Megadevelopment in Malaysia: From Heritage Landscapes to "Leisurescapes" in Melaka's Tourism Sector (original) (raw)
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Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2018
The aim of this study is to understand and explain in detail how tourism development has evolved in Malaysia, and in particular, what informed its planning and policy. This study draws extensively on a critical analysis of the official plans for Malaysian tourism development, especially from the period of the First Malaysia Plan (1966-1970) to the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2010-2015), and sets this analysis within a Resource Based View (RBV). This study discovered that Malaysia identified individual capabilities that resulted in short-term advantages in tourism that were capitalised upon, and that its strength has been in its four marketing areas of product, price, promotions and distribution channel. However, some areas did not receive full cooperation from all stakeholders, rendering some long-term marketing objectives unachievable. Thus, the government needs to develop a closer relationship with its stakeholders to strengthen its vision and implementation of tourism planning and policies.
A Review of Tourism Development in Malaysia
This article looks into the development of tourism secor in Malaysia and sheds light on the efforts undertaken by successive governmets so far to set a comprhensive planning, build infrastructure and promote Malaysia as a preffered destination internationally. The commitment of the government to the development of this sector and the improvement of the quality of tourism services and infrastructure are unlimited. Currently, tourism sector comes second after manufacturing in terms of contribution to GDP while the country is ranking among the top ten world tourist destinations. Such results indicate that government planning, which involves the interaction of all the influencing aspects and takes in consideration the breoad international context, proves successful and rightly guided. This unique experience can serve as a model to follow by other developing countries especially those countries with similar multicultral settings and natural potential.
Nature-based tourism is an important part of the world tourism industry and of increasing significance to developing countries. However, in reality, nature-based tourism destinations are not appropriately developed due to several structural and operational limitations in local planning processes. In Malaysia, the quantity and quality of natural resources and their associated/required infrastructure for tourism potential and development have not been well documented. In light of this, this paper critically examines the problems and constraints facing local and national decision makers during the development and promotion of nature-based tourism destinations. A study of nature-based tourism in the State of Perlis was conducted to explore and examine approaches used by government agencies in the development process. The data presented draws upon a series of semi-structured interviews with government officials, undertaken from January to March 2010. Analysis of these interviews, after Ritchie and Spence (1994), reveal three key governance issues constraining the effective and appropriate development of natural tourism opportunities within Perlis. These are identified as revolving around issues of [1] the weaknesses of government policies and guidelines, [2] disorganised administration systems and [3] limited operational budget. The paper contends that in order for the State of Perlis specifically and Malaysia more generally, to pursue and develop a long-term and sustainable nature-based tourism industry these issues must be urgently addressed.
Urban Tourism in Developing Countries: A case of Malaysia
wisatamelayu.com
This paper examines and analyses the dynamics of cities in developing countries that have led to an increase in their tourism profile through a review of trends in urban tourism such as product development and tourist demand. This is seen as a significant sector by authorities to generate economic growth. It has also led to an increase in planning for tourism in cities based on existing resources and recreating new products as well as providing a challenge to the application of the concept of urban tourism in a sustainable manner. Therefore, this paper reviews an emerging phenomenon of urban tourism in developing countries with a focus in Malaysia in relation to two key frameworks. The first (1) is related to tourism infrastructure and product development in the city in order to cater for demand from international and domestic tourists. Secondly, (2) the growth of urban tourism in developing countries and how it can be compared to that indeveloped countries. Based on existing developments in the cities of developing countries, the differing directions that urban tourism has taken as a significant economic strategy will be the focus for discussion. Regarding this, cities in developing countries are generally in an expansion phase and tourism is used as a catalyst for its development. At the same time, there need to invest in tourism resources such as heritage/historical attractions and infrastructure in order to enhance tourism activities. Meanwhile, in developed countries, generally urban centres are in a decline phase including population and face employment opportunity shortages. Therefore, tourism is seen as a regeneration strategy and forces heritage/historical resources towards preservation tactics in order to support tourism activities for the benefit of the cities. Both of these frameworks will be addressed in the context of implications related to the roles of urban tourism in developing countries that have been adopted to support the growth of cities. Here, with specific focus on Malaysia, two general stages of urban tourism development can be determined. Firstly, (1) development in the city after independence or after the postcolonial era, which in the case of Malaysia is after 1957. Secondly, (2) the development of tourism in the city after 1990, when tourism begins to be established as a sector that significantly contributes to generate and expand the economy of the city that consists of tourism resources such as historic and cultural heritage. Therefore, the question on how the concept of urban tourism applies to the cities of developing countries through it function can be considered. Weaver, D.B. (1993) "Model of urban tourism for small Caribbean Islands." Geographical Review 83(2), 134-140.
Penerbit UMT, 2018
Although nature-based tourism is frequently presented as a sustainable form of tourism, there are claims that many destination marketers have often exploited this type of tourism in order to attract tourists and make profits. Despite the fact that many past works have investigated aspects related to nature especially ecotourism, very few studies explored on how natural resources have been marketed by the tourism promotional organisations. Owing to this reason, this paper analyses how nature-based attractions have been incorporated and presented to visitors in the promotional brochures using content analysis method. The content analysis of the brochures published from 1962 to 2016 found that natural resources have been incorporated extensively. Three categories of nature-based attractions represented widely in tourism brochures are national parks, islands and beaches, and mountains and hills. On the other hand, big game hunting was only marketed to tourists in the brochures published in the 1960s and 1970s, while types of natural resources promoted to tourists have expanded considerably from 1990s to 2016. Overall, findings of this paper shed light into the understanding on how natural attractions have been represented to tourists for 54 years. It is revealed that with the rising environmental awareness, the Malaysian tourism authorities have modified the way they presented nature-based attractions to some extent, from the image of exploiting natural resources for tourism purposes to environmental care and ethical travel in relatively recent promotional brochures. Yet, a few aspects and activities which contradict to the tourism sustainable practices are still traceable. This paper concludes that natural resources are among the primary attractions for the country's tourism until today and these attributes have been utilised significantly in tourism promotional materials to attract tourists.
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