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Proceedings of the 3rd International Language &Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through Language, Education and Tourism
Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia,

Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

UNDERSTANDING BATEQ ETHNIC PERSONALITY AND THEIR SUPPORT FOR
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AT TAMAN NEGARA PAHANG

Mohd Hasrul Yushairi b. Johari*1, Nur Adillah Khairul Azman2, Nur Shahirah Suhanan3,
Firdaus Mohd Yusof4

1,2,3,4 Faculty Hotel & Tourism Management, UiTM Kampus Bandaraya Melaka
(E-mail: *[email protected])

ABSTRACT

Tourism activities at Taman Negara Pahang (TNP) has contributed to some negative
consequences of traffic congestion, litter and illegal wildlife trading which were a cultural
shock to indigenous community that affect their quality of life. It was unpleasant when the
proclamation of TNP as a protected area prohibited orang asli to perform animal hunting
and sell forest products. It was a very unfortunate situation for the orang asli that their
forest homeland was at stake by the government’s move to make way for infrastructure
development. At this juncture, conflicts had arisen between Orang Asli Bateq and tourists
(as a result to tourism development). The position of Orang Asli Bateq who is the majority
group and regarded as the ‘son of soil’ is obviously tolerated and their feelings are ignored.
It was believed that the government has done one unfortunate indiscretion that had
jeopardized orang asli’s life. Their responses towards support to tourism development is
essential so that their concerns are heard, thus reduce their resentment towards the
gradual encroachment of modern development into their area. The researcher employed
Emotional Solidarity Theory and Personality Traits Theory to investigate the impact on their
perceptions of tourism which explain support for tourism development. The study used
structured face-to-face interview at several fragmented residential areas that are deep in
the jungle. About 125 survey data were collected. Results showed that sympathetic
understanding and welcoming nature were the strongest factors influencing Orang Asli
Bateq’s attitudes towards tourism development while the effect was different among
males and females with differing emotional solidarity dimensions. Findings revealed that
the effect of welcoming nature and emotional closeness on Orang Asli Bateq’s attitude
towards tourism development was significantly different with their personalities of high
agreeableness and extraversion, while openness to experience, conscientiousness, and
neuroticism did not portray a significant association.

Keywords: Orang asli Bateq; personality traits; tourism development; Taman Negara
Pahang

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1. INTRODUCTION

The tourism industry in Malaysia demonstrates excellent growth nowadays which leads to
an increase of foreign exchange and availability of job opportunities especially within rural
areas (Ibrahim, 2010). Previous study from Sharpley (2014) stated that many researchers
agreed that tourism contributes to the economy, social culture, and environment of host
communities. Despite understanding the direct effect of tourism on the economy, it is
crucial to understand host communities’ perceptions of the impact of tourism and their
support towards tourism development (Zhang et al., 2006; Xie et al., 2014 & Látková et al.,
2012). According to Wang, Zhen, Zhang and Wu (2014), the key factor that leads to tourism
development success is the host community satisfaction. Tourism studies reveal that there
is a lack of research into the indigenous community that investigates their perception and
satisfaction with tourism development (Zamani-Farahain, & Musa, 2012; Teye et al., 2002;
& Andriotis, 2002). Therefore, this research examined Orang Asli Bateq at Taman Negara
Pahang (Pahang nature park) to explore their personality traits that shape their support
towards tourism development at the nature park.

2. BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Taman Negara Pahang (TNP) is one of the well-known ecotourism destinations because of
its vast natural rainforests with pristine river networks and unique topographical features
in Peninsular Malaysia (Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati, 2015). Dramatic changes in tourism
development at Taman Negara Pahang had been witnessed by the aborigines (Mazni Aznan
& Siti Suriawati, 2015). Kuala Tahan is the main entrance of TNP (Teh & Nik Norma, 2015).
The ethnic who lives in scattered villages around the area include the aborigines known
as Orang Asli Bateq, a subgroup of Negrito aborigines. About 83,350 of tourist arrivals at
Taman Negara in 2018 (Tourism Pahang, 2019). The administration and management of
the park are under the Department of Wildlife and National Parks or known as PERHILITAN.
In 1984, TNP was declared as ASEAN Heritage Park and listed under Category II of the World
Conservation Union protected area management categories. Taman Negara Pahang has
become a valuable tourism resource due to its protected diverse flora and fauna (Teh & Nik
Norma, 2015; Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati, 2015). Also, TNP is 130 million years old
rainforest and some parts of the land have been developed into a well-known ecotourism
destination in Malaysia. According to Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati (2015), the Malaysian
government has identified 10 out of 52 sites as high potential to be developed as premiere
ecotourism sites in the country and TNP was one of it. However, according to Teh and Nik
Norma (2015), activities in TNP have been discovered to bring effects on the Orang Asli
Bateq and most of the impacts lead to their resentment due to tourist activities.

Tourism development is a cultural shock to Orang Asli Bateq because of the suddenly
overflowed tourists to TNP especially during school holidays that contributed to traffic
congestion, litter and illegal wildlife trading resulting in the damage of the ecosystem
(Yahaya Ibrahim & Mohd Sayuti Hasan, 2011). Tourism development in TNP ever since has
caused some detrimental effects to this community such as noise, discomfort, personal
disruption, discrimination/cheating, denial of rights and cultural degradation (Endicott,

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Tuck-Po, Nurul Zahari Fatanah & Rudge, 2016). These had eventually disturbed the
harmonization of the Bateq community (Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati, 2015). It was very
unfortunate for the aborigine Bateq when the government developed roads and tourist
infrastructures that caused destructions of forest and wildlife that affected their
homelands (Teh & Nik Norma, 2015). Hence, Orang Asli Bateq expressed their
dissatisfaction with the decision as they were prohibited to hunt, which affect their
earnings (Teh & Nik Norma, 2015). According to Teh and Nik Norma (2015), Bateq people
also felt disappointed in the bad behavior of international tourists who insulted them when
they were asked to be naked so that tourists could take pictures of them. They responded
that they were being ridiculed by them. Likewise, Endicott, Tuck-Po, Nurul Zahari Fatanah
& Rudge (2016) informed that Orang Asli Bateq repeatedly complained in the mid-1990s
about tourist intrusions who did not respect their sensitivity.

Stemming from the above imperfections, the study formulated several research questions,
i.e. first, do Orang Asli Bateq support tourism development at Taman Negara Pahang? and
second, what type of Bateq’s personality traits that support tourism development? In such
a situation, the influence of tourism on the aborigine quality of life is essential in the
context of understanding their support towards tourism at TNP. This study hopes to
understand the personality traits of Orang Asli Bateq towards the support of tourism
development at TNP despite their discontented feeling with regards to tourism progress.

3. RESIDENT-TOURIST RELATIONSHIP

Many researchers have been conducting out research about the behaviors and
personalities of individuals. Values and beliefs of an individual play an important role in
one’s decision-making (Murugesan & Jayavelu, 2017). In 1975, Doxey proposed an Irritation
Index or known as the Doxey Irridex model to examine the growing possibility of negative
impacts in tourism destinations (Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati, 2015). This model measured
the relationship between tourists and the locals and it suggests that the number of tourists
will eventually stop growing and may decrease because the locals become intimidated by
tourists (Mazni Aznan & Siti Suriawati, 2015). Several studies utilized the Doxey Irredex
model to measure residents’ attitudes (Vargas-Sánchez et al., 2014) and host perceptions
(Sharpley, 2014). Besides, other work that investigates the relationship between
community residents and tourist destination was reported by Moghavvemi, et al. (2017).
Ward and Berno (2011), utilized social exchange theory to understand the interaction
between host and guest relationships. Other researchers applied the integrative theory of
cross-cultural adaptation (Lee & Woosnam, 2010), social representations theory
(Moscardo, 2011), and the contact-hypothesis theory (Tomljenovic, 2010). Woosnam and
Norman (2010) have conducted several studies on the resident-tourist relationship by
employing Durkheim’s theory. They suggest that possessing similar beliefs, engaging in
similar behaviors, and interacting are all necessary to experience emotional solidarity with
others. By applying Durkheim’s theory in the context of tourism, it is presumed that when
residents share beliefs and behaviors and interact with tourists that they relate their
emotional closeness, sympathetic understanding, and openness to experience that finally
form the emotional (Woosnam and Norman, 2010). Even though the emotional solidarity
has been considered a vanguard to residents' attitudes of both positive and negative forms

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of tourism impacts (Woosnam, 2012), the construct has not been considered residents'
level of support for tourism development.

According to Woosnam and Norman (2010) and Woosnam (2011) welcoming nature,
emotional closeness and sympathetic understanding are the factors of the Emotional
Solidarity Scale (ESS). The host community who are welcomed toward tourists will most
likely have personal attentiveness and tend to appreciate the benefits obtained from
tourism development (Woosnam, 2012). Generally, the host community welcomed tourists
because they were proud of themselves especially in terms of culture and the contribution
to the local economy. According to Hasani et al., (2016) and Woosnam, (2012), welcoming
nature is the element of emotional solidarity that could predict host community support in
tourism development. In terms of personality traits, the host community who has a high
level of openness would most likely express a high score of welcoming nature towards
tourists because Kuo, Cheng, Chiu, and Cho (2015) have mentioned that openness refers
to an individual acceptance in adapting and learning to change. However, neurotic
individuals tend to have a higher degree of hesitation especially in making tourism
decisions and express regret as they do not interact with the tourists (Huang, Gursoy, and
Xu, 2014). Neurotic community is normally anxious, sensitive to risk, and distressed when
interacting with tourists and avoid associating with tourists (Tanford, Raab, & Kim, 2013).
For emotional closeness, Woosnam (2012) identified that residents realized that they will
receive the benefits of tourism and showed a high level of support to the industry if they
had created friendships or bonds with the tourists. For example, a relationship that can be
developed through interaction and sharing beliefs and behaviors (Woosnam et al., 2009;
Woosnam & Aleshinloye, 2018). According to Ying & Norman (2014), in terms of
personality, if the residents get along well with others, they exhibit a high level of
agreeableness trait and intentionally seek to be emotionally closer to tourists. However,
residents may not feel obligated to be close with tourists when an individual is more
conscientious, i.e. they may not be willing to take the risk of making friendships with
tourists (Lee & Tseng, 2015). As Woosnam, Norman, and Ying (2009) stated, sympathetic
understanding is established when both host community and tourist understand each
other, having the empathy skills (Draper, Woosnam and Norman, 2011) and have a positive
view of other people (Tan, Der Foo, & Kwek, 2004). This is because once the host
community interacts with the tourists, they will be able to understand that many tourists
would want to know the community’s culture and ways of life (Besculides, Lee, and
McCormick, 2002).

