City-City Tourism Collaboration in the Straits of Malacca Development Region: Key Success Factors

Abstract

City to city collaboration has emerged as one of the regional initiatives to promote and sustained economic growth in many parts around the world. Within the Asean cooperation, city to city tourism collaboration is also an emerging sector. Although existing literatures assert on key success factors that lead to economic and cultural collaboration, little has been done to explore and elaborate deeply the key success factors in the city to city (C2C) tourism collaboration the Straits of Malacca Development Region. This article aims to identify key success factors of the city to city tourism collaboration in the Straits of Malacca Development Region, particularly deriving from the Malacca-Riau Provincial’s initiatives. This article is based on both qualitative and quantitative data collection undertaken in 2010 in Malacca and Riau-Pekan Baru. The study found that key success factors of C2C tourism collaboration are the enabling leadership, mutual and shared vision and goals, participating communities and social cultural ties, geographical, interconnectivity and accessibility as well as a growing market demand. The homogeneity in social cultural ties is not a competing factor, instead, is a complementing factor in the C2C tourism collaboration. It is suggested that all key success factors be considered at different level and scale of collaboration especially at smaller city-city tourism collaboration in the Straits of Malacca Development Region in the near future.