Eco-tourism and sustainable development: Are community ready?

ABSTRACT

Kenyir Geopark development has always been discussed by the State Government and various other agencies to improve the eco-tourism industry at Kenyir Lake. Tourism products and activities have been implemented. The development around Kenyir Lake through multiple agency’s role and policy that is established to disclose how the specialists use aspiration and best practices to achieve sustainable tourism. Conservation and socio-economic approaches are the specific interaction between community and stakeholders, their environments and lead to more viable development outcomes. Data were obtained quantitatively through surveys and qualitatively through interviews combination and document content analysis. The questionnaires were distributed, and 378 people responded. The results indicate that the community knowledge on development is crucial and it requires community cooperation to ensure the success of eco-tourism. Controlling and monitoring from the involved parties are also required. It is hoped that this study will guide the management in achieving its geopark goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Eco-tourism
• community perspective
• community readiness
• socio-economic
• Kenyir Lake

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Strategic Research Grant [UMT/SRG2018/53275].

Notes on contributors

Elia Syarafina Abdul Shakur

Elia Syarafina Abdul Shakur is a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Selangor, Malaysia. Formerly, as a Post-Doctoral at Institute of Tropical Biodiversity & Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. Her expertise is in the field of Property Management, Urbanization, and Environmental Management. As a reviewer of the articles in the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (JHBE) and the Journal of Housing Studies (JHS). Her current research concerns property management, sustainable cities, socio-economic, community development, sustainable tourism, and environmental management. Elia’s work has been published in Malaysian and international journals, and revised policy and guideline for the program Sustainable Smart Selangor 2035.

Nor Hayati Sa’at

Nor HayatiSa’at is a senior lecturer at Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development (FPEPS) and a research fellow at Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (IBTPL), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). Her research area focuses on the development of coastal and riverfront communities. She has written several articles on social mobility and the implications of social change on coastal communities in Malaysia. She is also a co-researcher in a number of government and non-government sponsored research projects/agencies. She also has experiences as a former Deputy Dean (Research and Graduate) at the Faculty of Social Development from 2011-2013 and Chair of the Bachelor of Management (Policy and Social Environment) Program at the School of Social and Economic Development, UMT from 2013-2016.

Ihsan Alwi

Ihsan Alwi is a PhD student at Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (ITBSD), University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). His research area focuses on sustainable development of community, ecosystem services and biodiversity. During his master’s degree, he also conducted research in pure science field on the effects of air pollution to the terrestrial plant ecosystem. He has won two silver awards and one bronze award at the research expo competition in 2015 and presented his research at a conference held in Bandung, Indonesia.

Khatijah Omar

KhatijahOmar is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development, and a deputy director at Institute of Tropical Biodiversity & Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia, and also a certified Human Resource Officer. She is also a member of the American International Research Association (AAIR), Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) and Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Malaysia (MIHRM). She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Human Resource Management and Labour Studies as well as a reviewer of the articles in the Journal of Governance and Development (JGD), the Journal of Business and Social Development (JBSD) and the Journal of Science and Sustainable Management (JSSM). Her expertise is in the field of Human Resource Management and Strategic Management.