Rural Tourism at its Peak: Socio-Cultural Impacts towards Host Communities of Kinabalu Park, Sabah (Malaysian-Borneo)

Tania Maria Tangit,Akmal Adanan,Ahmad Khairuman Md Hasim

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20141201097

Abstract

The Kinabalu Park in Sabah (Malaysian-Borneo) represents multiple tourism opportunities for its stakeholders, host communities and tourists. Being the first World Heritage Site in Malaysia endorsed by UNESCO since 2000, this nature-based tourism destination is a popular tourism destination in Malaysia, as well as in the Asia region. The designated study area includes villages nearby Kinabalu Park. Through the popularity of the park and various other attractions within the area, tourism activities contributes to socio-cultural impacts towards its host communities. The perceptions and attitudes of the locals towards tourism are identified and evaluated. By having the input of host communities as part of conserving tourism whilst meeting certain principles of sustainable tourism, the paper aims to attain interesting findings about the perceptions of the host communities towards socio-cultural impacts of tourism on their community. The paper further aims to recommend for the continuous improvement of sustainable tourism development at Kinabalu Park and its surroundings.

Highlights

It should be pointed out that the people of Sabah are divided into 32 officially recognised ethnic groups, where the largest indigenous ethnic group is Kadazandusun (17.8%) and predominantly wet rice and hill cultivators [1]
As Mount Kinabalu is an important asset to the Kadazandusun community, and Sabahan and Malaysians as a whole, it is vital that socio-cultural impacts of the host communities of Kinabalu Park and its surroundings are minimized and controlled
The overall result of this study is consistent with the literature presented and it concludes that not all tourism activities are welcomed at Kinabalu Park and its surrounding areas as there are negative socio-cultural impacts, which could deteriorate the host community’s social structure and cultural traditions

Summary

Introduction

It should be pointed out that the people of Sabah are divided into 32 officially recognised ethnic groups, where the largest indigenous ethnic group is Kadazandusun (17.8%) and predominantly wet rice and hill cultivators [1]. A rural district of Sabah, has a total population of 94,092 people and with slightly more than 85% are of the Kadazandusun tribe [2]. Located in Ranau, Kinabalu Park covers an area of 754 sq km and was gazetted as a park in 1964 [3,4]. The park houses Mount Kinabalu, which stands amidst 4095 meters above sea level. It comprises of Poring Hot Springs, Mesilau, and sub-stations located at the district of Kota Belud and Kota Marudu. The Kadazandusun community reveres Mount Kinabalu as the ancient belief is that ‘Nabalu’ means “place of spirits of the dead” [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion