The Development Of Tourism In Malaysia Tourism Essay

Tourism is defined as the travel for recreational, leisure or business (Wikipedia).These people who travel are known as tourists, back in 1936 the League Of Nations (LON) defined Tourist as someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours. However, the United Nations rectified this definition in 1945, by adding a maximum stay of six months on the former definition. Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries and one of its fastest growing economic sectors. It has battalion of effects, both positive and negative, on people’s lives and on the environment.

For the past few decades, tourism has been growing very fast and according to the forecasts its going to be even faster in Asia and the pacific being the main continents which are promising to be the most important tourism destination of the world by 2020 because of its cultural heritage meaning that Pacific- Asia is the birth place of all the religions. The question would be, what does the religion have to do with tourism? Well one of the main significants of tourism industry is to see and learn other people’s culture from different parts of the world, which therefore gives an extra credit to Pacific- Asia. Domestically cultural heritage stimulates national pride in one’s history whilst internationally it stimulates respect and understanding of other cultures.

Tourism is made up of different forms; these forms are classified by typical features of spending time in the destination.

Domestic tourism- is the traveling of people within the country

inbound tourism – this is when non- resident traveling within the country

outbound tourism – involves residents visiting another country

internal tourism – basically a combination of inbound and outbound tourism

national tourism – involves the combination of domestic and outbound tourism

Malaysia in brief

Ever since independence in 1957, Malaysia has been a country of a progressive multi racial society. The political system is based on parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a Federal Government structure, comprising 14 states. The constitution and parliamentary system is almost similar to the British Westminster model, except the members of Local Governments are appointed by the ruling parties at Federal and State levels. The location of both Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak (in Borneo) lies entirely in the equatorial zone.

The climate is governed by the regime of the north-east and south-west monsoons which blow alternately during the course of the year. The average temperature throughout the year is 26°C with diurnal temperature range is about 7°C. Annual rainfall is about 2500 mm with high humidity (80%) due to the high temperature and rate of evaporation. In the year 2000 the population was around 22 million.

Under the Malaysia constitution, travel and tourism are concurrent matters in which both the Federal and State Government have responsibilities. However under the Ministry there is an agency which is directly in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia. The agency is known as the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), which was formerly known as the Tourist Development Cooperation of Malaysia (TDC) which will be touched on later in this article.

Tourism development in Malaysia

Lying just north of the equator, with more than one thousand islands found there, not forgetting the marine parks and rainforests all filled with beautiful birds and wildlife. It is in this country again where people talk about golden beaches, ever green vegetation, mountains and unforgettable shopping malls. All these can only be found in Malaysia; in general this country is a fascinating place to be.

According to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Malaysia, before 1970 tourism was just an idle, it was not regarded as an important economic activity. It all then started in the 70s when the old Tourism Department of 1959 was developed or redefined to Tourism Development Corporation (TDC). It was officially formed in 1972 under the Ministry of Trade Industry (MITI) and was given a responsibility of acting as an authority development but with very low precedence therefore tourism sector did not really develop in Malaysia comparing it with other countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. It was during this same year when Malaysian Airlines was formed too, this took the country’s economy by surprise a combination of MA and TDC led to the world tourism map. However, in the 80s the industry started increasing rapidly because of certain changes that took place in Malaysia, the increase of personal income, leisure time, and improvement in international transportation systems and finally the greater public awareness of other parts of the world due to the improvement in communications. The above mentioned developments gave a clear view to the Malaysian government that Tourism can play a big role in its economy and social development so as a result; it decided to promise to accomplish a series of positive initiatives to stimulate the development of the tourism sector. These include the following:

(a) The government established the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (which became the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism in 1990). This provided an institutional framework for the planning, coordination, and regulation of tourism and for the first time tourism was accounted for within the framework of recognized economic activities;

(b) By virtue of the Tourism Industry Act of 1992 and the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act of 1992, the new Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism took over from TOC the function of formulation and implementation of policies, licensing and enforcement aspects of the tourism industry. TOC thereafter became known as the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (or Tourism Malaysia for short), with a role concentrated on marketing and promotion;

(c) The Investment Incentives Act was revised in 1986 to include the tourism sector, thereby giving additional stimulus to tourism investment, such as the Pioneer Status Investment Tax Allowance, Industrial Building Allowances, and tax exemption for large foreign group tours;

(d)The Investment Incentives Act was revised in 1986 to include the tourism sector, thereby giving additional stimulus to tourism investment, such as the Pioneer Status Investment Tax Allowance, Industrial Building Allowances, and tax exemption for large foreign group tours; In 1990, the federal government set up a Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 120 million special fund for tourism to stimulate its development, including small and medium scale enterprise.

Malaysia’s government is now focusing more than ever on its Tourism Industry for example through developing its tourist’s attraction like developing the island destinations. In addition Tourism is the second foreign exchange earner in Malaysia after manufacturing so the government does its best to stimulate this. Moreover in 2006 Malaysia was voted one of the top five popular outbound destinations out of hundred countries.