The level of community attachment among the resident can forecast attitudes about
tourism development because residents who are strongly committed to their community
are more involved and exposed to tourism impacts (Besculides, Lee, and McCormick, 2002).
Such personality traits of agreeableness and openness to experience (Myers et al., 2010;
Rose et al., 2010) portray the willingness of an individual to embrace differences and
appreciate new experiences. Myers, Sen, Alexandrov (2010) support that when an
individual possesses a high degree of agreeableness, they are trying to find out information
so that they will achieve good performance. The agreeable attribute is closely related to
the tourism industry as it ensures a great connection between their customers (Kuo, Cheng,
Chiu & Cho, 2015). It is important to consider the residents’ attitudes in efforts to foster
more sustainable tourism planning and development (Hung, Sirakaya-Turk, and Ingram,

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2011). Thus, there is a significant linked of positive and negative attitudes of the residents
towards the level of support for tourism development in many studies (Lepp, 2007; Latkova
& Vogt, 2012). According to Nunkoo and Ramkissoon (2011), it was stated that tourist
destinations were able to experience many benefits should the host community commit
themselves toward destination development. Their participation such as trust,
cooperation, and networking can enhance the success of tourism development (Schroeder,
Zimmermann, & Formiga, 2016; Liu, Tzeng, & Lee, 2012). In another spectrum, Soto (2018)
highlights extravert or outgoing individuals vary in their involvement in social, energy level
and assertiveness compared to other people. They tend to be likely to enjoy socializing with
other people, being able to express themselves and usually experiencing positive
enthusiasm and excitement in their activities. Besides, someone who possesses a high level
of conscientiousness is said to be responsible, reliable, organized and very detailed (Rose,
Ramalu, Uli and Kumar, 2010). While in contrast, an introverted individual is emotionally
and socially reserved (Soto, 2018). Kuo, Cheng, Chiu and Cho (2015) indicate that
individuals with high extraversion would most likely to be productive. As opposed to
neurotic individuals who are more emotionally unstable, i.e. feel depressed and anxious,
Yoo and Gretzel (2011); Huang, Gursoy, & Xu (2014) mention that neurotic person worried
too much with the negative outcomes when buying the tourism product.

Such complexities of emotional solidarity and personality traits variables are intertwined
with each other that might lead to different kinds of attitudes of people that affect the level
of support towards tourism. Kwon and Vogt (2010) revealed that there is a positive
relationship between residents' attitudes and tourism product development. However,
even though many researchers investigated residents' support for tourism development,
much ambiguity surrounds such a relationship (Prayag et al., 2013). According to
Moghavvemi, et al., (2017), the detail of what kind of attitude that support tourism
development is still not clear. Even there are also different opinions between genders.
According to Nunkoo et al., (2010), previous studies found that gender can affect host
community attitudes toward tourism development. Nunkoo and Gursoy (2012) assert that
males and females have a different perception of overall tourism impacts, tourism quality
effect, and support for tourism development. Nunkoo et al. (2010) stated that female was
more worried about the negative effect brought by the tourism development because the
female is more liable to care about families and society in general, as tourism has the
potential to destroy each of these. However, male exhibits a positive attitude concerning
tourism activity as they experienced many economic advantages from it. Nunkoo and
Gursoy (2012) found something similar whereby they also concluded that females perceive
more negative impacts than men.

4. METHODOLOGY

Orang Asli Bateq were identified around Kampung Jeram Dedari, Kampung Jeram Aur,
Kampung Sungai Yong, and Kampung Keniam. According to the latest data by JAKOA, the
total number of Orang Asli Bateq in six villages (Sungai Yong, Keniam, Bukit Gam, Jeram
Aur, Jeram Dedari & Sungai Tabong) was 675 people while the number of head of the
household was 106 people in 2017. The respondents were told to score their answers by a

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recall and/or flashback technique on what they had experienced from tourism involvement
at TNP. Respondents younger than 18 were excluded. It was difficult for the respondents
to fill up the questionnaire as they cannot read. For that reason, the researchers needed to
ask a question by reading for them one by one and helped them to complete the
questionnaire. The distribution of questionnaire forms was carried out during the daytime
between 8 am to 6 pm. During the fieldwork in May 2019, two villages, i.e. Bukit Gam &
Sungai Tabong settlement were found vacant, thus data was not accessible. According to
Rashvinjeet (2018), Orang Asli Bateq still practicing their nomadic way of life. There were
six Orang Asli Bateq villages, but all these villages were declared as fragmented villages, i.e.
it is not a permanent settlement, hence signifying a nomadic way of life (Mohd Zulhilmi
Othman, personal communication, May 6, 2019). Due to that, out of six villages, there were
only four villages available for data collection. In fact, during the fieldwork, some of the
respondents were not in their villages because they were in the jungle searching for food.
The simple random technique was used in distributing questionnaire to Orang Asli Bateq at
TNP. The respondents were selected from those who encountered the tourists.
Respondents were approached at the four abovementioned villages and informed about
the purpose of the survey before they were given the questionnaire. In the end, only data
from 125 questionnaires were analyzed in this study due to the obstacles that were faced
by the researchers because of the nomadic life of Orang Asli Bateq. A Cronbach’s Alpha
value of .842 was recorded in assessing the reliability of the instrument of the study.

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Demographic profile

The data revealed that 71% of respondents were male and 29% were female. Many were
married (62.4%). Majority of them (28.8%) were between 41 and 50 years old. Only 6.4%
were 51-60 years old. In terms of length of residency in TNP, a majority (64.8%) had lived
in the area for more than 20 years. Only 5.6% were new settlers, i.e. living there less than
5 years. Bateq people were obviously (95.2%) found involved in tourism activity while only
4.8% of them did not. In terms of education level, it was identified that 100% of
respondents did not have formal education in their life. Majority of them (25.6%) earned
between RM3000-4000 annually, followed by RM1001-2000 (22.4%). Only 19.2% earned
more than RM4000 per year. However, there were respondents who reluctant (14.4%) to
expose their earnings due to secrecy. In terms of occupations, more than half (53.6%) of
them were self-employed. About 24.8% were not employed and the rest 21.6% work in the
private sector.

5.2 Attitude Toward Tourism Development

With regards to the attitude of Orang Asli Bateq toward tourism development, the
respondents felt that it was beneficial for having a tourist in their area (mean score 4.4240).
This was because the respondents perceived that tourism was one of their source incomes.
Tourists who came to their village bought Bateq’s handicraft items or sometimes the

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tourists donated to the community. Orang Asli Bateq were also found notably superior
with their hospitable welcoming nature ( =4.2080). Their readiness to present their unique
culture and tradition was almost instantaneous. Besculides, Lee and McCormick (2002)
assert that when one is presenting their culture to the others, it strengthens the idea of
support and pride. Orang Asli Bateq was indeed looking forward to welcoming tourists
( =4.2000). They were excited about tourist arrival, they welcomed them and treated
them well since in their mind, these tourists gave them money. In terms of emotional
closeness, they were happily interacted with the tourists ( =4.1600) and it was a positive
and useful interaction ( =4.1440). This situation signalled a harmonious relationship
because one of the most important things to achieve and maintain sustainable tourism
development is to create a positive interaction between the host community and foreign
tourists (Armenski et al., 2011).

Bateq people also felt close to the tourists ( =3.6400) and they made friends with them
( =3.4160). Even though Bateq aborigines did not understand the language of foreign
tourists, it was found that language was not merely regarded as a communication tool.
Language enables a person to tell stories, share feelings, express emotions, and deliver
complex information and messages. It acts like a mediator that allows individuals to
understand each other (Imberti, 2007). For a sympathetic understanding dimension, the
respondents felt affection towards the tourists in their community ( =4.4160). This made
sense that the host community saw the advantage of tourism and energized about the
possible wealth that tourism likely contributes to them (Hasani, Moghavvemi and Hamzah,
2016). Therefore, this has allowed a situation which made them better understand the
tourists ( =3.2800), but unfortunately, they taught that they could not have lots in
common in comparison with the tourists ( =2.4240 ). This was perhaps due to their
different cultures and customs. It was relevant to note of Armenski’s et al. (2011)
statement that how the host community perceived the positive or negative behavior of
tourists was principally determined mainly by community moral norms and culture.

From the data, for the community commitment aspect, Orang Asli Bateq expected that
they would continuously participate in community activities ( =4.8880) since they felt that
the community was part of them ( =4.6720) which gave them a sense of belonging
( =4.6560). This might be because the majority of them have lived in the forest for more
than 20 years. Soroka, Johnston & Banting (2007) declare that there is a greater connection
with the length of stay in the sense of belonging, i.e. the more someone stays at a certain
location, the more they will attach to that place. In this sense, their psychological
attachment to the community was also greater ( =4.2160) but ironically, they thought that
exchanging opinions with other members in the community was somewhat important
( =3.2400). The data also revealed that Orang Asli Bateq liked the idea of having more
tourists in their area ( =4.5680). This was the result of the beneficial impact of tourism
provided to the community. On that notion, the Bateq aborigines believed it was fun to
have more tourists in their area ( =4.3440) since the presence of tourists was interesting
( =4.0160) and pleasant ( =3.9600). In terms of support toward tourism development,
Orang Asli Bateq was happy and proud that tourists were interested in what their
community had to offer ( =4.4240). For that reason, most of the Bateq people agreed that

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tourism is the most important industry for their community ( =4.1200) and they believed
that tourism should be actively encouraged in their villages ( =4.0800) as it helped the
community grows in the right direction ( =3.9600). However, their positive views on
tourism support were not holistic since many of them undecided to support the initiative
to develop community-based sustainable tourism ( =3.7520) and nearly 42% of them
disagreed (as opposed to majority 58% who agreed) to support any kind of new tourism
facilities to entice more tourists.

5.3 Personality Trait

For the extraversion aspect, the data revealed that the majority 76% of Bateq people were
somewhat agreed that they were full of energy and enthusiasm. It was perhaps Orang Asli
Bateq did earn some income from tourism activity which indirectly motivated them, thus
boost their energy and passion. Even though it appeared that they were keenly involved in
tourism, however, they were many (47%) undecided whether they were outgoing, sociable
individuals ( =3.6400). Nevertheless, the majority of them (53%) were friendly and sociable
especially when they mingle around with tourists, and they seemed to enjoy what they
were doing. On the other hand, it was a surprise when 59% declared that they were a
reserved type of person, while 41% were not ( =3.4160). Based on observation, Orang Asli
Bateq were indeed shy and talked whenever it was thought important and if anything
related to work. But, they denied that they were quiet ( =2.9760) and shy individuals
( =2.8880). Besermenji et al. (2011) explain that people are not spontaneously talkative
because they need a considerable amount of time to gain confidence in someone especially
strangers.

However, because their characters were limited to the only important occasion to talk, thus
the condition made them have less self-confident ( =2.8400). For the second feature of
personality traits, i.e. agreeableness, majority Bateq aborigines identified themselves as
helpful and unselfish to others ( =4.4720). 89% were very cooperative ( =4.1600) and
thought to be trusted individuals (87.2%, =4.0960). During the interview, it was found that
some private organizations trained a few Orang Asli Bateq as the village guide by helping
and interacting with tourists. Later, the skills were taught to other individuals in the
community. Even though some of the activities were tiring, Orang Asli Bateq never
hesitated to help their peers whenever needed. This was significant when 94%
of Bateq folks distinguished themselves as a considerate and kind people to almost
everyone ( =4.0960) and possessed a forgiving nature (=3.7840). Based on the study, even
though they shy but they were being so helpful and kind to tourists by performing some
cultural shows. For them, it was sincere hospitality and, in return, they received money
from tourists. For these beautiful mannerisms, it was obvious that 95% of this ethnic
declined to be rude to others, but they sometimes could be cold and aloof to others (86%),
depending on their mood.

