Tourism in Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia: A Case Study of Pro-poor Community-based Tourism Integrated into Community Development

Abstract

There are divergent views concerning the efficacy of pro-poor community-based tourism as a tool for community development. Although theoretical perspectives give rise to optimism, the evidence leaves some doubt. There is merit therefore in paying attention to the facilitating conditions under which such tourism can bring about desirable development. If these are better understood then there is greater likelihood that practice can catch up with theory. The Bario case study presents a picture of how tourism has been integrated with community development and provides insights into some of the conditions that enable tourism to foster desirable community development outcomes. Bario is an isolated collection of settlements nestled in the Kelabit Highlands in the north of Sarawak, one of the East Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Tourism in Bario has grown from its accidental beginnings to being a mainstay of the local economy, embracing along the way many different forms, including ecotourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, research tourism, and its latest manifestation, development conferencing. The growth of tourism in Bario is closely interwoven with other aspects of the social and cultural development of the community, which it has grown alongside, and the story of the industry provides an insight into the possibilities for other communities wishing to take advantage of their natural assets towards locally driven development. As a case study, tourism in Bario depicts how a pro-poor community-based approach to tourism can integrate with local development in a mutually reinforcing process that has delivered more than income-generating opportunities, but which also fosters a wider reinvigoration of the local economic and social life of the community.