Operational Framework for Rural Tourism Destination Management and Marketing Organizations

Malaysia is recognized as a country that has all kinds of tourist attractions within it. Malaysia is famous for its urban tourism, ecotourism, rural tourism, rainforest tourism, island tourism and also culture tourism. The facet of tourism which is the focus of this research is cultural tourism. Cultural tourism is also affected by matters relating to cultural tourism sustainability. Tourism activities in Malaysia, both concerning cultural tourism development as well as the consumption of tourism services and products can have detrimental consequences on the sustainability of cultural tourism in Malaysia. There are studies that have shown that badly managed cultural tourism activities can cause significant detriment to the heritage sites, thus resulting in the cultural tourism activity becoming unsustainable. Examples of these sites include Genting Highlands and Taman Negara, both of which are experiencing an erosion of their cultural value due to the degradation of the environment. This can then have dire consequences on the culture, tourism and the environment.