For conscientious dimension, Bateq ethnic has been known for their perseverance
( =4.4240, 100%), efficiency (92%), thorough (73%) and reliable (78%) in performing a task.
According to Jalil (one of Orang Asli Bateq, personal communication, May 6, 2019), they

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always did their daily tasks one by one and not leaving it incomplete. They planned and
prioritized their work (42%) (although not all comply). Many Bateq individuals were
undecided when they were asked about getting easily distracted when doing jobs
( =3.0800) since they extremely rejected the term becoming lazy ( =2.6480) and careless
( =2.6160) person. In terms of neuroticism (unstable emotion) feature, 54% of
Bateq people were undecided whether they were able to handle stress well due to 60% of
them cannot remain calm in difficult situations and therefore always in depression (61%).
65% of them admitted that they were sometimes not emotionally stable. It was also found
that they walked deep into the jungle to calm and handle their stress alone. Usually, they
did not expose or talk to others if they have a problem. Should they have one, they released
the stress by hunting or collected some firewood in the forest. Therefore, such stress
reliever abstained them from getting nervous easily ( =2.7440), hence allowed them not
to be moody. For openness to experience component, the Bateq community put so much
value on aesthetic experiences ( =4.3600), demonstrated artistic interests ( =4.1200) and
the majority have an active imagination (70%). They found pleasure with something
associated with beauty. The females usually made a lovely handicraft by carving stunning
art on their favorite weapon i.e. sumpit and sold it as a souvenir. It was also found that the
majority of the ethnic (60%) were curious about many different things but they failed to
reflect and played with their ideas ( =3.3330). Perhaps they did not find any answers to
many self-raised questions in their minds. Limited knowledge due to no formal education
could probably contribute to this dilemma. Another reason could be that they rarely
exchange ideas as they merely follow the decision of their head of the village, i.e. Tok Batin.
Therefore, for that reason, 62.4% identified that they were not a clever man.

5.4 Hypothesis Testing

Table below shows the result between attitude toward tourism development and Orang
Asli Bateq’s level of welcoming nature (H1), emotional closeness (H2), sympathetic
understanding (H3), community commitment (H4), agreeableness (H5) and openness to
experience (H6) as well as attitude to support of tourism development (H8).

Table 1.0: Hypotheses testing

Hypotheses Moderating  S. E t p Result
(Constant) 2.551 0.012 Yes
2.200 0.889 3.255 Attitudes Yes
H1 Welcoming nature (0.001) Yes
- 0.310 0.124 -2.571 Attitudes Yes
H2 Emotional closeness (0.011) No
- -0.211 0.066 2.315 Attitudes Yes
H3 Sympathetic (0.022)
understanding - 0.255 0.119 -4.269 Attitudes
(0.000)
H4 Community - -0.343 0.076 1.812 Attitudes
commitment (0.072)
- 0.141 0.089 3.938 Attitudes
H5 Agreeableness
- 0.358 0.066
H6 Openness to

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experience Personality 1.409 0.554 2.545 (0.000) Yes
H7 Welcoming nature -0.582 0.249 -2.217 Attitudes Yes
-0.523 0.558 -0.937 (0.012) No
Emotional closeness Personality 0.462 0.081 5.706 Attitudes Yes
(0.029)
Sympathetic Personality Attitudes
understanding (0.351)
H8 Attitudes Support
(0.000)

Adjusted R2=32.3%; F=10.846; p<.001

Multiple linear regressions were carried out to determine the effect of welcoming nature,
emotional closeness, sympathetic understanding, community commitment,
agreeableness, and openness to experience of the participant on attitudes towards tourism
development. This was a statistically significant model (F=10.846, p<.001) indicating these
results were unlikely to have risen by chance. However, the adjusted R2 indicated that
32.3% of the variance in attitude can be explained by variances in all the abovesaid
predictor variables. The analysis suggested that openness to experience (b=0.358) was the
most influential predictor in the model. Welcoming nature, (t=3.255, p<0.001), emotional
closeness (t=-2.571, p=0.011), sympathetic understanding (t=2.351, p=0.022), community
commitment (t=-4.269, p<0.001) and openness to experience (t=3.938, p<.001) were
shown to be statistically significant predictors of attitude. Agreeableness was shown not to
be a statistically significant predictor of attitude (t=3.938, p=0.07). Residents’ attitudes
toward tourism development and their support for tourism development were also
examined. The result reveals that there was a significant association between the two
variables (t=5.706, p<0.001).

The result also displayed that there were significant results for moderating effect i.e. both
personality variables significantly moderate the relationship for both welcoming nature
and sympathetic understanding with attitude. According to Raiz, Raiz and Batool (2012)
personality does affect decision making. This was believed that individuals with different
types of personality, can affect their decision and attitude to support tourism development.
According to Zhang, Inbakaran & Jackson (2006), they mentioned that when someone had
a high level of neuroticism, the individual tends to be anxious and nervous toward large
number of tourists. Hence, this affects their emotional solidarity on attitudes toward
supporting tourism development. Extravert individuals tend to have a higher rate of
interaction compared to others, this may affect the emotional closeness between the
tourists and the host community in TNP. Thus, when higher emotional closeness presented
by the host community, it influenced their support for tourism development. According to
Woosnam and Aleshinloye (2018), an individual would possess a high sense of closeness
with other individuals whenever they had a greater and positive interaction. However,
personality did not provide any effect on the relationship between sympathetic
understanding and attitude, perhaps because of the nature of the Bateq indigenous who
did not have time to think much of the unnecessary things in their minds since to them,
tourism was just a complement in their life, they will still survive without tourists.

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Hypotheses Table 2.0: Gender effect P Moderating
 S.E Effect

H9a Welcoming Nature Yes
No
Attitudes
Yes
Male 0.497 0.165 0.004* No
0.227
Female 0.232 0.188 No
0.043** No
H9b Emotional Closeness 0.098

Attitudes 0.638
0.245
Male -0.165 0.080

Female -0.299 0.175

H9c Sympathetic Understanding

Attitudes

Male -0.062 0.131

Female 0.285 0.240

B: Unstandardized Regression; S.E.: Standardized Error;

*p < 0.01, **p < 0.05

A linear regression was also examined to observe the gender impacts on tourism
development on the relationship between emotional solidarity factors and Bateq’s
attitudes toward tourism. The result in table 2.0 revealed that only males moderate the
relationship between welcoming nature, emotional closeness and Bateq’s attitudes toward
tourism. The effect of welcoming nature and emotional closeness were significant (P=0.004
& 0.043 respectively). Females, however registered insignificant records for all variables.
Based on Nunkoo et al., (2010), females tend to against tourism more frequently than men.
This was because their attitudes were not affected by welcoming nature, emotional
closeness and sympathetic understanding of tourism at their community. They were likely
to follow their husband’s instruction and did not able to make their own decision. Nunkoo
et al. (2010) also emphasized that femininity rights among them were limited. This could
be due to their limited exposure in tourism activities and they were inactive in exploring
the outside world Females were also feared that tourism provides threat or change their
lifestyle that might harm their local culture. However both genders registered non-
significant association for sympathetic understanding since for them, tourists who came to
their village was merely to experience something new by taking pictures. It was just a plain
simple understanding that Bateq people were not the one who looked for tourists but it
was the tourists who looked for them. Such degree of interaction did not really require any
sympathetic understanding to shape attitudes concerning tourism (Woosnam, 2012).

6.0 CONCLUSION

Orang Asli Bateq who had a high welcoming nature attitude would likely to feel that the
tourists benefitted them so much. The aborigine community gained a better economic
income because they took the opportunity to participate in tourism activities. Besides,
those with a high welcoming nature also tend to treat tourists well in their village. It was

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noticed that Orang Asli Bateq prioritized the safety of tourists who stayed at their village.
Moreover, majority of them enjoyed interacting with tourists demonstrated a high
emotional closeness attitude. They were likely to maintain good attitude, as well as
affection to others and killed the stereotype among people who afraid to engage with
aborigines. They were motivated about the potential fortune and wealth that the tourism
industry going to contribute in their local community. For theoretical contribution on the
Big five personality traits dimension, Bateq ethnic were inclined to display positive
outcomes for extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness
results. Orang Asli Bateq were very committed and hardworking in their job. They were
also found to demonstrate their agreeableness to help people around them. The
indigenous community were likely keep on doing their job until the task is finished. Their
persistence was consistent since they made sure all the jobs were done accordingly. In
assessing their level of neuroticism (emotionally unstable), Orang Asli Bateq tend to handle
their negative emotions very well by solving their problems entering the jungle to find some
inner peace. Lastly, their openness to experience dimension was also found positive since
the ethnic valued artistic and aesthetic experiences.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mohd Hasrul Yushairi is a Senior Lecturer at Tourism Department at
Faculty Hotel & Tourism Management, UiTM Kampus Bandaraya Melaka.

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Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through
Language, Education and Tourism

Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University
Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

PLASTIC OBSESSION AMONG MALAYSIAN TOURISTS:
HOW FAR IS IT TRUE?

Najiyah Md Zaliki*1 and Mazni Saad2

1, 2 Department of Tourism Planning and Hospitality Management,
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Pagoh, Malaysia

(E-mail: *[email protected], [email protected])

ABSTRACT

Plastic pollution is one of the prevalent global crises of the decade. The non-degradable
nature of plastics has caused severe marine and land pollution which is responsible for the
death of hundreds of marine species and birds. Over the years, the generation of plastic
waste shows no sign of slowing down and The United Nations have predicted that the
amount of plastic in the ocean would weigh more than fishes by 2050. The tourism industry
greatly depends on the natural environment as one of its main resources to thrive. In
contrast, tourism is also known to generate a great amount of waste to the environment
making it as one of the contributors to this crisis. The depletion of environment would give
adverse impact on the growth of tourism to a destination. It is a vicious cycle that should
be stopped in ensuring the sustainability of a destination and tourism as a whole. This study
is in line with targets developed under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12
established by the United Nations that aims to substantially reduce waste production by
2030. This study intends to understand an untapped angle of the issue, from the
perspective of Malaysian tourists as tourism consumers. In this study, the practice of
tourists prior to travelling will be assessed to understand its influence on tourists’
behaviour in regard to plastic usage during travels. By understanding tourists’ behaviour,
the authorities in a tourism destination could take measures that will encourage
sustainable tourism practices among tourists while enjoying tourism growth and sustaining
the destination in the long run.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, Plastic Pollution, Tourism, Practice,
Behaviour

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1. INTRODUCTION

It is hard to imagine a world without plastics. Yet when studied, the large-scale production
of the synthetic organic polymers only dates back to 1950 after World War II (Geyer,
Jambeck and Law, 2017). Data gathered65 years later reveal that the annual production of
plastic has skyrocketed to nearly 200-fold from two million tonnes in 1950 to 381 million
tonnes in 2015 (Jambeck et. al, 2015). Up to now, the cumulative production of plastic has
reached 7.82 billion tonnes in 2015.

In a study by Prabhakaran, Nair and Ramachandran (2016), coastal and river areas that are
located near landfills also contributes to the pollution of the marine environment as a lot
of estuaries have been polluted by the overspill of trash from nearby landfills. In addition,
garbage may be lost to the marine environment during its collection for transportation.
Thus, this further proves the poor management in dealing withplastics . With steady
increase in the production rate of plastics and its existing waste management, the impact
of plastic on the environment raises global concern. The everyday consumption of the
plastics had only stack up the landfills without effective sustainable solution for the proper
management of the waste in sight (McDermot, 2016).

