Assessing Mukah Community's Readiness Participation in the Ecotourism Industry

Abstract

Ecotourism is a distinct category within the broader tourism sector. Ecotourism is an excellent option for enhancing local socioeconomic circumstances and generating economic activity that positively impacts the national economy. The involvement of local communities, specifically rural youth communities, in ecotourism activities can offer employment prospects such as serving as nature guides, engaging in business ventures within the ecotourism industry, benefiting from the activities and products of ecotourism, and fostering social connections and local income growth. However, an essential determinant of the effectiveness of tourist development programs is the level of readiness within the community to engage in these ecotourism activities. The objective of this essay is to evaluate the preparedness of the local community in Mukah for the implementation of ecotourism activities. The study was carried out as part of the community program. A total of 62 respondents originated from the surrounding communities of Mukah, Sarawak. The findings indicated that most participants had neither attended nor received any kind of training in nature guiding. Although most respondents initially did not engage in ecotourism activities, a significant number of them showed a newfound interest in becoming nature guides and stated a readiness to pursue relevant courses in the future after enrolling in the program. It indicates that a significant proportion of young people participating in this program had the necessary readiness to engage in local ecotourism initiatives.