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       “Tourism planning and stakeholders’ engagements: the case of Penang Island”
                                A.K. Siti-Nabiha
       AUTHORS
                                Nor Hasliza Md Saad
                                A.K. Siti-Nabiha and Nor Hasliza Md Saad (2015). Tourism planning and
       ARTICLE INFO             stakeholders’ engagements: the case of Penang Island. Problems and
                                Perspectives in Management, 13(2-si), 269-276
       RELEASED ON              Tuesday, 28 July 2015
       JOURNAL                  "Problems and Perspectives in Management"
       FOUNDER                  LLC “Consulting Publishing Company “Business Perspectives”
            NUMBER OF REFERENCES       NUMBER OF FIGURES         NUMBER OF TABLES
                   0                         0                         0
         © The author(s) 2022. This publication is an open access article.
                                                                   businessperspectives.org
                                                                                 Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2015  
                 A.K. Siti-Nabiha (Malaysia), Nor Hasliza Md Saad (Malaysia) 
                 Tourism planning and stakeholders’ engagement: the case of Penang 
                 Island 
                 Abstract 
                 Successful tourism developments are born from careful planning, and involving the government, industry, and 
                 community stakeholders. However, actual stakeholder engagement processes are complex and problematic. While 
                 considerable research has been conducted in developed tourist markets, this study aims to determine stakeholder 
                 engagement in tourism planning in a developing country: the Penang Island in Malaysia. Semi-structured interviews 
                 with governmental agencies, industry associations, and community stakeholders were conducted to look at their views 
                 on the engagement process with the local authority (LA) and the current barriers to success. The findings revealed that 
                 the existing engagement process with the LA is insufficient and ineffective, and the key barrier to improvement is the 
                 unclear roles and responsibilities of the multitude of federal, state and local government entities that are involved in 
                 tourism planning and development, and also lack of clear tourism strategy at the state and local levels. Hence, there is a 
                 clear need to delineate the responsibilities of the parties involved, improve coordination, strengthen collaboration with 
                 the stakeholders through improved and effective communication channels, and apply a participatory approach of early 
                 and on-going engagement in tourism planning and development.  
                 Keywords: tourism planning, stakeholder engagement, local authority, developing country, Penang. 
                 JEL Classification: L83. 
                 Introduction1                                                     is complex, complicated and problematic (Hall, 
                 The global tourism industry has experienced  2007). It is not surprising that the key impediments to 
                 tremendous growth in the last decade, expanding and               tourism development, as cited in the few Malaysian 
                                                                                   studies on tourism stakeholders’ engagement, were 
                 diversifying to become one of the largest and fastest-            the lack of local participation and awareness among 
                 growing economic sectors. This is also the case in                the implementers (Hamzah, 2004; Marzuki & Hay, 
                 Malaysia as the tourism sector is a significant  2013; Marzuki, Hay, & James, 2012). Given the 
                 economic contributor. The country’s growth strategy,              economic importance of the tourism industry to 
                                       th
                 outlined in the 10  Malaysia’s Plan, highlights the               Malaysia, it would benefit from a better 
                 importance of tourism sector and targets it to be  understanding of the stakeholders’ perspectives of the 
                 ranked in the global top 10 destinations in terms of              LAs’ engagement on tourism planning. As 
                 global tourism receipts (EPU, 2010). Achieving this               stakeholders’ participation is expected to vary with 
                 ranking requires Malaysia’s tourism administrators to             groups’ objectives and expectations (Tosun, 2006), 
                 plan and implement initiatives that are attractive,  research which examined the views of the 
                 sustainable, in line with the economic and social  stakeholders may identify potential issues of 
                 development objectives, and properly managed,  stakeholder and LA collaboration in the formulation 
                 promoted, and monitored (Sharpley, 2008). Success                 and implementation of tourism plans.  
                 is also dependent on the private sector cooperation               As such, the aim of this study is to investigate the 
                 and partnerships at the local level (Bramwell & Lane,             level of engagement with the LA from the 
                 1999; Hall, 1994). Existing research confirms that  perspective of tourism stakeholders (Federal and 
                 collaboration and participation between local State government agencies, industry associations, and 
                 authorities (LAs) and other stakeholders (government              the community) using a case study of Penang Island, 
                 agencies, non-government organizations, private a major Malaysian tourist destination. The data were 
                 sector, and professional and community groups)  collected through semi-structured interviews with 
                 contribute to better tourism outcomes (Bramwell &  major tourism stakeholders in Penang. The issues 
                 Sharman, 1999; Goymen, 2000; Jamal & Getz, 1995).                 investigated explore stakeholders’ views on the 
                 Consequently, participation of stakeholders in the  benefits of engagement, their level of engagement, 
                 tourism planning and development has emerged and                  and the factors that contribute to the barriers in the 
                 was taken into consideration by many countries  LA stakeholders’ engagement in tourism develop-
                 (Tosun, 2000). Despite the need for stakeholders’  ment in Penang Island.  
                 involvement, actual engagement in tourism activities              1. Stakeholder engagement in tourism 
                                                                                   development  
                 ” A.K. Siti-Nabiha, Nor Hasliza Md Saad, 2015. 