Studies have established the pollution of seas and oceans as evidence to the gigantic impact
made by plastic. (Haward, 2018). It had significantly contributed to the death of various
species of animals as they mistakenly took plastic bags as food (Borrelle et.al, 2017).
Numerous studies have found plastic debris in all major ocean basins. The growth of plastic
production was further accelerated when the global culture shifted from reusable to single-
use containers that had turned packaging into the largest market for plastic (United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP), 2018). Every year, around 8 million tonnes of plastic
flows into the marine environment. As of 2014, there is an estimated 268,940 tons of plastic
debris in the ocean (McDermot, 2016). However, the estimation only depicted the number
of plastics that are floating on water. Unfortunately, there are more plastics that have made
its way to the ocean floor, buried in the sand or ending in the food chain.

In September 2015, the United Nations (UN) had launched the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) with 17 Goals and 169 targets set to be achieved by 2030. The goals were
products of numerous UN agreements, conventions, intensive public consultations and
engagements with civil society and other stakeholders around the world (United Nations,
2015). One of the key emphasis of the goals is towards achieving environment
sustainability. The impact of human activities has taken a worrying toll on the planet. The
Earth is facing dire environmental consequences that needs urgent action in ensuring its
viability for the present and future generation. Four of the goals were therefore developed
to tackle the issue which aims to protect the planet from further degradation. Within the
12th goal, “Responsible Production and Consumption” among the targets are to minimize
waste production through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse as well as promoting
public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and
priorities (United Nations, 2015).

207

According to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) (2019), the tourism sector is one of
the largest and fastest growing sectors with over 10% of contribution to the global Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and 10% of total employment in 2018. Currently, the sector
continuously produces waste at an abundant rate. Subsequently, UN predicted that the
sector would dispose 251% of solid waste by 2050 (UNEP, 2016). To put into perspective, a
study by Jambeck et. al (2015) revealed that Malaysia ranks as the 8th biggest contributor
for mismanaged plastic waste globally. The study discovered that Malaysia had produced
one million tons of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010 alone in which 0.14 to 0.37 million
tons may have washed into the oceans. As a result, plastic debris in the oceans had caused
death of many marine species, endangering species and upsetting the ecosystem with the
release of dangerous toxins into the water.

The adverse impact of casual plastic usage in humans’ daily lives including during travelling
are threatening the environmental sustainability. Thus, this research aspires to understand
the causal relationship between tourists’ practice and their behaviour regarding plastic
usage when travelling. Accordingly, the research also aims to identify the hindrances that
are faced by travelers in observing sustainable practices concerning plastic usage and the
duty of tourism sectors in assisting them.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Practice (IV)

Practice is the action that can be observed which can be shaped with an individual’s or
community’s knowledge and attitude towards the subject matter (Babaei et. al, 2015). In
relation to the subject matter, the practice refers to environmental practices performed by
tourists that can be defined as actions taken that prevents and reduces environmental
deterioration and ensuring its quality (Ham & Han, 2013). Consequently, practice of
individuals and communities are important in influencing the performance outcome of an
issue (Bühlmayer et. al, 2017).

In Malaysia, practices in relation to plastic usage remains to be at a worrying level
distressing the environment severely despite multiple efforts done by the government in
educating the public. In January 2011, the Ministry of Domestic Trade Cooperative and
Consumerism (MDTCC) had launched the ‘No Plastic Bag Campaign Day’ in the effort to
reduce Malaysian’s plastic usage consumption (MDTCC, 2012). However, this effort has not
proven to be enough to combat the issue as plastic pollution still persists and continues
growing rapidly.

In today’s setting, the public is used to the “throwaway culture” and plastic remains to be
a part of the consumer culture. As stated by UNEP (2018), most of the plastics that are
produced were created to be used only once and later disposed. In support of this
statement, of all the plastics that are in the ocean, 80 percent of them are single use plastics
such as plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, or cigarette lighters that originated from
land-based waste (Tibbets, 2015). To put into perspective, the Ministry of Energy, Science,
Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC), Malaysia (2018) and Jambeck et.al

208

(2015) stated that Malaysia is ranked to be the 8th largest producer of mismanaged plastic
waste in the world.

2.2. Behaviour (DV)

Tourists behaviour can be defined as the way in which tourists conducts themselves during
travels (Vuuren and Slabbert, 2012). Based on the three-tier waste heriarchy, the waste
reduction behaviour consists of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” whereby the best way of
reducing waste is to prevent producing waste in the first place (e.g., buying fewer products
and avoid buying products in excessive unnecessary packaging) before going down the
heriarchy with reusing and recycling products (Hultman and Corvellec, 2012; Whitmarsh,
Haggar and Thomas, 2018). In line with this idea, UNEP (2018) also pointed out that the
reduction of plastic waste should follow the waste management hierarchy that includes
acting in trimming the production of plastic waste in the first place.

As a rapidly growing industry, the United Nations have predicted that the waste generated
by the tourism industry at this rate would ultimately shoot up to 251% by 2050. In a study
conducted by Shamshiry (2011), it was revealed that the amount of waste produced by a
tourist was double than the amount of waste produced by a local resident in Langkawi.
Furthermore, plastic waste constitutes the second highest percentage of all waste that was
generated.

Moreover, a previous study conducted by Whitmarsh, Haggar and Thomas (2018) found
that the level of waste reduction behaviour during travel were found to be lower as
compared to their waste reduction behaviour at home and workplace. In addition, Hoang,
Fujiwara and Phu (2017) found that the waste generated by businesses supporting tourists
activities such as restaurants and hotels significantly contributed to the municipal waste
generation in a tourism destination. In the same study, it was also found that the average
guest in a four-star hotel produced over three times more waste as compared to the
average guests that stayed in two and three-star hotel with more than half of the waste
made of plastic.

Essentially, this calls for tourists to adopt actions to reduce plastic consumption from
further damaging the environment. In an article by Evans, Welch & Swaffield (2017), it was
argued that the consumers need to have accountability with the country’s high food waste
production as it is also stemmed from the individual consumer behaviour where the same
principal can be applied with the case of plastic consumption. Conclusively, , behavioural
change on the way products are consumed is vital towards achieving sustainability.

209

2.3. Practice (IV) on Behaviour (DV)

The relationship between practice and behaviour has been studied by several scholars. A
study conducted by Borgstede and Biel (2012) where they studied how different factors in
a situation would affect one’s pro-environment behaviour. It was stated that if the person
is individually motivated to have environmentally friendly practices, the likelihood for them
to change their behaviour is lesser than those who are motivated by their surroundings
environment such as an organizational culture. Accordingly, the study from Biel, Borgstede
and Dahlstrand (1999) also supports the argument above as the author discovered that
situational conditions to an extent have an influence towards one’s behaviour. If the
situation puts the person in a position where they need to sacrifice something in order to
practice pro-environmental practices, the probability for them to stick with the practice
lessen.

An interesting study by Slocum and Curtis (2016) compared between tourists’ sustainable
food practices at home and food behaviours when travelling at national parks around Utah.
The study found that there was a decrease in their sustainable food behaviour when
travelling compared to at home. However, those who had low sustainable food practice
maintained their behaviour during traveling. Only those with medium and high practices at
home showed a decline in sustainable food behaviour when traveling. The study suggested
that this could be caused by the lack of interest in Utah’s local food and low of promotional
effort by Utah in encouraging tourists sustainable food behaviours such as going to the
farmers’ market and trying new recipes.

Moreover, a study by Almutairi (2016) assessed relationship between students’ religious
practice and smoking behaviour in a Saudi Arabian College. The study found that students
who have high religious practice would avoid smoking proving positive relationship
between the variables. Correspondingly, the study by Yusof et. al (2016) and Shen, Dumont
and Deng (2018) exhibited similar finding where positive relationship between the two
variables were proven.

2.4. Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Practice H1
Behaviour

Figure 1: Research Framework Model adapted from Yusof et. al (2016)

The framework of this study (Figure 1) is adapted from Yusof et.al (2016). Based on the
model above, the arrow indicates a positive relationship between tourists’ practice and
behaviour with plastic usage.

H1: There is a positive relationship between practice and tourists’ behaviour with plastic
usage

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2.5. Research Question

1) What is the influence of practice on tourists’ behaviour with plastic usage?

2) What are the challenges faced by the respondents to reduce plastic usage?

2.6. Research Objective

1) To analyse the relationship between tourists’ practice with behaviour in regard to
plastic usage

2) To recognize the challenges encountered by tourists in eliminating plastic usage in
their travels

3. Methodology

This study utilized quantitative cross-sectional approach conducted through survey. A set
questionnaire developed was divided into four sections; demographic, independent
variable, dependent variable and open-ended section. The questions were prepared by
adapting questions from previous researches that studied the variables in similar fields of
study.

3.1. Population and Sample

3.1.1.Population

The target population determined is Malaysians above the age of 18 to 64 years old who
have experienced travel. However, the specific data of this population is unknown. Thus, it
can only be estimated that the number of the population is over one million tourists as the
Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018) have recorded 205.4 million domestic visitors in
2017 where most tourists are between the age group.

3.1.2.Sample

The number of the sample is identified through the utilization of theory adopted from
“Small Sample Techniques” formula developed by the research division of the National
Education Association (1960) popularized by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) as they
constructed a tabulation for the sample size to facilitate referencing. In referring to the
tabulation and graph of the sample size, this research has determined that the number of
sample size shall be 384 people based on the formula provided. However, this reseach was
conducted as a pilot study. As suggested by Johanson & Brooks (2010), it was estimated
that 30 respondents are an adequate number for preliminary survey or scale and the larger
the sample size, the better the result.

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3.1.3.Data Collection
A non-probability types of sampling known as the convenient sampling was utilized for this
study. The method of survey was to gather primary data and the survey was conducted by
distributing a set of standardized questions given to the samples through the online survey
platform developed in Google Form and by physically handing the printed questionnaire.

3.1.4.Research Instrument
This research adapts and compiled questions that were used as survey questions from
several studies as demonstrated in Table 1. The questionnaire was designed in an arranged
order where it is divided into four sections. It starts with close-ended questions on the
respondent’s demographic, followed by questions designated for the independent
(Practice) and dependent variables (Tourist’s Behaviour) accordingly.

Table 1: Adapted Question Items
Question Author/ year
Items

Section one: Demographic 1.1-1.3 Self-developed
Profile

Section two: Practice 2.1-2.6 Mota (2015); Aman, Harun & Hussein
(2012); Bortoleto, Kurisu, & Hanaki, K.
Section three: Tourist’s 3.1-3.6 (2012); Ferdous & Das (2014); Masud et
Behaviour 1-2 al. (2015).
Section four: Open-ended Mota (2015); Miller, Merrilees &
question on challenges and Coghlan (2014); Ferdous & Das (2014).
suggestion to reduce plastic Self-developed
usage

4. Result
4.1. Response Rate

47 responses were collected after the questionnaires were distributed through convenient
sampling method over the course of one week via social media platform; WhatsApp groups
accessible to the author.

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4.2. Reliability Test

Table 2: Cronbach Alpha Value of Practice and Behaviour

Variable Cronbach's Alpha Value N of Items
6
Practice 0.819 6

Behaviour 0.88

The variables were analysed in SPSS to ensure reliability of the item and is illustrated in
Table 2. Based on the table, the Cronbach Alpha’s value of practice (0.819) and Behaviour
(0.88) surpassing the acceptable range (Ursachi, Horodnic and Zait, 2015). Therefore, all of
the items used under this variable shall be retained.

