Transforming the Tourism Sector Into a High Income Industry

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Transforming the Tourism Sector into a High Income Industry1

I Introduction

Figure 1 Tourism Supply Chain within the 1 Malaysia Supply Chain

Tourism has become so significant in economic and social development today, it is

sometimes known as the invisible export industry is so significant in economic and social

development having been called "invisible export" by economists nowadays. In 2009,

there were 23.6 million tourists arrivals based on the report by the Malaysian Tourism

Board, an increase of 7.2% reported in 2008, i.e. on average an average of 64,000

tourist arrivals daily. This was translated to RM53 billion in total receipts and RM34

billion in total GNI contributions which have developed into a major sector of the

economy the second largest foreign exchange earner after manufacturing. With the

increase in foreign receipts from the tourism sector, this has helped boost Malaysias

foreign exchange reserves. In addition as the tourism sector involves a whole

employment spectrum - in retail, construction, manufacturing and telecommunications,

as well as directly in tourism companies; thus accounts for approximately 23% of the

total labour force that directly or indirectly supports the tourism sector.

Given the contribution of the tourism sector, it has been identified by the Government as

one of growth sectors that contributes significantly to the countrys growth. In order to

maximise the potential of the tourism sector, this paper identifies barriers impeding the

growth of this sector and recommends measures to overcome them.

1This paper is one of many papers prepared by Group A of the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) under

the guidance of Tan Sri Andrew Sheng. The paper was reviewed by the NEAC and its recommendations

summarised into NEM Concluding Part Report.


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The 10th Malaysia Plan recognises the importance of the tourism sector which has been

identified as a driver of economic activity that will contribute towards the growth and

distribution of wealth to the economy. The 10 MPs target is to improve Malaysias

position to be within the top 10 in terms of global receipts and increase the sector

contribution by 2.1 times , contributing RM115 billion in receipts by 2015. Key strategies

include catering to the various market segments whilst leveraging on existing tourism

products such as the Penang and Kinabalu Park that has been classified as a UNESCO

Heritage sites. In addition the tourism sector focuses on ecotourism as the country has

a comparative advantage arising from Malaysias natural resource endowment, however

ensuring the quality and sustainability of the tourism products. Arising from this

Malaysia is able to establish and capture a greater share of the global tourism market

especially in ecotourism through domestic and regional partnerships as start up and

running costs can be low compared to many other forms of industry development. The

tourism sector is able to contribute to the 1MSC as the tourism supply chains is a web of

relationships where each supply chain seeks to increase supply and reduce risks and

overall costs for greater value creation as it develops greater integration between

products and quality services along the value chain as it involves many components

such as accommodation, transport etc. (Figure1).

The tourism sector has also been identified by the Performance Management and

Delivery Unit (Pemandu) amongst the twelve National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) which

are national priority areas of focus identified under the Government Transformation

Programme (GTP). The goal of the Tourism NKRA is to formulate initiatives to transform

the nation into a high-income economy though its Economic Transformation Programme

(ETP)

The Pemandu Lab on the tourism sector has identified twelve big Entry Point Projects

(EPPs) which could possibly generate RM28 billion in GNI and create another 200,000

new jobs by 2020. The EPPs are based on 5 travel themes i.e. nature adventure and

culture diversity, family, luxury, events and business related which comprises of

meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). The success of the EPPs

involves the support from both the private and public sector in funding and supportive

policies from the federal and state government. Such funding would include the

corporate sponsorship from the private sector in maintaining the heritage sites and


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involved in marketing to target growth markets especially Russia, India, China and the

Middle East.

Background

World population is forecast to grow to 8.3 billion2 in 2030, life expectancy is projected to

increase in most of the world, households and families are becoming more diverse, and

migration is changing the face of societies. All these changes will impact upon the types

of tourists, where they originate from, where they travel to, the types of accommodation

they require and the activities they engage in while travelling. As global tourism sector

continues to evolve over the years as tourist behaviours change in the light of intense

competition and changing tourist expectations (e.g. more buying holidays in the online

marketplace) in the tourism industry, Malaysian companies need to form smart

partnerships to ensure market dominance and accelerate entry into new tourism market

opportunities, provide new products including non-conventional products and services to

garner a bigger share of the global tourism market. The World Tourism Organization

(UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average

annual rate of 4 % and with the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become

one of the most traded items on the internet. Tourism products and services have been

made available through intermediaries, although tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.)

can sell their services directly. This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line

and traditional shops supporting the tourism sector.

