Tourism as a Tool for Poverty Alleviation Using Value Chain Analysis

414 Pages·2014·14.16 MB·English

by  Abd Halim, N

Tourism as a Tool for Poverty Alleviation Using
Value Chain Analysis:
A Case Study of Setiu Wetland, Terengganu,
Malaysia

by
Norhazliza Abd. Halim
School of Management

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

University of Tasmania
November 2014
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby declare that the whole of this submission is my own work and the result of my
own investigation and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no
material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference
is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes
copyright.
I further declare that the work embodied in this project has not been accepted for the
award of any other degree or diploma in any institution, college or university, and is not
being concurrently submitted for any other degree or diploma award.

…………………………………………..
Norhazliza Abd Halim
NOVEMBER 2014
i
AUTHORITY OF ACCESS

This thesis may be made available for consultation, loan and limited copying. This
permission covers only single copies made for study purposes subject to the normal
conditions of acknowledgement in accordance with the Copyright act 1968.

…………………………………………..
Norhazliza Abd Halim
NOVEMBER 2014

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere heartfelt gratitude to all my supervisors
especially Professor Trevor Sofield, who made this research possible. Trevor’s high
level of commitment in providing constructive, timely feedback and mentoring over the
years has been utmost. I am indebted to Trevor for his guidance and support, and for his
belief in my ability to do this research. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor
David Adam and Dr. Allison Dunn, who have also guided and assisted my research and
writing. They have encouraged me with their critical comments for further refinement in
research undertaking.

Along the journey, there were a number of friends and colleagues who have directly and
indirectly influenced me. I would like to express my thanks to all brothers and sisters in
Launceston for the memories to live like home, and to lend me the ears and shoulders
throughout my study whenever the light appeared dim at times. I would like to
acknowledge and thank Professor Amran Hamzah (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) and
his excellent team from the Tourism Planning Research Group (TPRG), who with vast
experiences in Malaysian research culture, education, planning and field of tourism,
provided many positive remarks and guidance in the process of upgrading my study
especially in research methodology and fieldwork analysis. My sincere gratitude to
them, for managed to guide, offer suggestions and assist me throughout the research.

In my fieldwork, I came across several people who I would like to acknowledge. A
warm appreciation to all key persons in my fieldwork especially in Setiu, who I
interviewed for their important views and ideas in different perspectives. My sincere
gratitude for their assistance and contributions. The thesis would not have been possible
without their involvement. I would like to acknowledge Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
and Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, where this study was fully sponsored by the
Government of Malaysia from 2008 until 2012 which included the fees, allowance,
travelling grants and fieldwork costs. This work would never have occurred without the
financial support from the Ministry and UTM. The University of Tasmania (UTAS),
iii
Australia and particularly the School of Management has also provided me with a
fantastic opportunity for learning and growth. The institution, staff and fellow students
have all added to this dissertation in some way.

Finally and most importantly, my sincere gratitude to my husband, Muhammad Suffian
Abd Razak who give up his wonderful job in Malaysia and took a long leave to be here
with me and my beautiful and lovely daughter, Nur Aleesya Sofia who was born during
my PhD completion. This dissertation is for both of you. I most certainly would not have
been able to embrace this challenge and opportunity without your love and
understanding.

iv
STATEMENT OF ETHICAL CONDUCT

The research associated with this thesis abides by the International and Australian codes
on human and animal experimentation, the guidelines by the Australian Government’s
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and the rulings of the Safety, Ethics and
Institutional Biosafety Committees of the University.

…………………………………………..
Norhazliza Abd Halim
NOVEMBER 2014
v
CONFERENCE PAPERS ARISING FROM THE THESIS

Papers arising from this thesis were presented and published in the proceeding of the
following conference:

1. Halim, Norhazliza (2014). Inter-Sectoral Linkages to Tourism for Poverty
Alleviation: Upgrading the Value Chain. Paper Presented in International
Conference on Urban and Regional Planning: Planning in Uncertain World, Johor,
Malaysia, 9 – 11 May 2014. [forthcoming e-proceeding]

2. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2012).The Linkages between Tourism and
Handicraft into Value Chain Analysis for Rural Poverty Alleviation: Case study of
Setiu Wetland, Malaysia [online]. In: CAUTHE 2012: The new golden age of
tourism and hospitality; Book 2; Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference.
Melbourne, Vic.: La Trobe University, 2012: 207-211. Availability:
http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=225262231745390;res=IELB
US [ISBN: 9780987050724]

3. Halim, Norhazliza (2012). Pro-Poor Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation in Setiu
Wetland, Malaysia: Unlocking the Potential of Tourism using Value Chain Analysis.
In Proceedings of 6th Conference on World Conference for Graduate Research in
Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, Fethiye, Turkey, 24 – 29 April 2012.
[ISBN: 9786055437831]; Best Paper Award: Charles Goeldner Recognition Award

