Community-based rural tourism: A proposed sustainability framework

Many tourism projects run by community in the rural areas are labelled as Community-based Rural Tourism (CBRT), a type of a more ‘responsible’ tourism that contributes to sustainable development.However, a framework is needed to enable planners and managers to understand its criteria thus ensuring that the CBRTs fulfil the sustainability requirement.This paper presents findings from a literature review on previous writings in this topic.Findings from an analysis on the criteria of a sustainable CBRT product are discussed.It is found that in order for it to play a role in sustainable development, a CBRT product must focus on competitive management, resource conservation, and benefit creation to the community.The three elements need to be supported, in turn, by community involvement and commitment. As the proposed conceptual framework of sustainable CBRT product can be a basis for further research in CBRT, it offers producing theoretical and practical implications

The nature of cultural contribution of a community-based homestay programme

An exploratory study utilizing qualitative approach was undertaken in 2005 to better understand the cultural contribution of a community-based homestay to both the rural communities and the visitors.The particular homestay, namely the Kampung Pelegong Homestay Programme (KPHP), is located in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.The study finds that while living culture is the core product component, education, entertainment and enrichment are important contributions of the cultural rural tourism product of KPHP to the visitors.In addition, an important finding indicates that this particular tourism product is unique as it stresses on establishing relationship (‘Sillatul-rahim’ in Malay) between hosts and guests whereby these relationships continue for years through letters, phone conversations, and emails.The programme also increases social cohesion among the hosts and contributes to their commitment to preserve and to provide knowledge on local customs and daily routine to enhance tourist experience

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION AMONG RURAL HOME STAY OPERATORS IN MALAYSIA

Based on earlier writings and research in the fields of total quality management, service quality and marketing which suggest understanding customer needs is a pre-requisite to satisfactory service delivery, a study was undertaken to understand and analyze customer orientation among the home stay operators in Malaysia. Data was collected from 142 respondents who operate home stay programs in 10 rural areas in Peninsular Malaysia using structured survey questionnaires. Findings from the study indicate that rural home stay operators place utmost importance on customer satisfaction as long as it is within their means and their boundaries of traditional customs. What needs to be improved on is their capability so that they are able to identify the expected quality of service of the visitors and so that they are able to fulfil this expected quality of service

Exchanges between residents and tourism development

This qualitative study focused on utilizing a combination of social exchange and power theories to wxplain exchange that occurt between residents of Langkawi and tourism development on the island. The guiding question for this inquiry was "what role does power play in social exchanges that occur between residents and tourism development?" Findings revealed that social exchanges is useful in examining residents' attitudes towards tourism as residents indeed based their attitudes on the evaluation of the returns that they receive from the exchanges. More importantly, the findings indicated that residents' general values, their dependence on tourism, and their ability and willingness to adapt moderated the influence of power on residents' evaluation of tourism impacts

Residents’ perceptions of tourism impact and their support for tourism development: The case study of Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh province, Vietnam

Cuc Phuong National Park (CPNP) is Vietnam’s first national park which has become a model for national parks and protected systems in Vietnam since its establishment in 1962.In spite of its importance to tourism, no systematic analysis has been undertaken thus far to understand its residents’ perceptions toward tourism in their area.Guided by the Social Exchange Theory, this study investigated Cuc Phuong National Park (CPNP) residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts and their support for tourism development in their areas.Additionally, the study also explored how demographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity, place of birth, marital status, level of education, household monthly income, job status, and length of residency) explain residents’ perceptions and their support.It was found that residents in general have positive perceptions towards the impacts brought by tourism in CPNP especially with regards to its social-cultural and environmental impacts and they strongly supported tourism development. However, these perceptions differ according to residents’ socio-demographic characteristics. The study also revealed that residents’ age and gender and their perceptions of tourism impacts could be predictors for their support for tourism development in CPNP.Based on these findings, the concluding part discusses the study’s implications and provides suggestions for the future

Perceived service quality and tourists' cognitive image of a destination

This paper examines the impact of tourists’ perceived service quality on cognitive image they have towards the built environment dimension in Bangladesh.A survey was conducted through self-administered questionnaires among tourists visiting Bangladesh.Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to find the influence of perceived service quality on cognitive image.The findings of the study indicate that perceived service quality factors are highly significant for the built environment dimension of the cognitive image that respondents have towards Bangladesh.The findings also reveal that there are high correlations among perceived tour services quality, perceived hospitality services quality, and built environment dimension of cognitive image.The study concludes that the cognitive image that the tourists have towards a destination is modified by their perceptions of service quality experience during their visit

Keperihatinan pengusaha program homestay terhadap keperluan dan kehendak pelanggan

