The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations

Tourism in rural destinations should only be considered successful if it is according to the local communities’ perspective and they have some measure of control over tourism development. The traditional way of positioning a tourism product is mainly focused on two factors, product attributes (as pe...

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Main Author:	Falak, Shaista
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English English
Published:	2018
Subjects:	G Geography (General)
Online Access:	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/1/The%20Role%20of%20Local%20Community%E2%80%99s%2024pgs.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/4/Shaista.pdf
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id	my-unimas-ir.26624
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-unimas-ir.266242023-03-21T07:08:01Z The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations 2018 Falak, Shaista G Geography (General) Tourism in rural destinations should only be considered successful if it is according to the local communities’ perspective and they have some measure of control over tourism development. The traditional way of positioning a tourism product is mainly focused on two factors, product attributes (as perceived by the strategy planners) and consumer expectations, while the role and perspective of local community are often ignored. Nature, cultural heritage, local knowledge and authentic rural experience and hospitality are amongst the main touristic attractions that are directly related to the local community. Hence to design and develop a destination image and position strategy, tourism planners can leverage on local communities knowledge of their place and locality. This study explores the relationship between local community’s perspectives and their perceived positioning of rural tourism destinations. A quantitative survey was conducted to obtain the data from the local communities in selected research communities in Sarawak, Malaysia. Twenty-five hypothesized relationships were tested and thirteen hypotheses were supported. This study have revealed various findings regarding positioning a rural destination and residents perspective about tourism in their place. It shows the various reasons that drive local community to support and share their natural and cultural assets with tourists. This can further help government and tourism officials to understand and address key factors to improve local community overall attitude behind their perceived positioning on a particular attribute. Further government can allocate funds for the capacity building of the local community to feel confident and prepare them to face the day-to-day challenges coming with tourism developments. Moreover, the findings imply the importance of residents’ perspective and suggest that a successful destination branding is not achievable without the proper inclusion of its local residents, their motivation v to support and develop tourism, overall knowledge about local products and attractions, attachment to their community and also the local infrastructure. Considering local communities’ perspective would help to promote the uniqueness of each community in implementing the positioning strategies, otherwise it will lose its uniqueness that can be the unique selling propositions for a particular destination. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2018 Thesis http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/1/The%20Role%20of%20Local%20Community%E2%80%99s%2024pgs.pdf text en public http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/4/Shaista.pdf text en validuser phd doctoral Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
collection	UNIMAS Institutional Repository
language	English English
topic	G Geography (General)
spellingShingle	G Geography (General) Falak, Shaista The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
description	Tourism in rural destinations should only be considered successful if it is according to the local communities’ perspective and they have some measure of control over tourism development. The traditional way of positioning a tourism product is mainly focused on two factors, product attributes (as perceived by the strategy planners) and consumer expectations, while the role and perspective of local community are often ignored. Nature, cultural heritage, local knowledge and authentic rural experience and hospitality are amongst the main touristic attractions that are directly related to the local community. Hence to design and develop a destination image and position strategy, tourism planners can leverage on local communities knowledge of their place and locality. This study explores the relationship between local community’s perspectives and their perceived positioning of rural tourism destinations. A quantitative survey was conducted to obtain the data from the local communities in selected research communities in Sarawak, Malaysia. Twenty-five hypothesized relationships were tested and thirteen hypotheses were supported. This study have revealed various findings regarding positioning a rural destination and residents perspective about tourism in their place. It shows the various reasons that drive local community to support and share their natural and cultural assets with tourists. This can further help government and tourism officials to understand and address key factors to improve local community overall attitude behind their perceived positioning on a particular attribute. Further government can allocate funds for the capacity building of the local community to feel confident and prepare them to face the day-to-day challenges coming with tourism developments. Moreover, the findings imply the importance of residents’ perspective and suggest that a successful destination branding is not achievable without the proper inclusion of its local residents, their motivation v to support and develop tourism, overall knowledge about local products and attractions, attachment to their community and also the local infrastructure. Considering local communities’ perspective would help to promote the uniqueness of each community in implementing the positioning strategies, otherwise it will lose its uniqueness that can be the unique selling propositions for a particular destination.
format	Thesis
qualification_name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.)
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Falak, Shaista
author_facet	Falak, Shaista
author_sort	Falak, Shaista
title	The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
title_short	The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
title_full	The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
title_fullStr	The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
title_full_unstemmed	The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations
title_sort	role of local community’s perspective in positioning of rural tourism destinations
granting_institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
granting_department	Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations
publishDate	2018
url	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/1/The%20Role%20of%20Local%20Community%E2%80%99s%2024pgs.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26624/4/Shaista.pdf
_version_	1783728318502141952

The Role of Local Community’s Perspective in Positioning of Rural Tourism Destinations

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