Cave swiftlet: a new horizon in Malaysia’s tourism industry

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential of activities as well as the visual effects surrounding the up-keeping and harvesting of swiftlet nests in caves as a new tourism product for Malaysia. As an industry, tourism needs a continuous stream of products, established and emerging ones, to accommodate not only the increasing numbers of tourist arrivals but also increasing demand for new forms of tourism products. Tourists are also increasingly getting sophisticated in their taste of tourism products, including their desire to participate in sustainable forms of tourism which means that the activities they indulge during their visits have little impacts on the environment. This paper is a manifestation of an earlier part of a research exercise to identify and visit caves inhabited by swiftlets. Gomantong, Sabah, set the research journey. Observation and in-depth interviews formed the study’s tool. Rich data collected are also integrated with secondary data. Findings show that harvesting activities on cave ceilings produce a spectacular scene to viewers, inducing a magnet of attraction to tourists. On the other hand, a decline in the amount of nests harvested in the last few years may raise the idea that such activities in its prevalence may not dwell well with the issue of sustainability

How did Malaysia Manage its Position as Top 10 World Tourist Destinations in UNWTO Ranking in 2012?

There are many reasons contributing to the achievement of Malaysia for being rank as top 10 most visited destinations in the world for the last four years. Among the factors are structures, resources, strategy, policy and leadership. In order to identify how Malaysia manage to be at this rank, a study was carried out on destination branding of Malaysian tourism from destination marketers’ perspectives. The objectives are to identify tourism marketing messages that influence international tourists desire to visit Malaysia and to examine destination marketing agencies attitude towards building “Brand Malaysia” in tourism products. The subject of this research is the most recent promotion involving a new brand entitled “Malaysia Truly Asia” and examines the initiative within the framework of the country’s destination branding and destination image development strategies. An assessment of the part played by destination branding in Malaysian tourism industry at large forms the wider context for the study and conclusions of more general relevance are drawn from the particularities of the case. A quantitative research method is used to examine the attitude of destination marketers towards the awareness on marketing mix used in creating “Brand Malaysia” tourism branding. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to travel agencies based on purposive convenient sampling

One-pot synthesis of efficient reduced graphene oxide supported binary pt-pd alloy nanoparticles as superior electro-catalyst and its electro-catalytic performance toward methanol electro-oxidation reaction in direct methanol fuel cell

The development of the clean synthesis of efficient bimetallic Pt-Pd alloy nanoparticles supported reduced graphene oxide (RGO) catalyst (RGO/Pt-Pd) through a facile, rapid, surfactant–free and novel one-pot process of chemical reduction-assisted hydrothermal reaction using formic acid as reducing agent have been introduced. The structural, elemental composition analysis and surface morphology of the as-prepared catalysts were extensively characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. The electrochemical properties, catalytic activity and long-term stability performance of the RGO/Pt-Pd nanocomposite catalyst were employed by cyclic voltammogram and chronoamperometry. Furthermore, owing to the synergetic effects of Pt and Pd nanoparticles, the unique structure of Pt-Pd alloy nanoparticles and enhanced electron transfer by RGO, the as-synthesized RGO/Pt-Pd nanocomposite catalyst has demonstrated the enlarged electrochemical surface area (ECSA) (ECSA = 0.91 cm2), remarkably higher electro-catalytic activity (If = 59.6 mA/cm2) and enhanced stability as compared to RGO/Pt (If = 23.32 mA/cm2, ECSA = 0.18 cm2) and RGO/Pd (If = 8.65 mA/cm2, ECSA = 0.11 cm2) nanocomposite catalysts toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). This superior catalytic activity of the as-prepared RGO/Pt-Pd nanocomposite catalyst with facile and simple preparation approach is promising a great opportunity for the development of direct methanol fuel cell