Bertitik tolak dari konsep Total Quality Management,Service Quality dan Pemasaran yang menekankan bahawa setiap organisasi perniagaan perlu mengutamakan pelanggan, kajian ini meninjau tahap keperihatinan pelanggan di kalangan pengusaha homestay di Malaysia.Definisi keperihatinan pelanggan ialah amalan yang mengutamakan pelanggan atau orientasi pelanggan dalam penyediaan produk dan perkhidmatan di kalangan pengusaha.Data telah dikumpul dari 142 responden yang terdiri dari pengusaha homestay di 10 Program Homestay menggunakan soalselidik bersemuka yang mengandungi instrumen mengukur tahap keperihatinan mereka. Instrumen tersebut diadaptasi dari kajian terdahulu yang dijalankan oleh Deng dan Dart (1994) dalam kajian mereka yang bertujuan mengukur tahap orientasi pasaran yang diamalkan oleh organisasi perniagaan.Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa majoriti pengusaha Program Homestay yang terlibat dalam soalselidik yang dijalankan sememangnya perihatin terhadap keperluan dan kehendak pengunjung.Namun begitu, majoriti responden juga menyatakan bahawa mereka kurang mampu dari segi modal untuk menyediakan produk dan perkhidmatan homestay yang terbaik untuk pelanggan merekan. Ini disokong dengan dapatan bahawa majoriti dari mereka menyatakan bahawa mereka hanya akan memenuhi kehendak dan keperluan pelanggan setakat kemampuan mereka.Ujian-t yang dijalankan pula mengenalpasti tiga faktor yang membezakan tahap keperihatinan responden iaitu: (1) faktor kebergantungan kepada ketua program untuk tugas mengenalpasti dan memenuhi keperluan pelanggan, (2) faktor latihan, dan (3) faktor kebergantungan kepada perniagaan homestay untuk pendapatan.Soalan terbuka yang dimajukan kepada responden memberi indikasi bahawa faktor budaya, cara hidup, dan peradaban penduduk tempatan juga menjadi faktor yang mempengaruhi usaha memenuhi kehendak pengunjung.Kajian ini mencadangkan usaha untuk meningkatkan tahap keperihatinana pengusaha homestay harus ditumpukan kepada faktor-faktor penting yang dikenalpasti melalui kajian ini, terutama dalam meningkatkan kemampuan dan keupayaan pengusaha untuk menyediakan perkhidmatan kepada pengunjung.Hasil kajian ini membentuk beberapa persoalan susulan yang sesuai dikaji dalam penyelidikan seterusnya dalam bidang perkhidmatan dan produk Program Homestay. Hasil kajian juga memberi implikasi mengenai kepentingan merancang keupayaan pengusaha homestay supaya mereka berkeupayaan untu mengenalpasti jenis dan tahap perkhidmatan yang diharapkan oleh pengunjung dan memenuhi tahap perkhidmatan yang diharapkan

Tourists' roles in developing an 'eco' tourism industry

ECOTOURISM has been variously defined in terms of its objective and roles contributing to certain areas in tourism.The public sectors would define ecotourism based on their roles as the policy-making, whilst the private sectors would define ecotourism based on the fact that they should gain something worth out of it.The concept of ecotourism is more on sustainable tourism, intelligent tourism, alternative tourism and solf tourism that normally known as 'geen'tourism.Since the early 1980s, there has been considerable debate on the environmental impacts of tourism and the links between green issues and ecotourism.The questions raised nowadays are, to what extend do tourists aware of their roles in developing ecotourism? Do they really need to understand the meaning of ecotourism in order to traveland use tourism infastructures? What actually are the tourists' roles in developing ecotourism industry? It is obvious that tourists play important roles in order to develop sustainable tourism.Thus, they need to understand clearly their roles as tourist in the context of ecotourism. This article aims to point out the roles of tourists in ecotourim and to discuss their roles in the context of ecotourism

The challenges of community-based homestay programme in Malaysia

Community-based tourism (CBT) is viewed as a tourism development that can benefit the members of the community, particularly in rural areas.In Malaysia, the community-based homestay programme (CBHP), which is a collective project undertaken by community members, is promoted to rural villages by the Malaysian government as a development strategy.In fact, the homestay programme has the potential to generate additional income for the villagers and provide an avenue for them to participate in tourism development. It also offers cultural exchange between the hosts and the guests, and incorporates the surrounding environment, including farms and the rural landscape, as the main attractions. Nevertheless, these benefits cannot be sustained if challenges are extensive.Community-based tourism will then be a failure.Hence, understanding the challenges faced by the homestay programme is mandatory for planners and policy makers.This understanding enables them to react appropriately to achieve a sustainable community-based programme, which can continuously develop the community members. Research on three homestay villages in Langkawi Island, Kedah and Selangor, which was undertaken in 2007, shows that homestay programmes are vulnerable to internal and external challenges. These numerous challenges are embedded in the policy at the various ministerial levels, the system of the homestay organisations and the characteristics of the community members.A total of 90 interviews were undertaken in three homestay villages, in addition to another 10 interviews with representatives from the government and the Malaysian Homestay Association.Semi-structured interviews provided primary data for this study while secondary data was sourced from document analysis.Besides exposing the challenges, this paper provides an understanding in the conflicts between various stakeholders in the community-based homestay programme

Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi penglibatan ahli komuniti dalam program pembangunan komuniti: Satu kajian ke atas program homestay di Kedah

Pemuliharaan sumber warisan terrnasuk sumber budaya dan alam sekitar serta pembangunan negara merupakan dua konsep yang dilihat sebagai bercanggah antara satu dengan lain berdasarkan penilaian yang digunakan untuk menilai kedua-dua konsep tersebut. Pembangunan negara lazimnya diukur menggunakan Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) manakala pemuliharaan sumber diukur melalui indeks pencemaran alam sekitar dan kadar kepupusan sumber budaya. Kedua-duanya dilihat sebagai bercanggah kerana ramai yang berpendapat bahawa agak mustahil untuk sesebuah negara itu untuk mencapai KDNK yang tinggi dan dalam masa yang sama mampu memulihara sumber yang diwarisinya. Namun begitu, adalah tidak asing untuk kita melihat destinasi pelancongan menekankan aspek pemuliharaan sebagai salah satu objektif dalam polisi pembangunan pelancongan melalui penggunaan istilah kelestarian dalam rangka polisi dan perancangan mereka. Pendekatan ini disebut sebagai pembangunan yang berorientasikan pemuliharaan sumber yang sedia ada supaya sumber ini, sama ada sumber semula jadi atau sumber budaya, dapat dinikmati oleh generasi yang akan datang