More countries are aware of the importance the tourism sector plays in helping ensure

sustainability. It is now seen as one of the pillars for sustainability as it plays a vital role

in generating income foreign exchange earnings, creating jobs, and contribution to tax

revenues; the competition for tourism spending has been increasingly intense. Malaysia

needs to be part of the Global Tourism supply chain as by accessing a wider tourist

market to gain critical mass in a highly competitive and inter-connected world, this will

enhance the value of Malaysias tourism life cycle through improved systems of

organisation, and people, processes and technology that will help generate higher

income and wealth for the nation.

2Joining Forces Collaborative Processes for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism, World Tourism Organization


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The barriers that impede the growth in the tourism sector include the following:

Provision of inappropriate infrastructure or facilities, owing to insufficient

understanding of the specific attractions that appeal to particular types of tourist

(e.g. crowding of chalets within very small areas, trends towards mass tourism atspecialist tourism sites)

Visible environmental damage owing to inappropriate silting of roads, buildings,

accommodation on steep slopes and in high rainfall areas

Limitations of infrastructure for air travel, and differences of opinion over

questions of flight frequency and landing rights (e.g. frequency of flights between

Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak)

Constraints on manpower and training, shortage of training opportunities, and

inadequate opportunities to learn and appreciate the specific requirements of

tourists

Rising prices especially for accommodation due to shortage of hotels

Isolation of the tourism industry from its social obligations, leading to conflicts or

lost opportunities for one or other party, e.g. between tourism developers and

local communities

A major direction to overcome the barriers is to form a smart partnership internally to

benefit from the economies of scale, improve in the flow of information and work

together to create value in the tourism products available to the tourists. In addition

by enabling speedy response to market opportunities by continuously calibrating

tourism products to meet changing trends in domestic and international tourists

profile would enhance brand value of Malaysian tourism product, reputation and

market share.


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Figure 2 Benefits of Smart Partnership

II Need for an Integrated Malaysian Tourism Supply Chain

Figure 3 Tourism Supply Chain

What makes tourism special is that, many of these different products and services are

often supplied by different operators: usually small or medium sized businesses in local

ownership. This makes tourism a highly fragmented and diverse industry and so

coordinated, industry-wide action is difficult to achieve. The influence of tourisms


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demand also extends far beyond traditional tourism companies, into upstream suppliers

like aircraft manufacturers or food producers and into the downstream service providers

for travelers, like retail shops in arts and crafts, laundry etc.

To enable Malaysia to compete on a global scale, Malaysian suppliers of tourismproducts need to raise their competitiveness. Malaysian suppliers in the supply chain

need to collaborate with each other to be able to compete on a global scale rather than

operating in a silo environment. With collaboration it will ensure smooth flow of

information, quick feedback and response to tourism-related issues, transfer of

knowledge and skills leading to better risk management, lower costs, reduced conflicting

situations, improved management and operations and more business opportunities. To

achieve greater value for all Malaysians, tourism supply chain has to function in a

seamless manner with straight-through-delivery where the end-game is each component

of the tourism supply chain will thrive as part of the whole.

Figure 4 Tourism Supply Chain in Silos

III Issues and Recommendations

Infrastructure

Infrastructure remains a critical component in development and growth of the tourism

sector if the full potential of employment generation, export earnings and regional

development effects are to be achieved. In most cases public infrastructure that supports


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the tourism expansion will anyway serve other urban and regional development

purposes. Tourism involves large numbers of visitors from developed countries

travelling by air, sea or land to destinations in emerging countries and vice versa.

Whether it is domestic tourism or international, it involves visiting a destination away

from the area in which one lives and using the services available in that destination.

River transportation should considered as another transportation mode for the tourism

sector as it can be promoted as a tourism product thus creating an opportunity for

visitors to explore the cities through water taxis. Therefore, tourists requirements are for

travel services to reach their destinations is crucial and once there, for services such as

shelter, water, food, sanitation and entertainment is important. To be able to access to

the global supply chain, a good infrastructure is also essential to ensure growth and

distribute the benefits of tourism flows around the economy.