                 A.K. Siti-Nabiha, Associate Prof., Graduate School of Business,   Effective stakeholders’ involvements are vital for a 
                 Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.                              successful sustainable tourism development (Byrd, 
                 Nor Hasliza Md Saad, Senior Lecturer, School of Management, 
                 Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.                              2007; Tosun, 2000; Waligo, Clarke, & Rebecca, 
                                                                                                                                            269
              Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2015  
              2013). Empirical studies suggest that stakeholders’  authority, confused implementation responsibilities, 
              engagement is strengthened if they are given the  and lack of communication amongst stakeholders 
              opportunity to participate early in the process (Gunn,       which fuels mistrust and misperceptions (Ladkin & 
              1994), together with information sharing and  Bertramini, 2002) were also identified as challenges 
              consultative activities (Bramwell & Sharman, 1999).          to stakeholders’ participation. Marzuki et al. (2012) 
              Several researchers have examined how stakeholders           found that the barriers to the participation process in 
              perceive benefits that underpin participation, and  Langkawi are inefficient participation techniques and 
              have cited better decision making, better allocation of      processes, the community’s negative attitudes, and 
              resources and greater improvements of the current  the exclusion of some community stakeholders from 
              tourism practices (Jamal & Getz, 1995; Selin &  the participation process.  
              Beason, 1991; Waddock, 1991). However, the level             Waligo et al. (2013) identified the key factors which 
              of stakeholders’ involvement may differ; some  could enable stakeholders’ engagement such as the 
              stakeholders are responsible for formulating policies,       quality of leadership, the quality and accessibility of 
              others for implementing policies, and some for both          information, and implementation priorities. In 
              formulating and implementing tourism policies  addition, they identified stakeholders’ mind-sets, 
              (Miller & Twinning, 2005).                                   involvement capacity, and relationships as the key 
              Even though various developed countries have  enabling factors of stakeholders’ engagement, which 
              established active participation of stakeholders in  is also influenced by the context and diversity of the 
              tourism planning and development (Tosun, 2000),  stakeholders. Consequently, low levels of awareness, 
              there are evidences that the engagement practice is          feelings of disempowerment, issues associated with 
              tokenistic in nature. Ruhanen’s (2012) study on the          coordination and bureaucracy, fragility of common 
              role of the local government in sustainable tourism          interests, inability to clarify goals, and unwillingness 
              development in Queensland provided interesting  to make significant changes to current behaviour 
              insights. Public participation is still tokenistic due to    occurred among stakeholders (e.g. Cooper, Scott, & 
              the strong role and power of the local government,           Baggio, 2009; Dodds & Butler, 2010; Miller, 
              which acts as a barrier to sustainable tourism  Rathouse, Scarles, Holmes, & Tribe, 2010). 
              development (see also Dredge, 2006). The local  2. Methods 
              government takes the leadership position in 
              facilitating tourism development due to the directive        Penang Island was chosen as the case site in this 
              from the state and federal government.                       study because it is a major tourist destination in 
                                                                           Malaysia.  Georgetown, the capital of Penang, is 
              Studies done in developing countries found limited  listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list. There are 
              public participation in tourism planning. Tosun (2000)       two local authorities in Penang: the Municipal 
              found that there are operational, structural and cultural    Council of Penang that governs the island, and the 
              factors that limit the stakeholders’ engagement in  Municipal Council of Seberang Perai for the 
              tourism planning in many developing countries.  mainland. This study focused on the tourism planning 
              Marzuki et al. (2012) examined the public and stakeholders’ engagement in Penang Island. It 
              participation in tourism planning in Langkawi in  examined the engagement between the LA of the 
              Malaysia and found limited public participation and  island and other tourism stakeholders from the 
              also limited opportunities for the public to be involved     perspective there of. Stakeholder is defined as “any 
              in development and tourism planning.  Marzuki et al.         group or individual who can affect or is affected by 
              (2012) concluded that public participation and  the achievement of the organization’s objectives” 
              stakeholders’ engagement are problematic and face  (Freeman, 1984). In this study, the stakeholders 
              structural and operational problems.                         identified are the government agencies (Federal and 
              There are various barriers which lead to ineffective         State agencies), industry associations, and the 
              stakeholders’ engagement. Apart from that, mistrust          community actors (clan associations) as shown in 
              and misperceptions amongst stakeholders due to  Table 1. 
              insufficient communication (Ladkin & Bertramini,                Table 1. Interview details – organizations, dates 
              2002). Moreover, political practice of a more 
              centralized authority sets barriers to stakeholders’           Interviewees 
              involvement. In addition, insufficient financial  State Agency for Tourism Promotion 
              resources at the local level, limited expertise,               Industry Association 1 
              experience, and competence of tourism planning                 Industry Association 2 
              authorities, and limited commitment by some  State Office of Federal Ministry (SFM) 
              stakeholders were identified as the challenges which           Clan Association 1 
              set barriers to stakeholders’ participation (Ladkin &          Clan Association 2 
              Bertramini, 2002; Tosun, 2006). Unclear lines of               Developmental officer, Local council 
              270
                                                                      Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2015  
              The primary data sources are semi-structured  various literature about inter-organizational collabo-
              interviews with senior management of the three  ration, “communicative” approaches to planning and 
              different categories of the stakeholders. In addition,    local participation that concern three main sets of 
              an officer in charge of the developmental planning at     issues in the proposed framework: (1) scope of the 
              the Penang Municipal Council was also interviewed         collaboration, (2) intensity of the collaboration, and 
              to gain better understanding of the matters related to    (3) degree to which consensus emerges.
