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...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shaista, Falak, Yeo, A.W, Lo, May-Chiun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut za turizam 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/8/Sustainable%20rural%20tourism%20%28abstract%29.pdf
_version_ 1848837873471586304
author Shaista, Falak
Yeo, A.W
Lo, May-Chiun
author_facet Shaista, Falak
Yeo, A.W
Lo, May-Chiun
author_sort Shaista, Falak
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 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.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T06:46:35Z
format Article
id unimas-15537
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T06:46:35Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Institut za turizam
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling unimas-155372017-03-14T10:50:10Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/ Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism Shaista, Falak Yeo, A.W Lo, May-Chiun H Social Sciences (General) T Technology (General) 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. Institut za turizam 2016 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/8/Sustainable%20rural%20tourism%20%28abstract%29.pdf Shaista, Falak and Yeo, A.W and Lo, May-Chiun (2016) Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism. Tourism : An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 64 (3). ISSN 1332-7461
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
T Technology (General)
Shaista, Falak
Yeo, A.W
Lo, May-Chiun
Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title_full Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title_fullStr Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title_full_unstemmed Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title_short Sustainable rural tourism: An indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
title_sort sustainable rural tourism: an indigenous community perspective on positioning rural tourism
topic H Social Sciences (General)
T Technology (General)
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15537/8/Sustainable%20rural%20tourism%20%28abstract%29.pdf