Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between local communities’ involvement and sustainable rural tourism development in the existing tourism industry in Kuching namely, Kampung Annah Rais and Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing. In tourism industry, the way how tourism stakeholders are pl...

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Main Authors: Fong, Sook-Fun, Lo, May-Chiun
Format: Article
Published: International University College 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/12703/
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author Fong, Sook-Fun
Lo, May-Chiun
author_facet Fong, Sook-Fun
Lo, May-Chiun
author_sort Fong, Sook-Fun
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between local communities’ involvement and sustainable rural tourism development in the existing tourism industry in Kuching namely, Kampung Annah Rais and Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing. In tourism industry, the way how tourism stakeholders are pleased with mass tourism have been deeply affecting the achievement of sustainable rural tourism development. A questionnaire survey was carried out among the local communities who are currently staying and have been staying in these rural tourism destinations for more than a year. A sample of 113 usable questionnaires was obtained. Four hypotheses were developed regarding the effects of participation in decision making, knowledge sharing, empowerment, and community knowledge about tourism on social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability. The findings suggest that local communities’ participation in decision making, empowerment, and community knowledge about tourism do affect the sustainability of rural tourism development. Interestingly, findings indicated that knowledge sharing does not show positive relationship on sustainable rural tourism development. It is believed that poor relationship among the tourism stakeholders influences the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. Suggestions for practical implications and future research are discussed further. © 2015 Varna University of Management.
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institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
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spelling unimas-127032016-07-28T02:27:56Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/12703/ Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities Fong, Sook-Fun Lo, May-Chiun H Social Sciences (General) HT Communities. Classes. Races The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between local communities’ involvement and sustainable rural tourism development in the existing tourism industry in Kuching namely, Kampung Annah Rais and Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing. In tourism industry, the way how tourism stakeholders are pleased with mass tourism have been deeply affecting the achievement of sustainable rural tourism development. A questionnaire survey was carried out among the local communities who are currently staying and have been staying in these rural tourism destinations for more than a year. A sample of 113 usable questionnaires was obtained. Four hypotheses were developed regarding the effects of participation in decision making, knowledge sharing, empowerment, and community knowledge about tourism on social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability. The findings suggest that local communities’ participation in decision making, empowerment, and community knowledge about tourism do affect the sustainability of rural tourism development. Interestingly, findings indicated that knowledge sharing does not show positive relationship on sustainable rural tourism development. It is believed that poor relationship among the tourism stakeholders influences the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. Suggestions for practical implications and future research are discussed further. © 2015 Varna University of Management. International University College 2015 Article PeerReviewed Fong, Sook-Fun and Lo, May-Chiun (2015) Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities. European Journal of Tourism Research, 11. pp. 125-146. ISSN 1994-7658 https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84946057744&origin=inward&txGid=0
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
HT Communities. Classes. Races
Fong, Sook-Fun
Lo, May-Chiun
Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title_full Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title_fullStr Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title_full_unstemmed Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title_short Community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: Perspectives from the local communities
title_sort community involvement and sustainable rural tourism development: perspectives from the local communities
topic H Social Sciences (General)
HT Communities. Classes. Races
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/12703/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/12703/