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 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

A repositioning strategy for rural tourism in Malaysia- community’s perspective

The local community is an important stakeholder in rural tourism. However the rural tourism positioning strategies have been developed from the perspective of a single stakeholder tourist, and have overlooked at local community's perspective. It is important to include community's perspective because rural tourism cannot be successful without community support. There is lack of approach to highlight the issues hindering the active participation of communities in tourism planning and implications. The aim of this research is to develop a framework for repositioning of rural tourism, by addressing community approach rather than just a tourist industry. The proposed framework, developed on the indicators from literature, will help to explore local community's perspective on current positioning and will identify the gaps for a potential repositioning. The study will provide insights to local communities, government, policymakers and other stakeholders and help them to develop effective rural tourism strategies

The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations

Tourism in rural destinations should only be considered successful if it is according to the local communities’ perspective and they have some measure of control over tourism development. The traditional way of positioning a tourism product is mainly focused on two factors, product attributes (as perceived by the strategy planners) and consumer expectations, while the role and perspective of local community are often ignored. Nature, cultural heritage, local knowledge and authentic rural experience and hospitality are amongst the main touristic attractions that are directly related to the local community. Hence to design and develop a destination image and position strategy, tourism planners can leverage on local communities knowledge of their place and locality. This study explores the relationship between local community’s perspectives and their perceived positioning of rural tourism destinations. A quantitative survey was conducted to obtain the data from the local communities in selected research communities in Sarawak, Malaysia. Twenty-five hypothesized relationships were tested and thirteen hypotheses were supported. This study have revealed various findings regarding positioning a rural destination and residents perspective about tourism in their place. It shows the various reasons that drive local community to support and share their natural and cultural assets with tourists. This can further help government and tourism officials to understand and address key factors to improve local community overall attitude behind their perceived positioning on a particular attribute. Further government can allocate funds for the capacity building of the local community to feel confident and prepare them to face the day-to-day challenges coming with tourism developments. Moreover, the findings imply the importance of residents’ perspective and suggest that a successful destination branding is not achievable without the proper inclusion of its local residents, their motivation v to support and develop tourism, overall knowledge about local products and attractions, attachment to their community and also the local infrastructure. Considering local communities’ perspective would help to promote the uniqueness of each community in implementing the positioning strategies, otherwise it will lose its uniqueness that can be the unique selling propositions for a particular destination

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 communities and their socio-cultural spaces. Thus this paper presents a study conducted with the indigenous community of Long Lamai in Malaysia, who has recently ventured into rural tourism. The 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. The 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 effects to their present healthy existence. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to assess the local community\u27s 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 concerns expressed by community members include environmental conservation and local cultural protocols