Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study
Rural tourism has been shown to benefit local communities from the economic perspective. Digital marketing allows marketing information to be transmitted directly to potential visitors without the need for an intermediary, in a low-cost but effective way. Rural tourism destinations in Sarawak now ha...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Scientific Publishers
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/1/Identity%20Politics%20%28abstrak%29.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848838630286557184 |
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| author | Cheuk, Sharon Atang, Azuriaty Lo, May Chiun Ramayah, T. |
| author_facet | Cheuk, Sharon Atang, Azuriaty Lo, May Chiun Ramayah, T. |
| author_sort | Cheuk, Sharon |
| building | UNIMAS Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Rural tourism has been shown to benefit local communities from the economic perspective. Digital marketing allows marketing information to be transmitted directly to potential visitors without the need for an intermediary, in a low-cost but effective way. Rural tourism destinations in Sarawak now have an opportunity to benefit from the Sarawak state government’s initiative, the Digital Sarawak Centre of Excellence, in terms of digital content creation and website maintenance. However, the current level of adoption is zero to minimal in rural tourism destinations. This study examines the barriers towards digital marketing adoption from the perspective of rural tourism providers. Fieldwork was performed at two sites, Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai, in July 2016 and February 2017 respectively. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 19 respondents. The study revealed that tourism providers currently depended on word-of-mouth recommendations or direct contact for bookings, but were willing to adopt digital marketing with the assistance of knowledgeable parties. However, certain physical, logistical and social constraints may have a detrimental effect on the community’s readiness level to entertain tourists on a larger scale and may further impede the overall progress of digital marketing adoption, at both the individual and destination levels. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:58:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | unimas-19012 |
| institution | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:58:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Scientific Publishers |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | unimas-190122018-01-03T07:13:05Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/ Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study Cheuk, Sharon Atang, Azuriaty Lo, May Chiun Ramayah, T. H Social Sciences (General) Rural tourism has been shown to benefit local communities from the economic perspective. Digital marketing allows marketing information to be transmitted directly to potential visitors without the need for an intermediary, in a low-cost but effective way. Rural tourism destinations in Sarawak now have an opportunity to benefit from the Sarawak state government’s initiative, the Digital Sarawak Centre of Excellence, in terms of digital content creation and website maintenance. However, the current level of adoption is zero to minimal in rural tourism destinations. This study examines the barriers towards digital marketing adoption from the perspective of rural tourism providers. Fieldwork was performed at two sites, Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai, in July 2016 and February 2017 respectively. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 19 respondents. The study revealed that tourism providers currently depended on word-of-mouth recommendations or direct contact for bookings, but were willing to adopt digital marketing with the assistance of knowledgeable parties. However, certain physical, logistical and social constraints may have a detrimental effect on the community’s readiness level to entertain tourists on a larger scale and may further impede the overall progress of digital marketing adoption, at both the individual and destination levels. American Scientific Publishers 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/1/Identity%20Politics%20%28abstrak%29.pdf Cheuk, Sharon and Atang, Azuriaty and Lo, May Chiun and Ramayah, T. (2017) Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study. Advanced Science Letters. ISSN 1936-7317 http://www.aspbs.com/science.htm |
| spellingShingle | H Social Sciences (General) Cheuk, Sharon Atang, Azuriaty Lo, May Chiun Ramayah, T. Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title | Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title_full | Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title_fullStr | Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title_short | Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study |
| title_sort | barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism destinations in sarawak: an exploratory study |
| topic | H Social Sciences (General) |
| url | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/19012/1/Identity%20Politics%20%28abstrak%29.pdf |