Sustaining Tourism Development in Protected Areas. A Case of Kinabalu Park

Abstract

Sustainable tourism emerges as more responsible form of tourism seeks to minimize the undesirable impacts of tourism development at destination level. Specifically, its presence in nature-based tourism destinations provides financial revenue for nature conservation through maintaining high quality visitor experience. Kinabalu Park is the first World Heritage Site of Malaysia. Since its establishment in 1964, the park has been a popular tourism destination in the country and in the region. The significant and increasing inflow of visitors to the park has raised the concern over its management in meeting the visitor expectation without compromising with its conservation objective, which is the key role of a protected area. This paper intends to highlight the park management in responding to its dual roles in conserving nature and meeting visitor satisfaction, thereby meeting some principles of sustainable tourism.