The Practice of Sustainable Tourism in Ecotourism Sites among Ecotourism Providers

Abstract

Ecotourism and sustainable tourism have similar objectives to link conservation goals, economic and rural development. Ecotourism also offers educational and new experience to tourists, and it has to be developed and managed in an environmentally sensitive manner while protecting the environment. With the influx of eco-tourist into Malaysia, the numbers of tourism agencies interested to be ecotourism providers increased tremendously. Since there are no specific guidelines in practicing ecotourism, many tourism agencies normally proclaim themselves as eco-tour providers and served in the ecotourism industry without any restriction. This situation will definitely affect the environment due to lack of proper ecotourism practice. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the standard of the current ecotourism practice among ecotourism providers in Malaysia. The main objective of this research is to determine whether ecotourism providers follow sustainable tourism practices. An ecotourism provider in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur has been selected as the respondent. This study attempts to help in identifying the best practices for ecotourism in Malaysia towards sustainable tourism.