4.3. Sample Profiles

Table 3: Demographic of Respondents

Frequency, n Percentage, %
6.4
Region of Residence Northern 3 72.3
14.9
Age Central 34 4.3
Level of Education 2.1
East Coast 2 100
89.4
Southern 7 8.5
2.1
Sabah/ Sarawak 1 100
12.8
Total 47 12.8
74.5
18-24 Years Old 42 100

25-34 Years Old 4

45-54 Years Old 1

Total 47

SPM 6

Diploma 6

Degree 35

Total 47

4.4. Feedback on open-ended

41 respondents have contributed to the findings. Most of the respondents commented that
they find that plastic is convenient to be used to carry items especially when they buy many
products. Besides that, the respondents were unprepared with reusable bags and straws
when they shop and most of the products are still packed in plastic packaging without
having environmental-friendly product options to be purchased. In addition, some tourists
also stated that they use plastic regularly out of habit and see it as a need to be reused for
their rubbish bin linings.

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40 respondents had proposed suggestions to help them in cutting down plastic usage.
Majority of the tourists proposed that efforts in spreading awareness among the tourists
should be increased by handling effective and high impact programs. Some of the tourists
also suggested that firmer enforcement should be executed by the government through
banning or raising the price for plastics and increase tourists’ access to environmental-
friendly products. Other respondents believed that the tourists should have the initiative
to bring their own reusable materials with them.

Descriptive Statistics of Variables Mean Std. Deviation
Table 4: Practice 4.13 1.135

No Practice 3.85 1.383
P1 I avoid buying products in plastic as much as
3.38 1.311
possible
P2 Looking for recyclable products have become part 4.06 1.258
4.64 1.358
of my routine 4.15 1.122
P3 I have switched from one brand to another due to

my concern on the issue of plastic pollution
P4 I use my reusable products when going shopping

rather than one provided by the shop.
P5 I always reuse the plastic bags that I have
P6 I have made major efforts to reduce my plastic

usage last year

Based on the mean score generated, the items under practice recorded the responses

having the range of mean from 3.85 to 4.64 (Table 4). This indicates that the respondents

on average slightly agreed and agreed in having practiced the practices as stated in the

items. However, the standard deviation value revealed that the responses received under

the following items highly varied from the mean score as all the items showcased value of

more than 1.

Table 5: Behaviour

No Behaviour Mean Std. Deviation

B1 I am conscious about my usage of plastic even when 4.30 1.082
I am on holiday

B2 I am responsible for my plastic usage even when I 4.60 .993
travel

B3 When travelling, I still reflect about the

consequences of my plastic usage to the 4.23 1.165

environment

B4 It is not essential for me to use plastic products 4.34 1.185
when I purchase any goods when travelling

B5 When shopping, I assess the type of packaging and 3.74 1.539
choose one that is recyclable.

B6 I do my best in my habits to prevent plastic waste 4.32 1.218
during travel

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After testing the items under behaviour, the mean score for behaviour were all calculated
to be over 4.0 except for item B5 that entailed a 3.74 mean score. This implies that in
general the respondents slightly agreed to item B5 and on average agreed that the
respondents behaved as what had been stated under each respective item. However, the
standard deviation value disclosed that the responses on the items highly varies from one
response to another as the value exceed 1 except for item in B2 whereby the value did not
exceed 1.

4.5. Hypotheses Testing

4.5.1. Correlation among dimensions
Table 6: Pearson’s Correlation Table

Behaviour Pearson Correlation Practice
Sig. (2-tailed) .762**
.000

4.5.1.1. Practice (IV)

Practice showed positive and significant correlation with behaviour where the value was
computed to be .762 (p<.05). Based on the Pearson Correlation indicator, the relationship
between practice and behavior falls under 0.76 – 0.99 that indicated very strong
relationship between the two variables.

5. DiscussionRQ1: What is the influence of Practice on tourists’ behaviour with plastic
usage?

This study had tested the influence of practice on behaviour in H1. According to the
analysis, it was discovered that practice portrayed significant positive influence on
behaviour where the relationship strength was categorized to be very strong. This implies
that if the tourists have high level of practice in reducing plastic usage at home the tourists
are most likely to exhibit high level of behaviour in reducing plastic usage during their
travels. This finding is observed to be consistent with previous researches that studies the
relationship of the two variables (Almutairi, 2015; Yusof et al., 2016; Dumont, Shen and
Deng, 2016; Borgstede and Biel, 2015).

5.1.2. RQ2: What are the challenges faced by the respondents to reduce plastic usage?

The respondents treat plastic as a convenience in their travels especially when they went
for shopping and bought a lot of goods. Aside from that, several respondents usually do
not prepare themselves with their reusable products when traveling that had resulted
them having to use plastic. Some also commented that there were little to no option for
the tourists to find products that were not packaged in plastic.

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This calls for all stakeholders including suppliers, concerned authority and tourists to play
their respective roles in minimizing and controlling the issue of plastic pollution in ensuring
environmental sustainability of Malaysia as a tourism destination. The suppliers of the
tourism industry such as food and beverage, accommodation, tour agencies, transportation
and attraction play vital roles in reducing the provision of plastic, particularly single-use
plastics in products and services. Alternative and sustainable materials could be used as
substitution. Tourists as consumers are crucial in influencing the supply of plastics in the
tourism industry as the businesses seeks to enhance tourists’ satisfaction which is by
meeting the demand of tourists. Aside from that, individual initiatives in shifting their
habits from adopting the disposable to reusable culture would result in the reduction of
plastic waste production. Reusable and eco-friendly products such as reusable bags and
straws are more accessible to be purchased by consumers.

5.1.3. H1: There is a positive relationship between practice and tourists’ behaviour
with plastic usage

When the items under practice were selected to be tested by Cronbach Alpha, the value
showed that all the items used were accepted. The Pearson Correlation analysis was tested
on H1. As a result, the value exhibited very strong and significant relationship between
practice and behaviour. Consequently, this signifies if there is increase in the level of
practice, the behaviour would be significantly influenced. Therefore, H1 is supported.

This finding is proven to be consistent with Almutairi (2015); Yusof et al (2016); Dumont,
Shen and Deng (2016); Borgstede and Biel (2015) which had found positive linear
relationship between practice and behaviour. From this result, tourism suppliers and
concerned authority can conduct research in understanding the basis of tourists practice
and formulate strategies in increasing the practice of Malaysian tourists with sustainable
consumption of plastic in order to encourage positive tourists’ behaviour which is
minimizing plastic usage during travels.

6. Conclusion

In essence, this study managed to find the positive relationship between tourists’
behaviour with plastic usage. Therefore, these factors should be taken into consideration
when developing plans and strategies in reducing the usage of plastics among tourists in
minimizing the negative impact brought about by the tourism sector to the environment.
In particular, the issue of waste generation and plastic pollution in a tourism destination.
This area should be explored by the key players of the industry as the impact of
mismanaged plastic waste and pollution could reduce the aesthetic value and sustainability
of a tourism destination. If there is no action taken despite the increasing plastic waste
generation, Malaysia could suffer from loss of tourism resources such as the destruction of
marine environment, deplete in interest among tourists and be associated with bad image.

7. Suggestion

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To better understand the factors that influence tourists’ behaviour with plastic usage, the
framework theory should be formulated by incorporating factors that influence the
adoption of practice for tourists such as knowledge and attitude. This will give an insight to
practitioners in understanding which factor that contribute most to tourists’ behaviour and
from there, effective strategies and measures could be employed to combat the dire issue
of plastic pollution.

Bibliography: Najiyah Md Zaliki, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Malaysia,
[email protected] and Plastic Obsession Among Malaysian Tourists: How far is it
true?

Acknowledgement
The author would like to express great appreciation to Dr. Mazni Saad in sponsoring and
being the advisor for this project and the university for providing me the opportunity to
participate in this respected platform.

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Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through Language, Education and Tourism

Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University
Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

RESEARCH PARADIGMS IN ECOTOURISM RESEARCH:
WHY AND HOW IT SHOULD BE APPLIED?

Velan Kunjumaran*1

1 Department of Sosiology and Antrophology,
University Malaysia Kelantan,
(E-mail: [email protected])

Abstract
Research paradigms in tourism research have been paid much attention by tourism scholars
around the world, and positivism had always been a popular research paradigm among
quantitative scholars. However, qualitative research scholars reported their concerns towards
the usefulness of the research paradigm in tourism research which is based on the qualitative
approach. There exists an argument for the lack of tourism research that applies existing
research paradigms, particularly interpretivism or constructivism. The world view of the
researcher is determined by research paradigms, and this paper emphasizes the importance of
the application of research paradigms in tourism research, particularly for ecotourism research.
The current paper was written based on my experience as a PhD scholar who embarked on a
qualitative study on ecotourism in Malaysia. My PhD study focused on the social
transformations of local communities through community-based ecotourism for the
sustainable livelihood of the Sukau and Bilit villages of the lower Kinabatangan area in Sabah,
Malaysia. In order to assess the effectiveness of ecotourism as a livelihood strategy to deliver
social transformations on local communities, the adoption of the qualitative research
approach and constructivism research paradigm was deemed appropriate. It is my hope that
this paper would encourage readers to have a better understanding about my choice of
research topic and research paradigm. I also hope to inspire future tourism scholars to apply
the constructivism paradigm in their studies which is based on the qualitative approach.
Keywords: Asian Researcher; Constructivism; Doctoral Study; Ecotourism; Research Paradigm;

220

1. Introduction

It is important that each project should employ existing philosophical assumptions to produce
a masterpiece. Each research project is represented and supported by the researcher’s own
philosophical thoughts or understanding. Wearing et al. (2005) argued that studies related to
tourism should continue to be critiqued and evaluated by a range of philosophies that are
available. However, in tourism studies, the research paradigms are fundamental to be included
but are rarely mentioned and studied by researchers from tourism and hospitality fields (Jones
1998 as cited in Li, 2013: 82). Accordingly, this paper aims to assist future tourism researchers
to understand the basics of research paradigms and how it can be applied in the research
context. This paper aims to provide a clear understanding on the research paradigms based on
published literature within the tourism field and critically analyse its roles in a research
project.

To achieve this mission, I will explain how the research paradigms played a role in the
successful embarkment of my doctorate study. A personal reflection of adopting research
paradigms is useful for. future tourism researchers to have trust on their adoption of the
research paradigm in their research projects. In my position as a tourism sociologist, I adopted
the constructivist research paradigm as the philosophical assumption to undertake my doctoral
study. The following section will explain the concept of research paradigms and the four
fundamental research paradigms currently applied by tourism researchers and doctorate
students around the world. Each paradigm has been applied in my doctoral thesis and provides
an avenue on how it should be applied and explained. The topic I chose for my PhD was on the
social transformations of local communities through ecotourism for sustainable livelihoods
through the use of a case study of the Sukau and Bilit villages of the lower Kinabatangan area of
Sabah, Malaysia. In my PhD, I applied the research paradigms because my belief was that it
could guide my research and pave a way to produce interesting results.