              tourism planning in Penang since they have  This study used the several concepts from the 
              legitimate interests in tourism development in  Bramwell and Sharman (1999) that highlighted the 
              Penang. Semi-structured interviews were used to  specific issues of local participation in tourism 
              encourage interviewees to share their views on the        planning, such as “the extent to which relevant 
              issues discussed freely and openly. The interviews,       stakeholders see there are positive benefits to entice 
              about one hour in duration, took place from April  their participation under the scope of collaboration” 
              2013 to June 2013. The interviewees received an  and “when and how often the relevant stakeholders 
              overview of the topic and questions beforehand to  are involved and the extent to which the stakeholder 
              help with their preparation. Except for one, the  groups receive information and are consulted about 
              interview sessions were recorded and transcribed for      the activities of the collaboration under the intensity 
              data analysis. Secondary data were collected from the     of collaboration.” Therefore, the specific questions 
              interviewees’ books and websites. The descriptions  the study attempted to answer are: 
              of the key roles of the stakeholders are as follows: 
              1.   State Office of the Federal Ministry (SFM). The      1.  What are the stakeholders’ perspectives on the 
                   state office of the federal agency acts as the           benefits of engagement in tourism planning with 
                   representative for the federal government in             the LAs?
                   formulating and implementing policies related  2. At which level of engagement are the 
                   to the growth and development of the tourism             stakeholders involved in tourism planning? 
                   industry.                                            Previous studies (e.g., Dodds & Butler, 2010; 
              2.   State Governmental Agency for Tourism Kimbu & Ngoasang, 2013; Ladkin & Bertramini, 
                   Promotion. The agency is a state funded entity that  2002; Miller et al., 2010; Timur & Getz, 2009; 
                   is set up as a company to work with key tourism      Tosun, 2006) have highlighted multiple barriers and 
                   players inside and outside of Penang, to promote     challenges to the stakeholders’ engagement in 
                   Penang to both the domestic and international  tourism planning to alert that their engagement 
                   markets.                                             through effective communication channels and 
              3.   Industry Association 1. The association works  proper guidance plays a vital role in determining the 
                   as the official network for the hospitality sector   sustainability and development of tourism planning. 
                   of Malaysia. It represents the voices of the  As such, this study is also aimed to understand the 
                   industry, works as one body to protect, promote,     barriers that cause the breakdowns in the 
                   and advance the interests of its registered  stakeholders’ engagement. 
                   members.  
              4.   Industry Association 2.        This association 3. The findings  
                   coordinates and organizes tourism related courses 
                   to produce committed and professional human  This study found that the stakeholders perceive 
                   resource in one of the tourism sectors in  benefits in participating with the LAs in the tourism 
                   Malaysia. At the same time, the association looks    planning, such as improved funding decisions and 
                   into the overall interests and welfare of its  coordination between the LA and tourism operators. 
                   members.                                             The level of engagement between the stakeholders 
              5.   The community – The Clans Associations. The          and the LA was found to be limited and ad hoc, and 
                   interviewed clan associations are one of the  mostly focused on building regulations, permits, and 
                   prominent ones in the area. To date, they are  operational matters, such as cleanliness and 
                   seen as one of the major stakeholders as they are    licensing, but not specifically on tourism planning. 
                   one of the major property owners in the core  The interviewees cited a number of barriers to 
                   heritage zone of George Town.                        effective engagement with the LA, including lack of 
              According to Bramwell and Sharman (1999), there  focus on tourism planning and development, which 
              are many potential benefits when the tourism policies     is exacerbated by non-existent or inadequate long 
              are built based on collaboration from groups of  term plans for tourism development in Penang, and 
              stakeholders who are directly or indirectly involved      a large number of governmental organizations with 
              in the tourism industry. An analytical framework has      unclear or overlapping responsibilities for the 
              then developed, which incorporates the thoughts from      tourism planning and development. 
                                                                                                                          271
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...Tourism planning and stakeholders engagements the case of penang island a k siti nabiha authors nor hasliza md saad article info problems perspectives in management si released on tuesday july journal founder llc consulting publishing company business number references figures tables author s this publication is an open access businessperspectives org volume issue malaysia engagement abstract successful developments are born from careful involving government industry community however actual stakeholder processes complex problematic while considerable research has been conducted developed tourist markets study aims to determine developing country semi structured interviews with governmental agencies associations were look at their views process local authority la current barriers success findings revealed that existing insufficient ineffective key barrier improvement unclear roles responsibilities multitude federal state entities involved development also lack clear strategy levels hen...

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