To assist the development of new tourism development, the government needs to focus

on the infrastructure needs and resources outside Kuala Lumpur, whether air transport

or road and rail infrastructure and the basic infrastructure services required by hotels,

restaurants, shops, and recreation facilities (e.g. telecommunications and utilities)

With the growth of technology, it has been acknowledged that an increasing share of

tourism operations and virtually all distribution and sales transactions flows through

telecommunications circuits and the internet. Where telecommunications are monopoly

controlled, there are often restrictions on access, high costs and unreasonable operating

conditions. This in turn limits the potential of market-oriented expansion of the tourism

segment with negative impacts domestically and internationally in terms of cost,

operational efficiency and customer service.

Recommendation

To be able to access to the global supply chain, quality infrastructure is also essential to

diversify the product base, remove bottlenecks, ensure good service and distribute the

benefits of tourism flows around the economy.

To assist the development of new tourism development, the government needs

to focus on the infrastructure needs and resources outside Kuala Lumpur,

whether air or road and rail infrastructure.


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To improve on broadband services as the flow of information is crucial for

efficiency and customer service.

Accessibility

There has been an increasing demand for amount of travellers were happy to use

the likes of budget airlines which are increasingly popular amongst traveller, such as

AirAsia, AirAsiaX, Jetstar and Fire Fly, to reach their destinations and then spend

their money on four and five star accommodation when they got there. Smart

travellers who are travelling long-haul will use their money to ensure their long plane

journey is as comfortable as possible by upgrading or using the most comfortable

airline they can find but will opt for budget accommodation once on the ground.

Malaysia has seen growth in the tourist sector especially in Langkawi Island, Sabah

and Sarawak to name a few which have benefited with the increased landing rights

for foreign airlines e.g. Eva Air, Dragon Air, Cathay Pacific.

Recommendation

(1) The Government should consider opening the skies to more low cost carriers that

will bring in the tourists to Malaysia by offering more landing rights and move

towards an open sky policy modeling against Singapore that has adopted an

open sky policy which has both Tiger Air and Singapore Airlines contributing

towards the countrys growth.

(2) Consider tapping into new segments for AirAsia where MAS does not fly and

current segments that MAS is flying as this will increase passenger volume and

tourists to the country. Based on the Tourism Malaysia data records the

following growth in 2009: Australia (+25%), United Kingdom (+17%), China

(+7%), and Taiwan (+4%) which corresponds when AirAsiaX began operations.

(3) Government should consider expanding the hubs activities to other sectors e.g.cities in South Korea or Japan to Kota Kinabalu as ecotourism is popular

amongst tourist from these two countries

Transportation


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Currently the transportation sector within the country needs to be improved especially

the public transport such as buses, trains and airlines to enable the tourism sector to

grow and support the initiatives outlined in the NKRAs. For example an area in the

transportation sector which is of concern is the operations of taxi services in Malaysia.

Taxis are a great way to get around within cities in Malaysia, whether for custom tours or

general transport services. Taxis in Malaysia, forms part of the integrated transportation

system available to the rakyat and tourists in 2008, there were 57,5213 taxis catering the

Malaysian population of 28 million4 and tourist arrivals of 22 million5 form Malaysian

people need wheelchair accessible taxi Malaysia could retrofit those vehicles for

wheelchair-accessibility.

In Malaysia, most local taxi companies offer a choice of luxury cars, small vans or large

coaches for group. For the tourists, there are various types of taxi services being offered

from the time they land at the domestic and international airports in Malaysian that

ranges from the airport limousine (budget and premier) which is based on a coupon

system. This works fine for the tourists however when they need to hire a taxi to get to

LCCT from the Kuala Lumpur city, flag down any cab they have to be prepared to

negotiate as most taxis will quote a lump sum instead of using the meter as they claim

the higher fare is to cover for the empty trip back since they are not allowed to pick up

passengers in the vicinity of the airport. In addition, outside the city, as well as in other

parts of Malaysia, taxis tend to operate on a fixed rate depending on the distance where

the fares are overcharged. This would lead a bad image of the country when the tourist

shares their experiences in Malaysia.

Despite taxi fares being doubled last August 2009, taxi drivers have been reported to be

overcharging passengers and refusing to use meters. Commercial Vehicle Licensing

Board (CVLB) statistics showed that in the first two weeks of the new year, some 1,000

taxi drivers refused to charge fares using the meters, overcharged or refused to pick up

passengers.

Another issues related to taxis is that the current taxis are do not cater for the physically

disabled, as the disabled finds it challenging when getting on board the taxi. Further,

3Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board 2008 Annual Report

4Development Indicators, World Bank

5Tourism Malaysia


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most taxis may refrain from picking up these passengers as they may be deemed as a

liability as the disabled takes longer time to get on and off the taxis.