1.1 What is a research paradigm?

Neuman (2006) suggested that a paradigm in science is a general logic or mode of thought.
Guba (1990: 17), considered ‘paradigm’ as a “basic set of belief(s) that guides action”.
Accordingly, a paradigm enables a researcher to discover various solutions to a problem and
helps the researcher understand what the problem is and how people look at it (Babbie, 2004).
According to Guba and Lincoln (1994: 107), a paradigm could be referred to as “a group of
basic beliefs (or metaphysics) that is concerned with ultimate and first principles used to
describe a person’s understanding of the world”. More recently, Li (2013: 82) described the
term ‘paradigm’ in her research as “a pattern of our beliefs, attitudes and worldviews which
affect the way people know reality, acquire knowledge and interact with the world”. In the
same vein, I conceptualized that a paradigm could be considered as a researcher’s way of
thinking about a particular reality (in this context ecotourism) and gain knowledge from the
study’s subjects as well as construct a basic belief to undertake the research. According to
Filstead (1979 as cited in Li, 2013: 82) a paradigm has four objectives:

i. As a guide to a discipline to indicate the problems confronting the discipline;

ii. As a developmental explanatory scheme that places problems in a specific framework

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that permits attempts to solve them;

iii. To establish criteria for appropriate ‘tools’ (i.e., methodologies, forms of data
collection) to solve disciplinary problems, and;

iv. To provide a framework in which these phenomena can be identified as existing in the
first place.

Therefore, it is imperative and affirmative that each researcher acknowledges the
paradigm in their research to see the world differently. Consequently, I adopted a qualitative
research based on the constructivist paradigm, which is also well-known as the ‘interpretive
social science paradigm’ in

literature (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Neuman, 2006; Jennings, 2010). To provide consistency, the
term ‘constructivist paradigm’ has been applied throughout this paper.

Guba and Lincoln (1994) in their writings argued that there should not be a question
about which paradigm is best or superior per se for analysis when doing research. Rather, the
researcher should consider which paradigm is the most appropriate to achieve specific
objectives. Thus, a researcher’s selection of an appropriate paradigm is a fundamental
prerequisite to achieve the successful completion of a research project (Li, 2013). Creswell
(2009) acknowledged that there are four elements that could be considered when choosing a
research paradigm in any research, namely: (1) the research, (2) the problem, (3) the
methodology, and (4) the expected outcome. However, scholars (Guba, 1990; Guba & Lincoln,
1994) established several criteria to distinguish between paradigms. The three main
perspectives can also be defined as the characteristics of each paradigm such as ontological,
epistemological, and methodological, which could be applied in social sciences research. These
three criteria or perspectives may include a fourth, which is called axiomatic or ethical (Li,
2013). The subsequent section explains the characteristics of these perspectives and how it
can be applied in research. Also, a summary (see Table 1) of those perspectives is also
presented at the end of this section.

1.2.1 Ontology

Ontology can be considered as a type of question to determine a research paradigm. Generally,
ontology is related to the nature of ‘reality’ (Guba, 1990; Guba & Lincoln, 1994). The basic
question to ontology is “What kind of being is [a] human being?” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000: 19).
Alternatively, ontology is about “What is the nature of reality?” and “What can be known about
reality?”. To link the constructivist paradigm, the ontological perspective assumes that realities
are relative in nature, are different from one individual to another and derive from individual
minds (Guba, 1990). In order to study a phenomenon, everyone has his or her own perspective
and there are multiple explanations to describe a phenomenon (Saufi, 2013). This is based on
the researcher’s knowledge and experiences to describe the nature of a reality. Therefore, in
order to develop an understanding of a phenomenon, a constructivist scholar adopts an
inductive (instead of deductive) approach to study and undertake his or her research in the
empirical world (Jennings, 2010). Based on my understanding, in a simple language, ontology
tell us what the reality is like. Through my doctoral study, I managed to answer this question.

In addition, the constructivist paradigm is applied to discover how subjective matters
(which could be seen in the form of expressions, opinions, perceptions, beliefs, preferences,
disfavours, or attitudes of the observed participants) are engaged in the real context.

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Henderson (1990) claimed that the constructivist paradigm is also utilized to group
participants’ behaviours based on how they see the world (Saufi, 2013: 57). In the context of
tourism, this paradigm enables us to understand the destination communities’ (hosts)
perceptions about their surrounding environment and tourism development (Walle, 1997). In
the current research context, the constructivist research paradigm was applied to understand
the perceptions and opinions of the research participants and to see the world from their
perspective to understand their relationships between each other (the participants), their
environment and their participation in ecotourism activities in the study’s location.

1.2.2 Epistemology

Guba and Lincoln (1994: 108) viewed ‘epistemology’ as related to question of “What is the
nature of the relationship between the knower or would-be knower and what can be
known?”. In other words, epistemology deals with the nature of the relationship between a
researcher and his or her research project (the research participants) (Guba, 1990; Guba &
Lincoln, 1994; Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). Epistemologically speaking, the constructivist paradigm
assumes that the researcher’s perspectives are influenced by their interaction with the
research object, for instance, the research participants. Thus, the researcher and those being
studied have an inter-subjective relationship in a particular research context (Jennings, 2010).
In such a relationship, the researcher’s perspectives influence their analysis of the construct of
the realities of those being studied (Guba, 1990). Based on constructivist epistemology, the
researcher considers himself a subjectivist. In relation to epistemological perspectives, the
researcher also uses the term ‘participants’ or ‘informants’ for the research object and use
informant numbers (e.g. Inf. No.) when quoting the participants’ words in his/her thesis.

To my advantage, I had experience in conducting research activities since 2014 when I
was recruited as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for several community projects which
were fully funded by the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) and Ethnography and Development
Research Unit (UPEP), Universiti Malaysia Sabah. These projects were led by UMS and were
fully focused on the community and natural resources at the upper and lower Kinabatangan
areas of Sabah, Malaysia. Through these projects, I had gained field experiences and
established networks among the coastal communities who had resided in the upper and lower
Kinabatangan areas for decades. I had also established a strong rapport and close relationship
with the communities by staying for a couple of months in both villages. During the timeframe
of these projects, I studied tourism-related issues within the lower Kinabatangan area and
managed to publish several research articles and present my research papers in both national
and international conferences. For this current study, I managed to visit the study sites (Sukau
and Bilit villages) in 2014 and was interested to undertake my doctoral study to address issues
related to the social transformation of the local communities through ecotourism for
sustainable livelihoods. These villages were chosen because ecotourism-related activities were
fully managed by the local communities and had benefited them by upgrading their socio-
economic status. Thus, I was interested to study the issue of the social transformations gained
by the local participants, especially those who were actively involved in ecotourism-related
activities since its establishment in the 1990s. The preliminary visit to both villages enabled me
to be an ‘insider’ in the community, who then became my research participants. Consequently, I
was able to experience the social life of the research participants. By being an ‘insider’,

I was also able to gain a deeper understanding of the observed phenomena (Jennings,
2010). In doing so, I collected empirical materials from ‘emic’ perspectives (the perspectives of

223

insiders as a result of being a part of the participants’ social life that are being studied)
(Jennings, 2010).

1.2.3 Methodology

Methodologically, a paradigm can be determined and identified by the question of “How
should the inquirer (researcher) go about finding out knowledge?” (Guba, 1990: 18). Similarly,
Guba and Lincoln (1994: 108) suggested that a researcher can identify his or her research
paradigm methodologically by asking the question of “How can be inquirer (would-be-knower)
go about finding out whatever he or she believes can be known?”. From a methodological
point of view, the constructivist researcher develops ‘realities’ by grasping research
participants’ world views or constructions of these realities and by comparing the constructions
with those of other research participants’ constructions to achieve a consensus (Guba, 1990).
Basically, a constructivist will gather data pertaining to subjective matters that are related to
the research participants’ social lives (Neuman, 2006; Creswell, 2007). This approach is directly
linked to the research problem, and questions are developed by the researcher at the initial
stage of the study to identify the process of how social experiences are made and interpreted
(Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). The qualitative research approach is deemed appropriate to study
issues related to social lives and is often applied by the constructivist (Jennings, 2001; Veal,
1997). In addition, qualitative research methodologies help the researcher to consider the
research subject’s knowledge and experiences in the analysis of the whole research process
(Neuman, 2006).

In the context of this study, the qualitative research approaches were applied to address
the research questions. Two fundamental justifications identified why the qualitative approach
was deemed as the most appropriate in this study. First, was the complexity in understanding
human behaviours which is connected to ecotourism (the issues of transformations gained by
the research participants through ecotourism) (Veal, 1997; Jennings, 2001; Phillimore &
Goodson, 2004). Second, this research employed the case study strategy in which qualitative
methods were required to understand the lived experience and behaviour (Patton, 2002; Yin,
2003). Casley and Curry (1981: 61-63) claimed that a case study strategy provides an in-depth
and detailed analysis. In the context of this study, the in-depth and detailed analysis concerned
the issues of social transformation experienced by local communities who managed to uplift
their quality of life through ecotourism activities in both villages (Sukau and Bilit) in the lower
Kinabatangan area in Sabah. Issues of social transformation of local communities through
ecotourism in the study’s sites had been limitedly explored and documented in previous
ecotourism literature. Thus, the current study was carried out to fill in the gap as well as enrich
the current body of knowledge regarding ecotourism. As mentioned earlier, subjective matters
in a community’s social lives may be difficult to observe using the quantitative approach. Thus,
the qualitative approach was the most appropriate to be employed in this study. Arguably,
Jennings (2000) mentioned that the choice of methodology and methods by the researcher
are based on the appropriateness to the focus of the study rather than debating which
methodology and methods have a better position for utilization. Accordingly, a number of
qualitative research methods were applied (in-depth interviews, observation, secondary
resources) in this study to answer the research questions and objectives, as discussed in the
subsequent section.

1.2.4 Axiology

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Axiology is associated with basic beliefs, values, and ethics (Guba & Lincoln, 2005). Based on
the axiological standpoint, this research was concerned with my own values in the process of
collecting and interpreting empirical data (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Jennings, 2009). In addition,
I believe that the current research was fully based on ethics and the values that influenced it.
In this study, I valued subjective interpretation (human behaviour) over objective inquiry, and I
allowed values to influence the research design. Correspondingly, I chose the constructivist
research paradigm for the study and believe this philosophical thought allowed my experience
in ecotourism-related research to resonate.

In addition, as a tourism researcher, I had a deep interest specifically in studies related
to community- based tourism (CBT or CBE), tourism planning and tourism impacts. As indicated
above, I had a strong field experience in the lower Kinabatangan region as I had visited the
area several times to conduct fieldwork research on CBT-related issues. For instance, in 2014, I
went to the Bilit village for my first pilot study and stayed there for several days at the local
community’s homestays as a paying guest. During the stay, I started to communicate more
freely with the local community, especially those who were engaged in ecotourism-related
activities such as by offering homestay programmes or becoming tour guides. Staying and
mingling with local community at Bilit village increased my familiarity with the local culture
and gave me the opportunity to build a strong rapport and partnership (Tuli, 2010) between
them, which lead to the generation of in-depth and rich data. Through this, I came to
understand and was interested to study about the social transformations of local communities
through ecotourism in the Bilit village, which was overlooked in past ecotourism research. In
addition, my position as an insider (Malaysian and local), an academic staff (a tourism lecturer
from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan) and a researcher (a doctoral candidate from Universiti
Malaysia Sabah) gave me additional access compared to an external researcher who may face
added difficulties due to differences in local culture, language and trust with the locals. By
having such strengths, a case study approach was deemed relevant for adoption in this study.

