Abstract
Sustainable tourism emphasises responsible utilisation of economic, socio-cultural and environmental resources for tourism development. Extant literature in sustainable tourism leans towards subjective and qualitative description in explaining the dynamic nature of the trans-disciplinary indicators of sustainability. However, few mechanisms have been proposed or developed to quantify the indicators measuring sustainable tourism in an indigenous ethnic context. The current study measures 61 sustainable indigenous tourism indicators of the Mah Meri ethnic group that comprise three constructs, namely, community resources, community development and sustainable tourism. Simple random sampling was employed for data elicitation and a weighted average score using R software as the basis of analysis was used to produce a sustainable indigenous tourism barometer (SITB). The study identifies 11 sustainability dimensions from the initial three main constructs that are treated as the relationship aspects in this study. Based on the Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Barometer (SITB), community participation, empowerment, economic and socio-cultural sustainability are found to be the main influencing dimensions of sustainability of the Mah Meri ethnic group. However, natural resources, financial resources and environmental sustainability indicated weaker relationships in explaining sustainability of the Mah Meri ethnic group. Based on the SITB, the results demonstrate that the Mah Meri ethnic group are a “potential sustainable” tourism stakeholder.
Highlights
Tyrrell and Johnston [1] argued that the tourism literature has failed to provide a generally accepted theoretical framework of sustainable tourism
There is insufficient specific underpinning theory to address sustainable indigenous tourism, a green paradigm has been the backbone for sustainable development studies
The findings of this study support the general theoretical narrative relating to the scope of ethnic group development and tourism development
Summary
Tyrrell and Johnston [1] argued that the tourism literature has failed to provide a generally accepted theoretical framework of sustainable tourism. Swarbrooke [2] noted that there is no widely accepted definition of sustainable tourism. The United Nations’ Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [4]. Sustainability makes and maintains the conditions under which living things and nature (flora and fauna) can co-exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, environment and other requirements of present and future generations [5]. As described by Asmar [4], the idea of sustainability relies on three dimensions; social, economic and environmental, whereby making sure that human beings have and will continue to protect nature, human life and the environment, as the main thrust
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