Tourism Planning in the Contexts of Malaysia

Background

The tourism planning organisation in Malaysia is complex and influenced by the three-tier form of government such as the Federal government, State governments and Local Authorities.

The National Tourism Organisation

Essentially, tourism is a Federal affair and the overall policy planning is carried out by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) (Ministry of Tourism [MOTOUR] as from April 2004). Meanwhile, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB or Tourism Malaysia) is responsible for the marketing and promotional aspects of tourism. In addition to the MOCAT/MOTOUR and Tourism Malaysia, Federal government agencies related to rural development are also involved directly in tourism development. These agencies are as follows:

• Department of Agriculture (agrotourism)

• Department of Forestry (ecotourism)

• Department of Fisheries (coastal tourism)

• Department of Wildlife and National Parks (ecotourism)

• Department of Aborigines’ Affairs (ethnic tourism)

• Department of Museums and Antiquities (heritage/cultural tourism).

State Tourism Organisation

In Malaysia, land is a State matter and the State Economic Planning Unit (SEPU) is entrusted to formulate strategies and policies related to tourism development within each state. As tourism in Malaysia is private-sector led, both the Federal and State governments are only required to provide the infrastructure to facilitate private investments. By way of practice, however, the provisions of tourism infrastructure include not only the ‘hard’ infrastructure such as roads, airports and jetties, etc. but also the ‘soft’ infrastructure in the form of the organisation of special events.

Local Tourism Organisation

At the local level, the local authorities are now required to not only ‘Think Tourism’ but also to ‘Act Tourism’ (KPKT, 2003). However, MOCAT/MOTOUR’s call for local authorities to be more proactive in the planning, management and promotion of tourism has not been well received by the local authorities, citing the lack of funding and qualified personnel as the major constraints. Moreover, local authorities do not regard tourism as their core business since their establishment under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is for the purpose of providing and maintaining public facilities such as recreational areas, landscaping and garbage disposal. Another main reason for their reluctance to be actively involved in tourism is the lack of mechanism for direct revenue capture given that almost all income from tourism are channelled back to the Federal government coffers.

Reference: -

Hamzah, Amran 2004, Policy & Planning of Tourism Industry in Malaysia, Conference Paper presented at The 6th. ADRF General Meeting, 2004 Bangkok, Thailand

Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, 2009, www.motour.gov.my, viewed on 7^th June 2010.