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Convergence and Divergence: Issues of State and Region in Tourism Development in Malaysian Borneo, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesian Kalimantan
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Abstract:
Tourism is making an increasingly important contribution to regional economic development in
Borneo and is an important element in state development plans and programmes; considerable
attention is also being paid to the potential offered in the East Asian market for attracting package
tourists to the Borneo states, especially in Sabah, Brunei Darussalam and Sarawak. The Borneo
states boast two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one in Sarawak (Gunung Mulu National Park)
and the other in Sabah (Kinabalu National Park), and the collaborative and coordinated 'The Heart
of Borneo' conservation and forest and wildlife reservation project in which all Borneo states
participate and which offers opportunities for the development of ecotourism. Nevertheless,
tourism is a relatively new developmental enterprise in Borneo in comparison with the established
tourism destinations in neighbouring Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the
Philippines. Even now research on tourism in Borneo is uneven and its conceptual contribution to
tourism studies though empirically interesting and useful is poorly developed. Developments in
research during the past 20 years are reviewed. Three ASEAN states are represented in Borneo:
the Federation of Malaysia, Negara Brunei Darussalam, and the Republic of Indonesia and they
offer fertile ground for comparative studies in the tourism field. Whilst the emphasis and direction
of tourism development policies indicate some convergence in those pursuits offered to tourists:
in ecotourism, ethnic and longhouse tourism, heritage tourism and even beach resort tourism, there
is also evidence of considerable divergence. The reasons for this divergence are examined in terms
of the differences in overall political and economic priorities in the three nation-states, and to
different environmental, cultural, historical and infrastructural characteristics. These differences
suggest that one way forward for tourism development is the organization and promotion of
regional and cross-national tourism packages to take advantage of diversity in an already
interconnected set of states.
Description:
Date:
2016
Authors:
Victor T. King
Publisher:
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
