Tourism As a Tool for Poverty Alleviation Using Value Chain Analysis: a Case Study of Setiu Wetland, Terengganu, Malaysia
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Tourism as a Tool for Poverty Alleviation Using Value Chain Analysis: A Case Study of Setiu Wetland, Terengganu, Malaysia by Norhazliza Abd. Halim School of Management Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania November 2014 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that the whole of this submission is my own work and the result of my own investigation and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. I further declare that the work embodied in this project has not been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institution, college or university, and is not being concurrently submitted for any other degree or diploma award. ………………………………………….. Norhazliza Abd Halim NOVEMBER 2014 i AUTHORITY OF ACCESS This thesis may be made available for consultation, loan and limited copying. This permission covers only single copies made for study purposes subject to the normal conditions of acknowledgement in accordance with the Copyright act 1968. ………………………………………….. Norhazliza Abd Halim NOVEMBER 2014 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to express my sincere heartfelt gratitude to all my supervisors especially Professor Trevor Sofield, who made this research possible. Trevor’s high level of commitment in providing constructive, timely feedback and mentoring over the years has been utmost. I am indebted to Trevor for his guidance and support, and for his belief in my ability to do this research. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor David Adam and Dr. Allison Dunn, who have also guided and assisted my research and writing. They have encouraged me with their critical comments for further refinement in research undertaking. Along the journey, there were a number of friends and colleagues who have directly and indirectly influenced me. I would like to express my thanks to all brothers and sisters in Launceston for the memories to live like home, and to lend me the ears and shoulders throughout my study whenever the light appeared dim at times. I would like to acknowledge and thank Professor Amran Hamzah (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) and his excellent team from the Tourism Planning Research Group (TPRG), who with vast experiences in Malaysian research culture, education, planning and field of tourism, provided many positive remarks and guidance in the process of upgrading my study especially in research methodology and fieldwork analysis. My sincere gratitude to them, for managed to guide, offer suggestions and assist me throughout the research. In my fieldwork, I came across several people who I would like to acknowledge. A warm appreciation to all key persons in my fieldwork especially in Setiu, who I interviewed for their important views and ideas in different perspectives. My sincere gratitude for their assistance and contributions. The thesis would not have been possible without their involvement. I would like to acknowledge Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, where this study was fully sponsored by the Government of Malaysia from 2008 until 2012 which included the fees, allowance, travelling grants and fieldwork costs. This work would never have occurred without the financial support from the Ministry and UTM. The University of Tasmania (UTAS), iii Australia and particularly the School of Management has also provided me with a fantastic opportunity for learning and growth. The institution, staff and fellow students have all added to this dissertation in some way. Finally and most importantly, my sincere gratitude to my husband, Muhammad Suffian Abd Razak who give up his wonderful job in Malaysia and took a long leave to be here with me and my beautiful and lovely daughter, Nur Aleesya Sofia who was born during my PhD completion. This dissertation is for both of you. I most certainly would not have been able to embrace this challenge and opportunity without your love and understanding. iv STATEMENT OF ETHICAL CONDUCT The research associated with this thesis abides by the International and Australian codes on human and animal experimentation, the guidelines by the Australian Government’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and the rulings of the Safety, Ethics and Institutional Biosafety Committees of the University. ………………………………………….. Norhazliza Abd Halim NOVEMBER 2014 v CONFERENCE PAPERS ARISING FROM THE THESIS Papers arising from this thesis were presented and published in the proceeding of the following conference: 1. Halim, Norhazliza (2014). Inter-Sectoral Linkages to Tourism for Poverty Alleviation: Upgrading the Value Chain. Paper Presented in International Conference on Urban and Regional Planning: Planning in Uncertain World, Johor, Malaysia, 9 – 11 May 2014. [forthcoming e-proceeding] 2. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2012).The Linkages between Tourism and Handicraft into Value Chain Analysis for Rural Poverty Alleviation: Case study of Setiu Wetland, Malaysia [online]. In: CAUTHE 2012: The new golden age of tourism and hospitality; Book 2; Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference. Melbourne, Vic.: La Trobe University, 2012: 207-211. Availability: http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=225262231745390;res=IELB US [ISBN: 9780987050724] 3. Halim, Norhazliza (2012). Pro-Poor Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation in Setiu Wetland, Malaysia: Unlocking the Potential of Tourism using Value Chain Analysis. In Proceedings of 6th Conference on World Conference for Graduate Research in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, Fethiye, Turkey, 24 – 29 April 2012. [ISBN: 9786055437831]; Best Paper Award: Charles Goeldner Recognition Award 4. Halim, Norhazliza (2010). Mainstreaming Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation: A Case Study in Terengganu, Malaysia. In Proceedings of 2nd World Ecotourism Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8 – 9 July 2010. (CD-ROM publication without page number). vi 5. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2010). Le tourisme au service de la reduction de la pauvreté en milieu rural. Etude de cas à Terengganu (Malaisie)[Book Chapter]. In J. M. Breton (dir.), "Patrimoine, tourisme, environnement et développement durable (Europe-Afrique-Caraïbe-Amériques- Asie-Océanie)", Série "Iles et pays d'Outre-Mer", vol. 7, Paris, Ed. Karthala, pp. 57-81. [ISBN: 978-2-8111-04030] 6. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2009). Mainstreaming Rural Poverty Alleviation through Tourism in Malaysia: Theoretical Study. In Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable and Alternative Tourism, Guilin, China, 11 – 13 July 2009. (CD-ROM publication without page number). vii ABSTRACT Tourism is widely acknowledged as a key economic sector that has the potential to contribute to national and local development and, more specifically, to serve as a mechanism to promote poverty alleviation and pro-poor development within a particular locality, especially in rural areas. However, even though the poverty alleviation strategies and programmes in Malaysia have been acclaimed as a success by United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), many problems and challenges remain– new forms of poverty, including single female-headed households, the rural elderly and unskilled workers, have emerged as a result of rapid economic growth. As the focus of this dissertation is pro-poor tourism, though, it is the nature of linkages between tourism and the local economy that are critical – rather than just the aggregate size of the tourism sector. This research was undertaken in a protected area, Setiu Wetland, Terengganu, on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where there is a relatively high incidence of poverty. It contributes to the debate on the impacts of tourism on the poor by critically analysing the linkages in the value chains between the tourism sector and local economic activities. Value chain analysis allows the researcher to pinpoint who the poor are, where they are, and impediments and obstacles to their participation in the supply chain. This study will help to fill this gap in the literature by specifically considering this relationship using tourism value chain analysis for poverty alleviation. This research explores two sectors in the local economy – fishing and handicrafts – using value chain analysis to see to what extent they link into tourism development and to what extent they are able to contribute to poverty alleviation. The focus of the case study is on local poor people, but does not exclude other stakeholders. In this context, a case study methodology has been employed and a mix-method approach was chosen in which distribution of questionnaires to the local households especially the poor and tourists, and also interviews with key stakeholders i.e. the local government authority, NGOs, accommodation representatives, and value chain (fishing and handicrafts) actors at every level were conducted for the research. viii The results indicate that the conceptual framework of Value Chain Analysis developed for this research suggests the following. Firstly, delivering poverty alleviation impact at scale means helping poor people engage with the tourism market directly and indirectly, especially with mainstream tourism rather than following the more orthodox approach of community based tourism ventures which invariably remain small and often fail to produce liveable incomes. This