Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
It is commonly assumed that formulation of tourism policies and the marketing of destination areas are dictated by the needs and interests of visitors. Often ignored however, are the views of the local communities, the roles they play in these processes as well as the impacts on the indigenous com...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | E-Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institut za turizam
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/8/Sustainable%20rural%20tourism%20%28abstract%29.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/ |
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| Institution: | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | It is commonly assumed that formulation of tourism policies and the marketing of destination areas
are dictated by the needs and interests of visitors. Often ignored however, are the views of the local
communities, the roles they play in these processes as well as the impacts on the indigenous communities
and their socio-cultural spaces. Th us this paper presents a study conducted with the indigenous
community of Long Lamai in Malaysia, who has recently ventured into rural tourism. Th e Long Lamai
community has slowly transformed from being solely dependent on hunting gathering to leveraging
on their rich natural sources for a cash income as well as opening up to the outside world. Th e local
community perceives tourism as the best option to sustain and align their lifestyle to their new needs.
However as a remote community, they are also aware of the vulnerabilities due to the rapid development
plans which may bring about adverse eff ects to their present healthy existence. Th e purpose of
this study was twofold: (1) to assess the local community's support for tourism development: and (2)
to explore the perceived positioning of rural tourism by local people. Results showed that the majority
of community members have strong support for tourism development and they are also ready to
face possible challenges that come with this development. Major concern s expressed by community
members include environmental conservation and local cultural protocols. |
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