Agency Government is given priority through a zoning Agency system prescribed by the manage- Destination ment plan. Wilderness conservation Private constitutes more than 90% of the NGOs park area while the rest is zoned for recreation, research, education and high utilization. The high uti- lization zone, which is only about National Tourism National sustainable Tourism 0.2% of the park, is dedicated to entry points of the park where the development of tourism related infrastructure is permitted (The Star, Macro level 2010). Planning

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF Generating Region THE NATIONAL ECOTOURISM POLICY WITH A GENERIC BENCHMARKING OF PRACTICES all forms of tourism should aim to Fishery departments, with collabo- Malaysia’s current concept and be sustainable. This concept is then ration of private sector developers devised strategies are internationally related to responsible tourism so as and NGOs. The national sustainable defined sustainable tourism mana- to provide a more holistic approach tourism framework is illustrated in gement plan; it has a broader defi- to the development of ecotourism, figure 3. nition on what is to be done for as well as instilling a sense of res- From figure 3 it is revealed that achieving sustainable tourism. All ponsibility. In Malaysia the deve- the national sustainable tourism forms of tourism recommended lopment of ecotourism is the function policy is framed with expert consul- under the National Ecotourism Plan of many government agencies inclu- tation of international, national and aim to be sustainable tourism, but ding Malaysia Tourism Centre local governing authorities and that the concept of sustainable tourism (MaTIC), the Department of Wildlife there is a horizontal linkage plan is much wider than just ecotourism; and National Parks, Forestry, and involved to protect the interest of

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other major departments/agencies 3,287 operators. The Indigenous tourist-generating region. The defi- of Malaysia. Malaysia’s sustainable Community Tourism Packages were nition of the practices regulates the- tourism policy has well incorporated formed based on the ecotourism refore the distribution channel. The within the UNWTO/UNEP guide: concept. In the first six months of question is to raise the tourists’ awa- Making Tourism More Sustainable. the year, 3,446 packages were sold, reness of sustainability. Tourism in A Guide for Policy Makers and the generating revenue of RM165,000. a mega-diverse country can therefore Agenda 21 local plan specifically This mainly benefited the orang asli create the brand image as a successful considering Malaysia as one of the community (Hong Peng, 2009). Apart sustainable tourist destination, which 12 mega-diverse countries in the from the sociocultural benefits from can further strengthen the overall world that accepts the importance tourism, Malaysia has approved destination image. Yet, since tourism of preserving its social, environmen- budget of the Ninth Malaysia Plan in Malaysia is relatively new, tre- tal and cultural wealth heritage. The (2006-2010) with an approved bud- mendous increase of tourist arrival role of the Malaysian government get of RM260.6 million for 73 pro- may make it difficult to practice sus- in promoting sustainable tourism is jects. tainable tourism. evident in the existing legal and ins- Malaysia’s outlook is very good: Malaysia’s tourism resources are titutional framework. Agenda 21 the country has vast potential as sensitive, the abundance of natural clearly binds local authorities and regards the ecotourism industry in wealth can be utilized as a prime communities to take lead in the the Asia Pacific region. To further tourism spot. However, managing implementation of the sustainable enhance the growth of ecotourism natural sites is more complicated as development at a local level. As a industry there should be further col- it has direct adverse impact to the local initiative, Khoo (2001) noted laborations between the private sec- ecosystem and integrity of attrac- that Sustainable Penang Initiative tors and the public sectors in the tions. Malaysia’s current tourism (SPI) was launched with the purpose countries concerned (Abdullah, 2006). market is more diverse and hetero- of ensuring a more balance and holis- Therefore, sustainable tourism policy geneous, stemming from the variety tic development in Penang with in Malaysia can be weighed as one of tourists. Therefore, it is difficult consultative partnership with the of the strong implementation plan to control and manage the visitor’s government, the business community that meets the needs of national practices for supporting sustainable and civil society (Siti-Nabiha et al., development plan of Malaysia. But tourism in Malaysia. 2008). the major constraint on the practice Tourism in Malaysia also provides of sustainable tourism in Malaysia CONCLUSION a platform for realizing socio-eco- is due to the macro level gap. Malaysia’s sustainable tourism nomic and distributive benefit poli- The major share of successful sus- plan is to comply with many inter- cies. This programme involves the tainable tourism practices lies in the national sustainable tourism policies; participation of the rural community macro level, i.e. the input from tra- it has covered the major aspect of in providing experiential learning velers in the tourism generating coun- practicing sustainable tourism. It activities such as rubber tapping, try in the tourism system. The tourist, would be a better plan in reality, if traditional songs, dance and crafts as central actor of the tourism sys- the sustainable tourism strategy as well as serving local dishes. tem, has direct influence in “doing could be integrated with other Community-based tourism principles sustainable tourism”. The majority management functions and actions are applied in the implementation of the policies however target the whose strategy should be imple- of homestay and ecotourism pro- tourist destination region (micro mented. Tourism has many other grams. Currently, there are 140 level), where sustainability has to micro sectors, for examples local homestay programs, participated by be practiced by the tourists from the transport and car rentals. In a survey

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by The Expat, a Kuala Lumpur- the country's tourism industry”, the as the major destinations sustaina- based magazine, taxis are rated “the survey found. (Y. Sulaiman, 2008). bility practices. There are excellent worst [for] quality, courtesy, avai- From the above survey it is clear opportunities in extending the maxi- lability and ride experiences” in a that the implementation part of sus- mum benefits to the major areas of sampling of 200 foreigners from 30 tainable tourism has still to be achie- sustainability in Malaysia. However countries. “The drivers are road ved. There are gaps, and micro sec- the practices of these opportunities bullies and extortionists, a national tors sustainable tourism planning must be unified to all sectors of tou- shame and pose a serious threat to must be given as equal importance rism. n

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