Table 1: Characteristics of research paradigms and its perspectives

Existing Ontology Epistemology Methodology Axiology Potential areas of
research (the position (the view on (the model (the role of tourism research
paradigms on the nature what behind the values in
of reality) constitutes as research research and the
acceptable process) researcher’s
knowledge) stance)

Positivism Realism Objectivism Hypothesi Value-free ✓ Behavioural
s testing and etic research

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Post- Critical Objectivism Modified Value-laden ✓ Satisfaction
positivism realism quantificatio and etic
n ✓ Tourism
impacts

✓ Tourism
forecasting

Critical theory Value- Subjectivism Interactive ✓ Marketing
laden process that research
realism seeks to
challenge ✓ Tourism
commonly-
held notions management
✓ Negative

social impact
of
tourism on

the host
community
✓ Relationship
between
tourism
organization
power related
to tourism
planning.

Interactive or Relativism Subjectivism Process of Value bond and ✓ Host-guest
constructivism reconstructin emic interaction
Both g multiple
Pragmatism External. objective realities Value bond ✓ Customer
Multiple and through and etic- emic service
and view subjective informed evaluation
chosen to point of consensus
best enable view ✓ Tourists’
answering Mixed or
of research multiple experiences
questions method ✓ Tourism
designs from
quantitative Impact
and ✓ Cultural
qualitative
approaches tourism
✓ Travel

behaviour

Source: Guba, (1990); Guba & Lincoln, (1994); Denzin & Lincoln, (1994); Jennings, (2001);Li, (2013)

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1.2 Reflexivity

Finlay (2002: 209) viewed reflexivity in the qualitative perspective of “where researchers
engage in explicit self-aware meta-analysis”. Reflexivity describes the presence of a researcher
in the whole process of his or her research where this presence ultimately influences the
outcome of the research (Guba & Lincoln, 2005). Back then, anthropologists (realist tales)
diligently recorded their observations in the field in an effort to prove that their scientific
credentials “have gradually given way to more personal ‘confessional tales’ where researchers
describe decisions and dilemmas of their fieldwork experience” (Finlay, 2002: 210).
Sociologists like Bailey (2007: 119) defined reflexivity as “the researcher’s active consideration
of his or her place in the research”. Finlay (2002: 211) also described reflexivity as when
qualitative researchers attempt to be aware their role in the construction of knowledge and
engages in the process of self-analysis which deals with subjective elements’ impact on data
collection and analysis in an effort to enhance trustworthiness, transparency and
accountability. Flood (1999) mentioned that “without some degree of reflexivity, any research
is blind and without purpose” (as cited in Finlay, 2002: 209). In the context of tourism
research, I acknowledge that the reflexive perspective is very important to be adopted by
researchers, especially those who study ecotourism and other types of tourism research
involving the community. Thus, I strongly considered for research to have some degree of
reflexivity to strengthen the findings and be free from bias. Mruck and Mey (2007) suggested
that reflexivity is related to a situation in which the researcher engages his or her feelings,
emotions, and personal capabilities during the research (as cited in Saufi, 2013: 70). For
instance, the doctoral research topic was chosen in the early stage of study that suited my
knowledge, personal characteristics and experience.

Accordingly, I believed this approach, therefore, was suitable in the current study. I had
strong interest in tourism research, especially the sociology of tourism, community-based
tourism (CBT) and community development studies. My study focused on social
transformation issues of the community through ecotourism which was subjective in nature
and which needed knowledge about the community. Furthermore, my previous bachelor and
master’s degrees in sociology and social anthropology benefited me with knowledge on how to
engage in community studies and had helped me to understand the real contexts of local
communities in Sabah. Thus, my position as a tourism sociologist enabled me to undertake the
current research project with more enthusiasm. The knowledge and experience I gained
previously had assisted me in pursuing further research with the current topic.

1.3 Moving Beyond Positivism to the Constructivism Perspective

I chose the constructivist research paradigm as my central philosophical underpinning where
the issue studied was largely subjective in nature. Over recent decades, this philosophical
thought was given priority and had gained acceptance from social science researchers (Guba &
Lincoln, 1994). Previously, the positivist paradigm was popular and dominated the field of
social sciences as it assumed that the world was independent and unaffected by the
researcher when studying a particular phenomenon. This paradigm was largely associated with
the field of natural sciences and employed quantitative methods to study causal relationships.
The cause-and-effect was the central element of the examination of the social phenomena,
which was emphasized by this paradigm (Phillimore & Goodson, 2004).

227

When studying tourism, the positivist paradigm was given full emphasis on the causal
relationships which embedded the issue of ‘objectivity’ or the truth of tourism. The deductive
approach was favoured by the positivists when collecting empirical data using quantitative
methods such as through surveys and mathematical formulas as the basis to discover
objectivity. However, non-positivists criticised this approach when studying a social
phenomenon. The proponents of non-positivist argued that positivists overlooked the issue of
subjectivity where people are attached to their behaviours (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Guba
explained that the “positivist contend[s] that there is reality out there to be studied, captured
and understood, whereas the post-positivists argue that reality can never be fully
apprehended, only approximated” (Guba, 1990: 22). Additionally, Guba and Lincoln (1994)
claimed that the positivist paradigm is applied by the researcher when the researcher believes
only in the existence of a ‘real’ world. Thus, issues related to social elements like moral or
aesthetic matters are excluded from the inquiry (Phillimore & Goodson, 2004: 35). Thus, it is
the time to shift from positivism to constructivism and to study subjective matters related to
tourism and its impacts to the hosts who experience them. There is a call from scholars to
employ relevant research paradigms when studying a social phenomenon, particularly for
qualitative research in tourism. Phillimore and Goodson (2004: 37) stated:

“Tourism research has, throughout its development, employed
qualitative methods, it has yet to embrace, with any conviction,
a qualitative approach to research. Despite the prominence of
anthropological and sociological influences in qualitative
tourism research, there would appear to be few who have
pushed the paradigmatic boundaries. While it is clear that
qualitative methods have become more widely used and,
arguably, more accepted as a legitimate approach to research, it
would appear that many researchers are still operating within
the boundaries of a limited range of epistemological, ontological
and methodological frameworks”.

Accordingly, as a sociologist, I adopted my own paradigm for this study which was
derived from the constructivist paradigm. The methodological and philosophical shortcomings
of positivism when studying subjective issues seriously gave a wakeup call from the non-
positivists. They urged the need to adopt a different paradigm when studying social issues,
especially issues related to human behaviour in tourism (Jamal & Hollinshead, 2001; Phillimore
& Goodson, 2004; Hollinshead, 2006; Hollinshead & Jamal, 2007). Riley and Love (2000)
observed that researchers (especially non-positivists) questioned positivist research because
the inquiry does not fully address questions of understanding and meaning, nor does it permit
the researcher to produce interpretive and reflective accounts of tourism behaviour in its
natural setting (as cited in Sonne, 2013: 112). Additionally, Hollinshead (2006) suggested that
current existing alternative paradigms offered researchers the shift to the constructivist
paradigm and other alternative paradigms within human sciences. He also noted that although
these approaches may lack the rudiments of traditional positivist approaches, they are
relevant to “map the kind of contesting and changing realities of the differing mixed social and
mixed cultural settings which are increasingly encompassed in encounters in tourism and
travel” (Sonne, 2013: 112).

As mentioned earlier, this study utilized the constructivist paradigm as its philosophical
stand. The adoption of constructivist paradigm enabled me to gain an emic’s (insider’s)

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perspective and understanding of the transformation issues experienced by the participants
through their active participation in ecotourism activities in the Sukau and Bilit villages of the
lower Kinabatangan area of Sabah. Secondly, it provided me with new knowledge pertaining
to the issues related to social transformations of the local community through ecotourism,
which is scarce in ecotourism literature. The advantage of the constructivist paradigm is
evident, but was criticised by Bryman, where the relationship between the researcher and the
study participants is subjective in nature rather than objective (Bryman, 2004). Nevertheless,
this criticism can be overcome if future researchers consider the utilization of different
qualitative research methods to ensure the validity of the data (Jennings, 2001).

1.4 Conclusion

I believe that my review on research paradigms in tourism research could be of interest to
future tourism doctoral students and researchers who are interested to apply the research
paradigms in their research projects. It is always a challenge to new postgraduate students,
particularly doctoral students, to master the philosophical underpinnings or knowledge and to
select the appropriate research paradigm in their studies. Sometimes, they may not be
required to adopt research paradigms in their doctoral study, which I assume may be due to
lower interest and less guidance from their supervisors. However, I believe in the saying that ‘if
there is a will, there is a way’ and I stress that each doctoral student should master the research
paradigms and include them in their research projects. This is vital because adopting a research
paradigm in any research could enhance the value of the research undertaken by the
researchers, especially for doctoral students. In tourism research, for instance, lack of
attempts by past scholars to adopt the research paradigms in their projects may potentially
limit the value or credibility of the research findings. Thus, it is my suggestion that research
paradigms may become a way to overcome this problem and may increase the motivation
among young scholars to consider applying any research paradigm in their studies. In line with
the concern raised by some tourism scholars, I welcome and encourage future tourism
scholars and students to explore the use of appropriate research paradigms in their upcoming
research projects. With that note, the review of research paradigms and its application
presented in this paper is hoped to motivate future scholars and students to understand and
adopt this change.

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Proceedings of the 3rd International Language & Tourism Conference 2019
Sustaining Global Development Goals through
Language, Education and Tourism

Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University
Malaysia, Pagoh Edu Hub, Malaysia 18th-19th October 2019

STREET FOOD PROFILING: A CASE STUDY OF JONKER STREET, MELAKA

Siti Nurhayati Khairatun*1

1 Department of Food Service & Management, Faculty of Food Science & Technology,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, MALAYSIA.
(E-mail: *[email protected])

ABSTRACT
Street food is one of the many tourist attractions in countries around the globe. Because
of diversity in geographical and cultural facets, street food has reflected the uniqueness
of local taste and ingredients in their food preparation. Due to its copious food offerings,
street food offers a rich gastronomy landscape to both local and foreign tourists. The
incomes generated from this tourist site is estimated to reach billions. Previous literature
revealed that many popular street foods sold were a representation of local food
heritage. However, in line with a recent trend in food globalization, street food is now
commercialized beyond its authenticity. In Malaysia, street food has become part of the
food culture among the food enthusiasts. This paper presents a street food profiling of
one of the most popular tourist attractions in Melaka, Jonker Street. The main objective
of this study is to develop a street food profile of Jonker Street. An on-site observation
was conducted to examine the types of food sold and the range of prices offered. A
descriptive analysis was completed to characterize the street food. The findings indicated
that most of the food sold here are representing international and trendy flavor rather
than local. This study also proposes a research framework for street food characterization
in Malaysia.

Keywords: Street food; Profiling; Observation; Jonker Street; Melaka

232

1. INTRODUCTION

Around the globe, local street food areas are some of the most visited attractions by
tourists. Each country’s street food scenes offer their own gastronomy uniqueness,
distinct flavors and creative presentations. In 2017 alone, it is estimated that travelers
spent more than US$186.8 billion on food while traveling (GlobalData, 2018). The
economic impact is huge because tourists spend about 25% of their total expenditures
on food while traveling. According to a survey conducted by World Food Travel
Association (2016), 81% of respondents have experienced and learned about local
culture by consuming the food when they visited a destination. They also believe that
experiencing the local food they would have a better understanding about the local
culture. In an effort to ensure food tourism as part of the sustainable tourism
activities, it must respond to the demand and need of its customers.

