Ecotourism in Malaysia

G. DEVELOPMENT OF ECOTOURISM IN MALAYSIA -Mohd Director, Nawayai Zoo Park Yasak Melaka Malaysia Department of Wildlife and subject area 1. Historical Background Until the 1970s, hitchistry was not regarded as an cardinal economic motionivity in Malaysia. The touristry Development Corporation of Malaysia (TDC) was curry up in 1972, with the responsibility to act as a cultivation authority, but the sphere was given a low priority. Dut partly to limited financial allocations, TDC faced constraints in the hard-hitting performance of its catalytic role.As a result, Malaysia remained a relatively unbeknow(predicate) destination, while opposite countries in the region such asSingapore, Thailand and Indonesia built on their anchored reputations as mass touristry destinations. During the 1980s, touristry became an increasingly important industry worldwide. Investment in new facilities and capital equipment reached around $US 350 million per year, representing 7. 3 per cent of to tal worldwide capital investments. around 6. 5 per cent of the worlds workforce were employed by the industry.Among the main reasons for this fruit were increased personal income and leisure epoch, improvement in external rapture systems and greater reality aw atomic military issue 18ness of other parts of the world callable to improved communications. These developments were felt by Malaysia as well as other countries. Recognizing that tourism can playa role in economic and social development, as well as in fosterage national integration and unity, the Malayan government undertook a series of positive initiatives to stimulate the development of the tourism sector. These accommodate the following (a)The government established the Ministry of husbandry and touristry (which became the Ministry of Culture, humanistic discipline and Tourism in 1990). This exitd an institutional framework for the planning, coordination, and regulation of tourism, and for the first time tour ism was accounted for within the framework of recognized economic activities By impartiality of the Tourism Industry bring of 1992 and the Malaysia Tourism Promotion room Act of 1992, the new Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism took over from TOC the function of formulation and murder of policies, licensing and enforcement aspects of the tourism industry.TOC thereafter became known as the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (or Tourism Malaysia for short), with a role concentrated on marketing and advancement The Investment Incentives Act was revised in 1986 to overwhelm the tourism sector, thereby giving additional stimulus to tourism investment, such as the lead up Status Investment Tax Allowance, Industrial Building Allowances, and tax freedom for prominent foreign group tours In 1990, the federal government set up a Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 120 million special fund for tourism to stimulate its development, including small and medium scale enterprise. b) (c) (d) During the ordinal and Fifth Malaysia externalises (1981-1985 and 1986-1990) meaningful attention was given to the tourism sector, with increased public allocations for marketing and promotional activities, home and product development. Expenditure was RM 125. 5 million under the Fourth Plan and RM 132. 1 million under Fifth Plan. The Fifth Plan period culminated in Visit Malaysia Year 1990, which generated a high international profile for Malaysia and attracted 7. 4 million tourists as well as revenues of RM 4. 5 billion.Under the sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), the government therefore increased the public allocation for tourism development to RM 533. 9 million. This allocation has been used to provide and expand the physical and social infrastructure, facilities and services required to support the prospective growth of the tourism sector. (See display board 1. ) Visitors soak up come to Malaysia for many old age to see wildlife, scenery, forests and beaches. The represss ar ver y difficult to assess, except at a few sites such as Taman Negara and Kinabalu Park. There, the numbers entertain climbed steady over the past 30 years.The well-known sites are mainly large with multiple attractions, but they also include one or dickens places with a single major attraction, notably Rantan Abang in Terengganu with its turtles, or Rafflesia sites in Sabah. Some smaller sites adjudge attracted fewer visitors, but are known internationally among a sector of the potential market. Examples include Frasers Hill and Kuala Selangor, both(prenominal) of which are of fussy concern for birdwatchers and are now on the steadfast itineraries of few specialist and general tour companies. 84 1.Development allocation for tourism under the Fifth and sixth Malaysia Plans (AM million. ) Fifth Plan (1986-1990) Sixth Plan (1991-1995) Allocation Preservation Beautification of national/historical and environmental inheritance protection Tourist accommodation Cultural product devel opment Facilities and infrastructure OtherTotal 1. 5 2. 0 2. 5 2. 5 79. 2 52. 8140. 5 0. 7 0. 0 2. 5 2. 5 76. 7 49. 7 132. 1 *$US = AM 2. 5 4. 1 171. 7 43. 6 112. 9 157. 4 7. 2 533. 9 The market in specialist jeopardise activities (four-wheel drive, microlight, whitewater rafting, and so on is more recent but is rapidly expanding. Most of these activities sole(prenominal) marginally qualify as ecotourism when practiced in parucularly careful ways, and slightly are harmful to the environment. They are indicative of the conflicts that can arise between adventure tourism, nature-based tourism and ecotourism, both in objectives and practice. Despite the fact that some tourists set slightly pursued activities that could be defined as ecotourism for manyyears, attention to this market share from the tourism sector itself has been slight.Only a few tour operators set to the highest degree long and consistent records in ecotourism. Many others have sporadically explored this secto r with varyingsuccess, low investment, and low expertise. Various reasons could be cited for their lack of success. Among the tour operators lead story groups to Taman Negara are several very big companies, but as this is only a tiny part of theirtotal business and income, client dissatisfaction may have little influence upon the companies. Many ecotourism businesses remain small, or face difficulties in obtaining clientele and exclude down.The sitation for ecotourism in Malaysia is, therefore, very similar to the follow out in many other countries. One difficulty in assessing take place in ecotourism is the shortage of reliable data. Tourist numbers as a whole are not easy to analyse and not practically effort has yet been made to look at the ecotourism or nature-based tourism sector in particular. In 1994/95, for the first time Tourism Malaysia questionnaires included questions about whether tourist had visited Taman Negara, Bako home(a) Park, Gunung Mulu National Park, the Niah