River transportation should considered as another transportation mode for the tourism

sector as it can be promoted as a tourism product thus creating an opportunity for

visitors to explore the cities through water taxis. Therefore, tourists requirements are for

travel services to reach their destinations is crucial and once there, for services such as

shelter, water, food, sanitation and entertainment is important.

Table 1: Breakdown of the Various Taxis Classes in Malaysia as at 31 December 2008

Car Rental Car

Rental/Drive

Taxi Airport Limo Premier

Johor 2,331 - 5,113 16 45

Kedah 2,689 - - 11

Kelantan 2,214 - - 5

Melaka 932 1 - 21

N Sembilan 1,061 - 20 12

Pahang 1,779 - - 37

Perak 2,375 - - 15

Perlis 431 - - -

Penang 504 - 216 177

Selangor 1,070 207 424 260

Terengganu 940 - - 12

WP Kuala Lumpur 498 7967 1,904 825

WP Putrajaya 1 - - -

Total According to

class

16,825 8,175 28,521 2,580 1,420

Total 57,521

2008 Annual Report Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board

Recommendation


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(1) To improve the taxi services, the Government may wish to consider increasing the

number of taxis as they are insufficient to cater to the tourists given that the global

tourism is expected to increase by 4% p.a. based on World Tourism Organisation.

(2) Enforcement efforts should increase to reduce the number of recalcitrant taxi

operators that continue to overcharge their customers.

(3) To facilitate an efficient water taxi, however ensure that the safety standards on

water taxis operations are administered e.g. number of passengers, life jackets etc.

Internet Access - Broadband

With the growth of technology, it has been acknowledged that an increasing share of

tourism operations and virtually all distribution and sales transactions flows through

telecommunications circuits and the internet. Where telecommunications are monopoly

controlled, there are often restrictions on access, high costs and unreasonable operating

conditions. This in turn limits the potential of market-oriented expansion of the tourism

segment with negative impacts domestically and internationally in terms of cost,

operational efficiency and customer service.

Recommendation

To be able to access to the global supply chain, quality infrastructure is also essential to

diversify the product base, remove bottlenecks, ensure good service and distribute the

benefits of tourism flows around the economy.

To improve on broadband services as the flow of information is crucial for efficiency

and customer service.

Service providers should continue to improve the information content, IT

infrastructure to meet demands on internet traffic, ensure proper internet security for

online transactions and protect customers information.

Accommodation and Eateries

Depending on the type of tourists visiting Malaysia, their choice of accommodation would

depend on their purpose for visiting Malaysia and their budget. As highlighted earlier, to

support the increase in tourist arrivals, the tourist can opt to pamper themselves with

quality accommodation through established hotel chains available in Malaysia. There

are also budget hotels to cater for the back packers as they travel around Malaysia.


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Based on the latest statistics provided by the Malaysian Hotels Association (MHA)6,

there are a total of 522 hotels registered with them. From the total number of hotels

registered with the MHA, there are a total of 353 hotels with a 3 star status and above

located through Malaysia, with the concentration of hotels located in Kuala Lumpur,

Selangor and Sarawak. To be able to support the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences

and Exhibitions, more quality hotels should be made available especially in major cities

such as Georgetown, Johor Bahru, Sabah, etc. In addition,

Table 2: Occupancy Hotel rates

State 2009 2008 +/-%

Perlis N/A 66 N/A

Kedah 61.99 65.71 -3.72

Penang 61.46 64.67 -3.21

Perak 51.76 52.47 -6.65

Selangor 66.13 67.52 -1.39

Kuala Lumpur F.T 63.83 68.47 -4.64

N. Sembilan 52.49 58.28 -5.79

Malacca 59.69 62.58 -2.89

Johor 56.63 63.07 -6.44

Pahang 78.04 83.13 -5.09

Terengganu 62.39 71.44 -9.05

6To qualify to be a member of the Malaysian Hotel Association, the applicant must have a minimum of 10 rooms.


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State 2009 2008 +/-%

Kelantan 40.76 60.19 -19.43

Sarawak 45.55 57.98 -12.43

Sabah 56.31 70.06 -13.75

Labuan F.T 75.80 80.96 -5.16

Putrajaya F.T 23.07 N/A N/A

Malaysia 60.68 66.32 -5.64

Hotel Associations of Malaysia

Given that the country is targeting to increase the number of tourist arrivals, this will put

pressure on the current accommodation infrastructure that will put pressure on the hotel

rates. However based on the procedure listed on the MAH website, timeline taken for a

hotel is on average 21 months where the approvals are required from at least 26

Ministries, agencies and various authorities, which can a tedious process for the hotel

operator.