Many studies investigated the street food from the consumers’ behaviors perspectives,
application of regulation and policy, and practices of food safety and hygiene among the
street food vendors in order to understand this industry better. Tourists today are
seeking local flavor and identity because food tourism has been evolving rapidly in
recent years (Rivera, 2018). However, with advancement in technology, accessibility to
wireless networking, and interactive social media which open up communication among
the world community, street food is compelled to adapt to the current demands and
trends as well.

This paper presents a street food profile generated from data collected through an
on-site observation made on street food vendors along Jonker Street, Melaka. The
profile consists of types of food sold and their range of prices. This paper also argues,
contrary to the literature, that street food sold at Jonker Street has adapted to
contemporary, international and trendy flavors rather than preserving its traditional
and heritage flavors.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

The integral relationship between food and tourism is indispensable. This part
explains the literature on food tourism, street food and its current research trend. The
selection of Jonker Street as the research setting for data collection is also justified
here.

2.1 Food Tourism

People travel with a multitude of purposes including work, business, leisure, study,
and dining, just to name few. In the U. S, about 25% of people travel to experience
local food and cuisine (U. S. Travel Association, 2019). A survey conducted by Malaysia
Tourism Promotion Board (2018) indicates that 13.4% of tourist expenditures were on
food and food was the third top item purchased (82.8%) after handicraft/souvenir and
apparel/clothes. Food is a vehicle for inclusion, economic development and national
cohesion (United Nation World Tourism Organization, 2016). The term food tourism is

233

also used in tandem with food travel, culinary tourism and gastronomic tourism,
though they may differ in some ways depending on the context referred to. World
Food Travel Association (2019) defines food tourism as an act of travelling for a taste
of place in order to get a sense of place. Food tourism, or gastronomic tourism, is
tourism where the primary purpose of traveling is to visit a specific gastronomical
region, to seek out producers of food, to visit food festivals, or to explore on tastings
and any activity relating to food (McGuire, 2017). Food tourism may include activities:
cooking with locals; eating at locals’ homes, restaurants, street food, tasting
workshops of locally made food products; touring farms, fairs or local markets; and
also taking part during harvesting season (Centre for the Promotions of Imports-
European Union, 2019). Studies found that food tourism plays a role in creating job
opportunities for the locals (Mnguni & Giampiccoli, 2016), to provide a platform to
boost the local economic, to promote innovation and marketing supports (Nwokorie,
2015), and to enhance the competitiveness values of the attraction spots (Rinaldi,
2017). Importantly, food tourism supports the initiatives to preserve local food
ingredients and producers such as the certification of geographical indicator for
Tiramisu cheese (Italy), Champagne wine (France), Bario rice (Malaysia), and Kobe
beef (Japan). Based on a domain analysis done by Ellis, Park, Kim, and Yeoman (2018),
food tourism consists of five themes: motivation, culture, destination orientation,
management and marketing, and authenticity. Thus, food tourism is significantly
related to exploring authentic experience and cultural elements.

2.2 Street Food

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2016) defines street food as
ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared or sold by vendors by the streets. Due to
its easy accessibility, cheaper prices and abundant choices, it attracts people from low
and middle class income groups. In many countries, street food is normally sold by the
locals, even though the influx of immigrants may change the culinary landscape of
that particular place. Street food, in fact, contributes to food tourism experience for
the tourists because it represents the image of the location (Privitera & Nesci, 2015).
Tourists indulge in street food because they perceive the food as an authentic value
which is significantly associated with the local history (Newman & Dhar, 2014) and
ethnic identities (Henderson, 2014). In Malaysia, some streets are very popular with
their street food and become tourist attractions. Street locations such as Gurney Drive
(Penang), Jonker Street (Melaka), Jalan Alor (Kuala Lumpur), just to name a few, are
listed in many tour guides as a must-go place for their street food.

2.3 Jonker Street

Jonker Street, one of the popular tourist attractions in Melaka, is situated along the
Chinatown of Melaka. This street, also known as Jalan Hang Jebat, offers various
interesting places and activities throughout the year. Built during the Dutch
occupation in mid of 19th century, some heritage buildings are the landmarks here
including Baba Nyonya’s Heritage Museum, Cheng Ho’s Cultural Museum, Cheng Hoon
Teng Temple, Kampung Kling Mosque, Kampung Hulu Mosque, and Sri Poyyatha

234

Vinayagar Moorthi Temple (Hotels.com, 2019). During daytime, Jonker Street is
occupied with tourists who want to shop and dine at the shops and restaurants along
the old buildings. While the street food sold here is only available during the
nighttime on Friday and Saturday evening from 6pm to 12am. A travel blog
highlighted a number of must-try street foods such as Chicken Rice Balls, Satay Celup,
Nyonya Asam Laksa, Curry Fish Balls, Nyonya Popiah, Fried Quail Eggs, Nyonya Chang,
Pie Tee, Cendol Gula Melaka, Egg Tarts and Pineapple Tarts (Dahodwala, 2018). Other
examples of local snacks and meals available at Jonker Street food stalls include Apam
Balik, Fruit Sticks, Dim Sums, BBQ Giant Scallop, Ice Cream Rolls, Coconut Water Balls
and Sambal Lala (Leong, 2015). Figure 1 shows a map of Peninsular Malaysia where
Melaka is located.

Figure 1: Melaka is located in the south of Peninsular Malaysia.
2.4 Current Research Trend on Street Food
Research on street food has gained great attention from researchers around the
world. Based on a Google Scholar search with keywords “street food”, recent top 15
articles were focused on the consumers behaviors, regulations, hygiene and safety
practices of the street food preparation. The ways of street food prepared are
evidently not in compliance with food hygiene standards and always exposed to risk of
food poisoning and contamination (DeWaal & Rober, 2017). Due to the growing
concern of street food safety, many studies aimed to address similar issues. A summary
of latest articles on street food is outlined in Table 1.

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Table 1: List of publication on street food

Author(s) Research Title
Dai, Zhong, & Scott (2019)
From overt opposition to covert cooperation:
de Freitas, da Cunha, & Stedefeldt (2019) Governance of street food vending in
Nanjing, China
de Santana & Amparo-Santos (2019)
Food safety knowledge as gateway to
Ghartey, Adu-Oppong & Doku (2019) cognitive illusions of food handlers and the
Hill, Mchiza, Puoane, & Steyn (2019) different degrees of risk perception
Institutionalization of street food in the
Isoni Auad, Cortez Ginani, dos Santos Leandro, modern urban space: Conformations,
Stedefeldt, Habu, Yoshio Nakano, Costa tensions and conflicts
Santos Nunes & Puppin Zandonadi (2019)
Kocatepe, Keskin, & Kaya (2019) Personal hygiene practices of street-food-
vendors in a rural district in Southern Ghana
Letuka, Nkhebenyane, & Thekisoe (2019)
Food sold by street food vendors in Cape
Nizame, Alam, Masud, Shoab, Opel, Islam, Town and surrounding areas: A focus on food
Luby, & Unicomb (2019) and nutrition knowledge as well as practices
Okumus, & Sonmez (2019) related to food preparation of street-food
vendors
Oliveira, & de São José (2019)
Sarker (2019) Food trucks: Assessment of an evaluation
Tadesse, Mitiku, Teklemariam, & Marami instrument designed for the prevention of
(2019) foodborne diseases

Ukenna, & Ayodele (2019) The effect of frying–the chemical,
microbiological, and acrylamide
composition of mussels as a street food

Assessment of food safety knowledge,
attitudes and practices among street food
vendors and consumers’ perceptions of street
food vending in Maseru Lesotho
Hygiene in restaurants and among street
food vendors in Bangladesh

An analysis on current food regulations for
and inspection challenges of street food:
Case of Florida

Food handling practices and microbial
quality in street food

Consumer behavior on street food in
Bangladesh

Salmonella and Shigella among asymptomatic
street food vendors in the Dire Dawa city,
Eastern Ethiopia: Prevalence, antimicrobial
susceptibility pattern, and associated factors

Applying the extended theory of planned
behavior to predict sustainable street food
patronage in a developing economy

236

Shiningeni, Chimwamurombe, Shilangale, & Prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in street
Misihairabgwi (2019) vended ready-to-eat meats in Windhoek,
Namibia
3. METHODOLOGY

Data collection process in this study employed a systematic on-site observational
approach. This unobtrusive method is deemed appropriate to use because there is no
direct involvement between the researcher and the subject observed (Veal, 2017).
There are five phases of data collection process: 1) select a tourist location 2)
determine the site framework 3) begin on-site observation 4) collect data and 5)
analyze data. A flow chart of the data collection process is presented in Figure 2.
According to Saldana and Omasta (2017), it is important to outline the objective of
study before deciding on how to conduct the observation.

Figure 2: A flow chart of data collection process.

To begin with, this study identified a suitable tourist attraction in Melaka. The selection
of Jonker Street as the main location for this study was done based on recommendation
from TripAdvisor (2019) and Traveloka (2018), both are online travel advisory and
guides. These travel advisories placed Jonker Street as one of the top ten interesting
places to visit in Melaka. As Jonker Street offers both food and non-food items, the
sample selected for the purpose of this study was restricted to the street food vendors.

In the second phase, the tourist site was measured and marked. The vendors’ stalls
arrangement was on both sides of the street and this has caused the street
overcrowded with visitors. The on-site observation began at point A and ended at the
same point. Figure 3 shows Jonker Street on a Google map marked with red color and
the observation starting-exiting point is marked A. The entire observation process was
completed within approximately 3 hours in one visit, i.e. 7pm until 10 pm. The day
selected was on weekend evening. There was no festival held during the data
collection process. The principal researcher was accompanied by an assistant for

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security reason throughout the process.

Figure 3: The Jonker Street food stalls area is marked in red.
For the data collection stage, each stall was observed individually and data was
recorded manually. An identifier was given only to every food stall. Non-food stalls
were counted in but not labelled. Two types of profiles were identified: types of food
sold and their prices. Most of the food stalls would have their menu and price tags.
But for stalls without price tags, a brief question was asked to the vendors: How much
is this …..?. All data were written in a field notebook and kept safely until the data
analyzing process.
The data analysis was done by cleaning the raw data first. Then, all data was tabulated in
Microsoft Excel. Identifiers for each food stall were retained. Keywords were used to
identify types of food sold. Next, data was further categorized into three major themes:
1) food, 2) desserts/snacks, and 3) beverages. For price profile, similar food type was
grouped and price was classified from the lowest to the highest for that food item.
4. MAIN RESULTS
A total of 230 stalls were observed and there were 134 food stalls. The results presented
are based on the food stalls observed. The street food profiles are characterized into two
major categories: 1) types of food sold and 2) range of prices.
4.1 Food Profile
Each category is summarized in bar charts as shown in Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6.
A comparison between contemporary and local foods is presented in Table 2.

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Notes. Specialties Oyster: fried osyter and oyster omelette; Chicken: salted egg chicken
Figure 4: Types of food sold at Jonker Street.

Notes. Specialties Ice cream: fried, durian, and yogurt; Snacks: chicken intestine,
Taiwanese style, and dragon breath; Popiah: Japanese style

Figure 5: Types of desserts/snacks sold at Jonker Street.
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