Tourism Development and Planning at a Local Authority Level: A Case in Manjung, Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

Due to the importance of the tourism industry in the country, it is crucial to ensure that local authorities in Malaysia implement sustainable tourism development. In the 10th Malaysian Plan, the government set a key target to be achieved for the tourism sector. One of the key parties responsible for ensuring that the set targets are achieved is the local authorities, who are responsible for providing proper maintenance because the tourism destinations fall under their area of jurisdiction. The aim of this article is to explore tourism development and planning in one of the popular tourism destination and to analyse the role that local authorities play in the development process. This paper explores the local authorities’ views and opinions on their tourism development area using interview and focus group approaches. The paper also combines the analysis of government policy and planning documents with a review of tourism development literature. The findings reveal challenges and issues that are experienced by the local authorities in regard to setting the direction, development and management of tourism development. The issues of tourism development are then discussed for the government to ensure tourism development sustainability in the long term.