For many years, Malaysia has struggled with the challenges of poverty and inequality. Despite the country’s significant advancements in the number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators, different states face varying degrees of difficulty in achieving SDGs.
According to Statista Research Department 2022, the East Malaysian state of Sabah has the highest poverty rate in the country, with 25.3 per cent of the people living in poverty in 2020.
To lessen the impact of poverty and inequality, we must adopt a novel framework to address and prioritise this problem.
It can be accomplished through sustainable community-based tourism, a burgeoning niche sector for fostering ethical rural tourism and eradicating poverty, to provide a different source of income.
Community-based tourism can boost job creation, enhance localised economic ties and reduce economic leakages.
A long-term strategy is required to maximise its advantages for the local community, as community-based tourism is widely known as a growth development tool for the low-income group.
Community-based tourism aims to advance SDG1 (No Poverty) and SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). It emphasises community involvement in all phases of tourism development, from idea generation through planning, execution, management, monitoring, and evaluation.
Community-based tourism approach has long been promoted as a crucial component of sustainable tourism growth because it aims to achieve economically, sociocultural, and environmentally sustainable development while increasing the community’s tourism capacity by lowering costs and enhancing the benefits of tourism.
Products from community-based tourism include a range of tourist activities, local cuisine and drink, and accommodation services.
While interior activities usually concentrate on village activities like cooking, weaving, and other traditional practices, outdoor tourist activities mainly involve trekking, camping, and strolling. (Walking?)
In Malaysia, community-based tourism or Malaysian Homestay Experience Programme (MHEP), is coordinated under the Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry and supported by other organisations.
MHEP offers lodging and promotes authentic Malaysian culture, including foods, traditional clothing, and way of life. The scheme is a success, as the number of registered homestays has grown from five in 1995 to 223 in 2022.
In addition to having positive economic effects, such as contributions to rural development and erasing poverty, community-based tourism strengthens regional cultural traditions, empowers rural communities, fosters intercultural exchange, and protects the environment and wildlife.
However, the effectiveness of community-based tourism as a means of empowering rural people and reducing poverty might be rated at less than 10 per cent globally.
Some fundamental flaws of community-based tourism include dependence syndrome, a lack of local ability, inadequate leadership and organisation, and poor understanding of the market.
Amran Hamzah, Professor in Tourism Planning at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, mentioned there are nine steps for delivering a successful CBT model for rural empowerment, in which steps one to five represent the development phase:
Step 1: Assess the community needs and readiness
Step 2: Educate and prepare the community
Step 3: Identify and establish leadership/local champions
Step 4: Prepare and develop community organisation
Step 5: Develop partnerships
The sustaining phase is represented by steps six through nine:
Step 6: Adopt an integrated approach
Step 7: Plan and design quality products
Step 8: Identify market demand and formulate marketing strategies
Step 9: Implement and monitor performance
Community-based tourism needs a comprehensive and transparent financial management system to prevent financial abuse by local elites, apart from effective local management.
Community empowerment must provide resources, opportunities, knowledge, and skills to increase their capacity to determine their future and to participate in things that affect their lives.
An action plan carried out by a single stakeholder, a shared vision for tourism, and a strategic objective makes up the long-term strategy of community-based tourism.
This ensures that the growth of tourism supports the cultural landscape’s authenticity, minimises adverse environmental effects, and improves site management and monitoring through joint and participatory efforts.
To accomplish this, it is crucial to adopt a destination approach, which unifies and connects disparate elements or clusters into a cohesive site, particularly in regions with significant tourism-related activities.
In short, community-based tourism is a bottom-up approach to sustainable development used in developing countries to generate income at the local level and lift people out of poverty.
Datin Sri Prof. Dr. Suhaiza Hanim Mohamad Zailani is the Director of the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Universiti Malaya.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
