An Investigation of the Appropriateness of Tourism Development Paradigms in Rural Areas from Main Tourism Stakeholders’ Point of View

Abstract

Rural tourism or tourism in rural areas is a new form of activity that can bring economic and social benefits to the society. It will not only generate employment for the people but it can also develop social, cultural and educational values; therefore, rural tourism has attracted increasing attention from governments, NGOs and other organizations. Economic regime change from Fordism to post-Fordism and cultural regime change from Modernism to post-Modernism resulted in the emergence of new forms of tourism such as Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT), Community-Based Tourism (CBT), and Community Benefit Tourism Initiative (CBTI). Moreover, it should be considered that stakeholders’ views such as local communities’ and local operators’ opinions on tourism development within their region vary significantly based on some variables such as their perception of benefits, and their expectations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the appropriateness of tourism paradigms developed in rural areas from main stakeholders’ point of view by doing a comparative study of CBT and CBTI in 2 villages of Lower Kinabatangan region to find out the main stakeholders’ choice of appropriate tourism paradigm in their regions as well as their reasons. The local communities of Mukim Batu Puteh village and Sukau village alongside the homestay operators from Batu Puteh village and eco-lodge operators from Sukau village have been considered as the main stakeholders in the region. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed to achieve the research goals; first of all, a Decision Support System (DSS) model was created based on the 42 research variables as its input data by undertaking Cybernetic Analytic Network Process (CANP) method. The DSS model which was verified through a Delphi technique, measured the local communities’ and local operators’ choices of CBT and CBTI through specific questionnaires. The results of the first on-the-ground study revealed that both local communities from the 2 villages together with the homestay operators from Batu Puteh village preferred CBT as the appropriate tourism paradigm for their region while eco-lodge operators from Sukau village preferred CBTI as the appropriate tourism paradigm in the region. Finally, it should be emphasized that the result of qualitative survey validates the result of quantitative study; therefore, there is no doubt about their choices. Consequently, the research goals are met totally since the researcher concludes that the main reason for the difference in eco-lodge operators’ choice with others’ choice refers to the fact that these eco-lodge operators are totally outsiders and non-indigenous people while other three groups of our respondents are totally locals and indigenous people of the region. Therefore, this research article recommends that outsiders who want to bring and develop new forms of tourism such as CBTI for rural people should consider locals’ perceptions and expectations of tourism venture in their village while listening to their voices.