4. Halim, Norhazliza (2010). Mainstreaming Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation:
A Case Study in Terengganu, Malaysia. In Proceedings of 2nd World Ecotourism
Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8 – 9 July 2010. (CD-ROM publication
without page number).

vi
5. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2010). Le tourisme au service de la
reduction de la pauvreté en milieu rural. Etude de cas à Terengganu
(Malaisie)[Book Chapter]. In J. M. Breton (dir.), "Patrimoine, tourisme,
environnement et développement durable (Europe-Afrique-Caraïbe-Amériques-
Asie-Océanie)", Série "Iles et pays d'Outre-Mer", vol. 7, Paris, Ed. Karthala, pp.
57-81. [ISBN: 978-2-8111-04030]

6. Halim, Norhazliza and Sofield, Trevor (2009). Mainstreaming Rural Poverty
Alleviation through Tourism in Malaysia: Theoretical Study. In Proceedings of
International Conference on Sustainable and Alternative Tourism, Guilin, China,
11 – 13 July 2009. (CD-ROM publication without page number).

vii
ABSTRACT

Tourism is widely acknowledged as a key economic sector that has the potential to
contribute to national and local development and, more specifically, to serve as a
mechanism to promote poverty alleviation and pro-poor development within a particular
locality, especially in rural areas. However, even though the poverty alleviation
strategies and programmes in Malaysia have been acclaimed as a success by United
Nation Development Programme (UNDP), many problems and challenges remain– new
forms of poverty, including single female-headed households, the rural elderly and
unskilled workers, have emerged as a result of rapid economic growth.

As the focus of this dissertation is pro-poor tourism, though, it is the nature of linkages
between tourism and the local economy that are critical – rather than just the aggregate
size of the tourism sector. This research was undertaken in a protected area, Setiu
Wetland, Terengganu, on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where there is a
relatively high incidence of poverty. It contributes to the debate on the impacts of
tourism on the poor by critically analysing the linkages in the value chains between the
tourism sector and local economic activities. Value chain analysis allows the researcher
to pinpoint who the poor are, where they are, and impediments and obstacles to their
participation in the supply chain. This study will help to fill this gap in the literature by
specifically considering this relationship using tourism value chain analysis for poverty
alleviation. This research explores two sectors in the local economy – fishing and
handicrafts – using value chain analysis to see to what extent they link into tourism
development and to what extent they are able to contribute to poverty alleviation. The
focus of the case study is on local poor people, but does not exclude other stakeholders.
In this context, a case study methodology has been employed and a mix-method
approach was chosen in which distribution of questionnaires to the local households
especially the poor and tourists, and also interviews with key stakeholders i.e. the local
government authority, NGOs, accommodation representatives, and value chain (fishing
and handicrafts) actors at every level were conducted for the research.

viii
The results indicate that the conceptual framework of Value Chain Analysis developed
for this research suggests the following. Firstly, delivering poverty alleviation impact at
scale means helping poor people engage with the tourism market directly and indirectly,
especially with mainstream tourism rather than following the more orthodox approach of
community based tourism ventures which invariably remain small and often fail to
produce liveable incomes. This was generated from the analysis of mapping where the
poor were involved and interacted in the tourism system. Evidence from the fieldwork
revealed that the poor can benefit from tourism in the role of workers such as producers,
(and in many cases of more than five product), and as owners of family-based tourism
ventures. The success of the fishing and handicrafts supply chains in Setiu is due to an
active private sector, supportive and progressive government policies, community
cooperatives and service providers – a model for linking such sectors into tourism.

Secondly, is the identification of interventions/entry points to effectively apply tourism
as a tool for rural poverty alleviation. This was developed based on the opportunities and
constraints arising from value chain mapping that identified so-called ‘entry pressure
points’ where factors in the two sectors could maximize the benefits that they could
generate from their businesses. In this context upgrading the linkages between the two
sectors (fisheries and handicrafts) and tourism-related demand is necessary as
mainstreaming interventions. Value chain mapping also clearly identified, related gender
issues and the role of women in Setiu Wetlands in the two supply chains. Among the
poor in many societies and countries, women make a major contribution to family
welfare and income: where value chain analysis contributes to our understanding of this
common-place phenomenon is the way in which it is able to move from the generalized
statement to specific measurements of their inputs.

As the first study of its kind in Malaysia, the application of value chain analysis to
communities living in and around a Protected Area utilizing the wetlands resources to
explore the linkages between the fisheries and handicrafts sectors to tourism, and
challenging to some extent the orthodox approach to community based tourism and
poverty alleviation, in effect breaks new ground both conceptually and empirically.
ix