Amran Hamzah

Resilience and Non-Linear Change in Island Tourism

Abstract Perhentian Kecil, located off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, is predominantly a small-scale tourism destination, specifically for backpackers and independent travellers. Against the context of an aggressive drive by the state government to remove small-scale tourism development in favour of formal and high-end resorts, this paper examines the local responses to the exogenous factors that had threatened the equilibrium, and hence sustainability, of the tourism systems on the island. The paper draws upon a longitudinal study with multiple visits over an extended period since the mid-1990s. Using insights from Resilience Theory, the paper argues that this island destination is an example of non-linear change rather than conventional resort evolution. The paper also discusses how the authors – as researchers – had to realign their research framework and approach to take into consideration the growing complexities of tourism development in small island destinations.

Tourism cooperative for scaling up community-based tourism

Community cooperative is a business model that can effectively manage community interests as exemplified by a model CBT located in Batu Puteh, Kinabatangan in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. In-depth interviews with the local community selected through purposive sampling and direct observations on the physical environment and the local community were used in this study. Findings show that the community cooperative effectively managed: (1) economic concerns through a dynamic financial model, transparent income distribution and project partners; (2) socio-cultural concerns by creating social cohesion through strong sense of ownership and sense of belonging; and (3) environmental concerns through its conservation and reforestation programmes. The cooperative was a catalyst for paradigm shift towards entrepreneurial ventures. Challenges and potentials of the community cooperative were identified.

Analyzing the relationships between travel mode indicators and the number of passenger transport fatalities at the city level

ABSTRACT Objective: A number of efforts have been conducted on travel behavior and transport fatalities at the neighborhood or street level, and they have identified different factors such as roadway characteristics, personal indicators, and design indicators related to transport safety. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the relationship between travel behavior indicators and the number of transport fatalities at the city level. Therefore, this study explores this relationship and how to fill the mentioned gap in current knowledge. Method: A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the relationships between different travel mode indicators (e.g., length of motorway per inhabitants, number of motorcycles per inhabitant, percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, percentage of daily trips by public transport) and the number of passenger transport fatalities. Because this city-level model is developed using data sets from different cities all over the world, the impacts of gross domestic product (GDP) are also included in the model. Conclusions: Overall, the results imply that the percentage of daily trips by public transport, the percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, and the GDP per inhabitant have negative relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities, whereas motorway length and the number of motorcycles have positive relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities.

Successful community-based tourism approaches for rural destinations: the Asia Pacific experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the long-term viability of community-based tourism (CBT) as a development tool in rural tourism, and how the best practice from the Asia Pacific region can be used to strategize the nine-stage plan to develop and sustain it in the long term. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is formulated using a case study approach based on the lessons learned and the best practices in ten member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, namely, Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Findings – Based on the analyses of the ten case studies, the paper recommends nine steps for developing and sustaining CBT. These nine steps are divided into two sections – developing CBT and sustaining CBT. The first four steps relate to starting and developing CBT initiatives, which are useful for projects and sites that are embarking on CBT. The subsequent five ...

The relationship between urban street networks and private motorized trips at the city level

ABSTRACT There are factors that impact car usage in urban areas, such as density, diversity and design, but there have been few studies that examine the relationship between street network factors and car usage at the city level (macro level). This paper focuses on this relationship by introducing urban street network variables, such as blocks per area, nodes per block and length of roads and motorways, as independent variables and the percentage of daily trips by private motorized modes as the dependent variable. The street network in this study includes interconnecting lines and points that present streets, roads, motorways, intersections and blocks. The strength of the relationship in this study is found using multiple linear regression. The findings of this research indicate that an increase in car usage is correlated with an increasing number of blocks per area, number of nodes per block and length of motorways. In addition, because the urban street network is the result of macro-scale planning decisions, considering this relationship can lead to better planning decisions.