Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
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also socio-cultural as reinvigoration of the local social and cultural life had been among the
goals.
Benefits:
 Community is the main beneficiary for the positive economic injections into the local
community.
 New small-scale businesses were started by the community members, which allowed
employment opportunities - especially for the underrepresented population of women.
 Increased employment opportunities also helped retain the younger population in the
community.
 The use of the forest land as a resource for eco-tourism activities constituted an
environmentally friendly alternative to destructive logging practices.
Challenges:
 Community discomfort about the commercialization of certain aspects of everyday life
(e.g. charging visitors for accommodation).
 Limited transportation facilities to the area.
Source:(Asker et al, 2010)
Negeri Sembilan is the only state in Malaysia practicing Minangkabau customs and culture.
The state government desired to improve tourism and benefit from the advantages of the
tourism sector by developing some of its communities into cultural tourism destinations.
Kampung Pelegong established its own homestay programme with several homestay
operators in 1996. The number of guests increased from 500 annually in 1997 to 900 in
2003 and to 1633 in 2004 (Fatimah, 2005). Kampung Pelegong is considered as a good case
of a cultural rural tourism product in Malaysia. A case study examined the interests and
concerns of stakeholders about the development of a rural tourism product in Negeri
Sembilan, namely, Kampung Pelegong Homestay (KPH) Program in 2005 (Kayat, 2008).
The case study focused on CBT stakeholders’ influence on the homestay program showed
that groups or individuals with little to no resources to exchange have little power thus
rendering themselves unimportant. This may be because people enter into exchanges when
they feel probability of a gain from the exchange. However, in the lack of support for the
CBT program would result inadequate participation, and thus the failure of CBT for the
community. To avoid this, the study begins with a “stakeholder map” whereby all groups
with a “stake” in the CBT program are defined, the key stakeholders being identified based
on their involvement and interest in the CBT-homestay program. This mapping resulted in
the following key stakeholders who were interviewed to study their perceptions and
attitudes of rural tourism development in Kampong Pelegong:
CASE 3 – Malaysia: Kampung Pelegong Homestay (KPH) Program