Caves r Kinabalu Park. No statistics make up on how many visitors like to go fishing, mountain climbing or walking in the forest, nor are there detailed visitor profiles of distinguishable nationalities in relation to nature. Nevertheless, the number of tour operators interested in ecotourism or nature tourism and the number of individuals hoping to be ecotour or nature tour guides are increasing. Interest is also expressed through a number of workshop and seminars relating to ecotourism.Recent examples are the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) Seminar on nature Tourism as a Tool for Development and Conservation (Sabah, Malaysia, bound 1994), the Seventh PATA Adventure Travel and Ecotourism group discussion (Balikpapan, Indonesia, January 1995) the ESCAP Expert Group group meeting on Ecotourism and Development in Asia and the Pacific (Bali, Indonesia, March 1995) and the PATA Heritage Conference on Tourism A Force for Conservation of Nature and Culture (Phuket, Tha iland, September 1995). Two public exhibitions on nature-based and adventure tourism have been held in Kuala Lumpur.A pilot training route for nature guides has been established, and the Malayan Tourist Guides Council has arranged a tour guide refresher course with components on ecotourism and agrotourism. If as has been suggested, 7 per cent of travel worldwide is nature-related, accordingly in 1994 Malaysia probably attracted 505,000 ecotourists from overseas. If, however, half of all non-ASEAN visitors to Sabah and Sarawak carry out some nature- or culture-related activity, there may have been as many as 571,000 ecotourist visiting Malaysia in 1994. Revenue would have been about RM 655 million.Current home The main thrust of governmental policy on tourism is contained in the Tourism Policy Study by Peat Marwick(1992), together with materials in the Sixth Malaysia Plan, Mid-Term Review and the forthcoming Seventh MalaysiaPlan. Sarawak has a Second State Tourism Master Plan (19 93) and the Sabah State Tourism Master Plan was entire in early 1996. 85 2. Expenditure Allocation Programme Table There are about 2,000 registered tour and travel agencies in Malaysia, and it is estimated that about 800 take bookings for travel to nature-related destinations.However, many of these act only as intermediaries and good-bye on these bookings to a relatively small number of companies which deal with particular destinations. There are thought to be about 30 companies specialising in nature and ecotourism. There are about 3,500 registered tour guides, of whom the volume have full (general) guiding licences. A smaller number are specialize in specific skills. There is no detailed breakdown of the number of guides with guiding skills for each ecotourism activity, but a basic pool of resources is open in most fields.Some Malaysian specialist guides are of international repute. Participation by non-government organisations in ecotourism is limited but increasing. There a re a number of state, regional and national trade organisations and tourist guides associations which are beginning to investigate ecotourism and to provide training. So far, training courses have not been formalised. About 20 sites in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak account for the vast majority of ecotourism by overseas tourists. The same sites are visited by many Malaysian tourists.Recreation by Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia takes place in a network of Recreational (Amenity) Forests and a number of sites elsewhere in the forests. It is estimated that about 7 to 10 per cent of all overseas tourists are abstruse in ecotourism activities, while up to 14 per cent express an interest in walking, hiking and trekking. This amounts to about 512,000 to 1,024,000 overseas tourists per year. The number of Malaysians visiting the same sites is close to or exceeds the number of overseas tourists. The involvement of individuals from topical anaesthetic communities is uneven.At som e sites (for example, Kinabalu Park) local residents are closely involved in guiding, staffing and gaining financial benefits from the parks operation. Sites outlast in which the local community forms a passive component of the tourism product. Sites also exist in which the local community has, in effect, been excluded from tourism development, but these are none of ecotourism developments. Where local residents are involved in ecotourism, there tends to be a shortage of training and management opportunities for them. National Ecotourism PolicyThe National Ecotourism Plan was developed to provide a more integrated approach to achieve specific national objectives, such as those contained in the Five Year Plans and other documents, within the field of ecotourism. It should give towards producing a more distinctive Malaysian tourism image and individuality and contribute towards direct involvement of local populations, enhanced training, interagency and inter-sectoral cooperationand , most importantly, fostering environmental protection and preservation. This plan is in the process of adoption by the federal government.The National Ecotourism Plan will include the following elements of instruction execution (a) adopt and parent a clear definition of ecotourism (b) adopt and conjure up a clear policy on developing ecotourism (c) strengthen the Ecoand Agro-Tourism instruction execution Committee (d) implement legal changes to support implementation of the Plan and (e) establish a monitoring and evaluation programme. The National Ecotourism Plan will include site planning and management. This includes actions to (a) (b) (c) attain Establish planning procedures application for ecotourism developments development system of ecotourism areas areas rocedures management for ecotourism Expand and improve Elaborate Implement Establish Establish Establish of a nationwide (d) (e) (f) (9) (h) (i) development guidelines and management for ecotourism plans for ecotourism a series of pilot ecotourism additional ecotourism projects products at Taman Negara and other sites and promote a consistent marketing strategy and ecotourism. Identify and promote fiscal measures to instigate Actions to strengthen institutions and build capacity under the National Ecotourism Plan include (a) (b) Establish a Human Resources Development Plan Ensure local community participation in ecotourism 6 3. (c) (d) (e) (f) Investigate Establish the feasibleness of an accreditation scheme for ecotourism and promote ecotourism product development for ecotourism guides and Establish training and promote certification Upgrade standards of tourist literature. REFERENCES Economic Planning Unit for the vertex Minister of Malaysia. Sustainable Development, 1993. Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Malaysia. Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Malaysia. Malaysian Malaysian National ConselVation Strategy Towards Tourism Policy Study 1991. Plan, Malaysia, 1996. National Ecoto urism 87