To be able to support the hotel industry, the other challenges faced by the hotel

operators are qualified employees ranging from concierge, chamber maids, chefs,

engineers etc. that represents the backbone of the hotel operations. Due to the

shortage of qualified Malaysians, the hotel operators have to source outside of Malaysia

to fill the gaps.

Recommendation

(1) Overlaps in approvals can be placed under one authority e.g. MIDA for the approvalto employ expatriates, visa application for foreign workers, visit passes etc. which is

currently undertaken by MIDA, Immigration Department and Ministry of Home Affairs

to assist in speeding up the application process to increase the number of hotels to

meet future demand.


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(2) Ministry of Tourism together with the Ministry of Higher Education to work together

to develop a tourism training policy that will build a pool of resources for the tourism

sector and continue to support training accreditation programmes in the tourism

sector.

(3) Promote more home stay facilities to fill the tourists desires to understand the local

culture and lifestyle which can be experienced via the home stay facilities available.

Government

The public sectors, particularly national and local government, have an important

role to play by setting the agenda and providing the framework in which action

should take place. The regulatory environment also plays an important role in

creating the conditions suitable for sustainable tourism as self-regulation involves theagreement and co-operation of industry that is likely to be the most effective solution.

Therefore, the role of trade associations and industry organisations in distributing

information among their members and encouraging participation is essential and

coupled with an efficient decision-making platform to meet the public agencies

objectives, operations and processes would be well-aligned and consistent. This

entails the institutionalisation of a feedback-response system among public sector

agencies involved to address the gaps in the sector.

Figure 5 Government Internal Silos in Tourism

Currently the local tourism sector, the government and local governments operates,

each working within its own bubble, lead to little or no information flowing through


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agencies creating huge costs and administration work for public sector machinery as

well as for private sector. Eliminating excessive, complex and outmoded work steps will

improve business facilitation, making businesses more competitive.

Current issues face by the federal, state governments and agencies include overlapping

lines of authority over activities provided under various legislations which is aggrieved

further with different objectives, priorities and methods of operation. Based on the

differences in operations, the accessibility and availability of information is slow or

fragmented throughout the federal, state and agencies. As such feedback on the

various activities carried out at state or federal level may not flow directly and timely to

federal marketing and promotional agencies.

Recommendation

Delegate powers to the Ministry of Tourism when overlapping lines of authority

occurs.

Streamline the flow of information which can be assessable via various portals as

an integrated Malaysian tourism supply chain is crucial as it provides the platform

in light of intense competition, changing tourist expectations and the global

ecosystem. Working through a close-knit supply chain leads to alignment with

tourists interest and at the same time achieve economies of scale.

Figure 6 Integrated Tourism Supply Chain


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Environment

Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that had its own laws for controlling the

environment long before the term 'environmentally responsible tourism' became

widespread. It has been estimated by the study by World Wildlife Fund for Nature(WWF) that ecotourism in Malaysia is growing at 35 per cent a year in terms of arrivals

and currently makes up 10 per cent of the country's tourism revenues. Malaysia is

blessed with rich biodiversity in forests and marine areas, having 19 national parks, the

most widely known probably being Taman Negara, Endau Rompin, Mulu famous for its

caves and Kinabalu, home of Southeast Asia's highest mountain of the same name.

Activities available include fishing, swimming, bird-watching, mountain climbing and

limestone caving. Malaysia boasts abundant wildlife and large areas have been set

aside for wildlife reserves, bird sanctuaries and marine parks. The government has also

established a network of virgin jungle reserves to save as permanent nature reserves

and natural arboreta and as undisturbed natural forest for general, ecological and

botanical studies which have been deemed to be older than those found in the Amazon

and Africa.

There has been a steady growth in environmental good practice across the global

tourism industry in recent years. There are examples of -

airlines and airports reducing pollution and noise impacts; cruise liners practicing marine

conservation; hotels implementing energy consumption and waste disposal programs;

car rental companies investing in increasingly fuel efficient fleets and railways sound

proofing to dampen noise. The result is that there are a number of excellent initiatives in

place designed to improve the environmental management of tourism businesses.