Malaysia’s reputation for tourism has been growing in the last years, travelers look for more beachfront resorts; they are turning to Malaysia’s beautiful coast. However that’s not the only way tourism is growing. Malaysia has become a hot destination for medical tourists in South East Asia, tourists seeking for cheaper prices on medicals, treatments, and drugs. Moreover, countries like Malaysia are beginning to protect their cultural heritage in order to increase tourism to traditional festivals and celebrations. Tourism in Malaysia can be divided into different sub sections which perform various activities but under the umbrella of the same tourism. Tourism activities can be divided into :

Education tourism: Malaysia school atmosphere is well known for its uniqueness and social interaction of different groups, as the number of institutions increase due to the help of foreign colleges and universities so did the foundation of the tourism industry. Curently over 50 000 foreign students are in Malaysia. In addition, this type of industry is not aiming to target students only but also their families for example when they come to visit their children then that means they will also get an opportunity to spend their holidays touring around Malaysia.

Medical tourism : health tourism existed long before during the eighteenth century. This tourism is associated with the following, spas, places with health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. Doctors have highlighted the benefits of bathing in sea water, and sea bathing, even this has become a part of health tourism. In Malaysia it was firstly introduced in 1999, known as the Medical Health Sector. It has become popular for its safe and mostly affordable medicine which therefore has attracted so many people around the world.

Tourism at the Festival: The calendar of Malaysia is made up of a number of festivals. Hari Raya Puasa is a Muslim feast to celebrate the ending of the holy month of Ramadan. The Festival of San Pedro occurs in mid summer on June 25th. This festival is a celebration of fishing and the great role fishing has place in Malaysian culture. The fishing boats are decorated in brilliant colors and then blessed and a prayer said for a better year of fishing in the year to come. In August and September, Malaysians celebrate the Chinese Mooncake Festival, commemorating the defeat of the Mongols in the fourteenth century. On the evening of the festival, celebrants pour out into the streets to watch a beautiful procession of colored lanterns. The other delight of the festival is the mooncake itself, a sweet round cake of nut paste, red beans, and egg yolk. From such diverse traditions, the Malaysians throw celebrations that draw tourists from all over the world (http://www.travels.com).

Adventure and Beach tourism: The world’s most attractive beaches are found in the south east of Asia. Beaches in Malaysia attract so many tourists because of its soft powdery sand and sun; however the jet-skiing and the excursions in banana boats also play a big role in drawing the tension of tourists. Adventure tourism involves Malaysia’s wild jungles, volcanic peaks and national parks. For example Taman Negara, chasing orangutans near Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo or searching out Malaysia’s very own legendary Bigfoot in Endau-Rompin National Park (http://www.ehow.com).

Stakeholder analysis

Firstly stakeholders mean any individual or group who has interest in a program and they can have either positive or negative impacts on the company’s oor organisation’s actions. Stakeholders can be devided into three types which are , primary stakeholders secondary stakeholders and key stakeholders.  Primary stakeholders are those who are extremely affected, either positively or negatively by the organization’s actions. Secondary stakeholders are the intermediaries; these are the people who are indirectly affected by organization’s actions. Key stakeholders can belong to the above mentioned two types of stakeholders, there are very important within an organization. The stakeholder analysis given below provides a generic overview of the possible stakeholders in Tourism industry.

Service providers

Service providers encompass a group of diverse stakeholders engaged in public or private market-oriented activities of service provision. These include travel agency which acts as a business, that sells travel related products and services to customers, suppliers such as providers and companies involved in transport and communication for example, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays. In addition the travel agent is supposed to be biased free when giving an advice of traveling to the tourists. Moreover traveling agency which indirectly has an impact in all the above mentioned services provider can help drive tourism industry forward by adopting good environment and hospitality practices, innovation and encouraging political representatives to support the development of industry.

Non-gorvernmental organizations

These organizations provide information and raise awareness. They also often advise the industry on the use of the environment and suport it for example through, financiing and institutions.

Developers and investors

Developers and investors from either the private or public sectors may initiate the development of the industry. The decision of developers and investors to introduce systems for the safe use of environment often tightly related to the sustainability entire progams

Financial institutions

The introduction of new infrastructure generally requires that the investment and operation costs be secured.

Research institutions

These may be universities or other research-oriented institutions or organizations that can provide evidence and advice to program initiators, developers, municipalities and non-governmental organizations.

9 International organizations

International organizations can ensure that external funds for tourism are bundled with appropriate environmental promotion and environment marketing activities; encourage governments to consider appropriate cheaper and more sustainable services; finance local tourism research; develop guidance and tools for facilitation good practice; disseminate information; actively endorse the idea of flexible technical norms and standards to allow for innovation and finally to facilitate safe use and resource efficiency.

PEST Analysis