Recommendations

Ministry of Tourism together with the other agencies e.g. Department of

Environment, NGOs etc to raise the environmental awareness in the hotel

industry by promoting good practice internationally and assist in developing

hotel-specific guidance, enabling hotels of all sizes to implement environmental

programs.


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Other areas or environmental awareness and standards to be implemented

include setting up environmental management systems; promotion of energy

efficiency, renewable energy; and waste and water management.

Building human capital

The country needs develop the human capital that is required for the tourism industry as it is

an industry is a provider of jobs and career opportunities for all Malaysians . The increasing

sophistication of the industry means that there are a growing number of high-level jobs in

different sectors. The Government needs to take advantage of the tourism industry as a

potential to provide jobs for young people, first-time job seekers, minority groups and

women looking for part-time employment as the sector provides jobs across the economy;

ensuring that the pool of resources is available to support the industry.

To be able to facilitate this fundamental need of the industry, the country needs a large pool

of people with the adequate skills and knowledge to support the demands of the industry

e.g. high levels of expertise needed at many levels, among tour guides and business

owners, federal and state government agencies, with reference to ecotourism, how to

control tourists, business practices and environmental damage. Premised on this, having

strong education framework is key to provide a quality pool of resources to ensure a viable

tourism supply chain. Continual education, retraining and retooling for all stakeholders

involved in tourism is also crucial e.g. training in specialist tourism, training on specific

requirements of tourists to provide right product to the right tourist, sufficiently qualified

human resources will help develop wider range of products. Language proficiency is also

important as the ability to command high level of English language proficiency would gain

greater access to the dominant English-speaking market in the global supply chain and

possessing multi-language proficiency skills will further enhance the capacity of local

suppliers of tourism product to expand into the international tourist market. The tourism

sector provides good capacity for education; training and skills development for the rakyat

as there are widespread opportunities for long-term careers rather than mere jobs that can

be created at low cost with few barriers to entry and faster than most industries.

Recommendation

Ministry of Tourism together with the Ministry of Higher Education to work together to

develop a tourism training policy that will build a pool of resources for the tourism sector


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and continue to support training accreditation programmes in the tourism sector and

provide the necessary training to meet the demands of the tourists.

The Ministry of Education needs to take steps to improving the current school curricula

and implementing measures to improve skills especially in language proficiencies in

English.

Standards

Despite the growing number of standards and other initiatives for sustainable tourism as the

issues covered are mainly environmental, and initiatives are generally directed to the

hospitality industry. The majority of standards focus on accommodation certification and the

public sector implementation of international commitments to sustainability needed for

tourist destinations as suggested by the World Trade Organization and the Global Code of

Ethics for Tourism.

In order to possessing the necessary resources to ensure local tourism provisions are in line

with internationally recognised standards and best practices (e.g. The PATA Code or Asean

Tourism Standards for Environmentally Responsible Tourism, environmental impact

assessment, green hotel standard, food and beverage standard, public restroom standard,

home-stay standard). The need to comply with international laws on being environmentally

responsible, sustainable resource use, waste management, endangered species of animals,

flora and fauna. Enhancement can be made to ensure tourist safety and security, boats

loaded with passengers in accordance with capacity, life jackets are adequate and well-

maintained, tour bus drivers not speeding on rough rural roads, piracy prevention, and

tracks are well maintained, and tour site not degraded.

Recommendation

Ministry of Tourism together with the Department of Environment should establish

certification schemes with performance-based criteria, considering sustainability issues such

as environment, social accountability, culture and stating benchmarks for each one.

Performance standards mean that every company receiving that eco-label will have

committed to a threshold level and reached a pre-specified benchmark, guaranteeing a

basic standard.

Conclusion


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By integrating the activities along their value chain, organizations within the tourism sector

should work together to create products and services that have more value than separately

with Government support. This is a high-priority challenge if Malaysia's Tourism sector

potential is to be realised together with the broad scale economic wealth and job creation

that will accompany it to achieve a high income economy.


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Bibliography

1. Tourism Supply Chains, Richard Tapper

2. Joining Forces Collaborative Processes for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism, World Tourism

Organization

3. Malaysia Travel & Tourism (2002), World Travel and Tourism Council

4. Global Tourism, William Theobald

5. 10th Malaysian Plan

6. New Economic Report, Part 1

Documents

Transforming the Tourism Sector Into a High Income Industry