Academic literature on the topic 'Brunei ; Tourism management'

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, sharing three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. There is rarely research conducted for cross-border tourism (CBT) in Borneo. The study examines tourism development in Borneo then assesses potentials and challenges associated with Brunei-CBT as gateway to tourism in Borneo. A qualitative approach has been deployed focusing on advantages and challenges associated with Brunei as gateway for CBT in the Borneo Island. The analysis has shown that there is great potential in CBT for mobility and connectivity of people, goods, and services in Brunei-CBT's initiative. Brunei-CBT (BCBT) will trigger Brunei's economic shifting from an oil-based country to a service-based economy. Identified challenges mainly concern political support and willingness among participating countries, which may lead to barriers for connecting Borneo through CBT development.

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel and tourism industry, economies, livelihoods, public services, and opportunities globally. This is also observed in the small country of Brunei. As one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19 transmissions, Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through its community-based tourism (CBT). Following Sharma et al.’s resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post‑COVID-19 established in 2021, this study incorporates responses from semi-structured interviews with 16 local CBT owners on the challenges, the management, and the CBT initiatives during the height of the pandemic until today. These initiatives include diversifying more tour packages and utilising local resources and products. Despite the lockdown imposed by the government, which suspended businesses and restricted all travelling, local CBT operations flourished, generated more income for the owners, and created job opportunities for the community. Such efforts have caused the public to appreciate local cultures, the environment, and ultimately increase CBT experiences in the country. While shedding light on Brunei’s unique management of its tourism industry during the pandemic, this paper also demonstrates theoretical and conceptual contributions to the recent literature of resilient and transformational tourism and provide suggestions on how to manage CBT operations during these challenging times.

The outbreak of Covid-19 is the second most devastating event over a century. The pandemic, alongside deep health crises, has ushered the largest economic shocks, which require governments’ attention to ameliorate to avoid an economic downturn. The aim of this study is to measure the economic impacts of Covid-19 in Brunei by estimating the exposure, vulnerability, and resilience of the economy. This study deployed the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction framework to examine the economic impact empirically. The data related to variables of gross domestic product, oil prices, international merchandise trade, tourism, unemployment, consumer price index, money supply, and national accounts were collected from September 2019 to July 2020 and analyzed through the fixed effects panel regression technique. The findings show that the news of the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the weaknesses in energy sectors by having a significant negative impact. Additionally, analysis discloses that the energy and tourism sectors are vulnerable to the shocks of Covid-19. During the peak of the pandemic outbreak, unemployment in Brunei has also escalated. Additionally, the energy and tourism sectors are less resilient to pandemic shocks. The findings indicated that the consumer price index has significantly escalated during the economic recovery process. The findings elucidate that the overall GDP growth rate, international merchandise trade, and the financial sector continue exhibiting better performance amid Covid-19. The findings of this study contribute to developing policy implications for the emerging economies concerned with the economic recovery process during the pandemic.

Borneo is the third largest island in the world sharing three countries; Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. There is rarely research has been conducted for Cross Border Tourism (CBT) in Borneo. The study examines tourism development in Borneo then assesses potentials and challenges associated with Brunei-CBT as gateway to tourism in Borneo. A qualitative approach has been deployed focusing on advantages and challenges associated with Brunei as gateway for CBT in the Borneo Island. The analysis have shown that there are a great potentials of CBT for mobility and connectivity of people, goods, and services in Brunei-CBT’s initiative. Brunei-CBT (BCBT) will trigger Brunei’s economical shifting from oil based country to service based economy. Identified challenges mainly concern about political supports and willingness among participating countries which may lead to barriers for connecting Borneo through CBT development.

Kangaroo Island has embraced sustainable tourism in the hope that it will maintain its integrity as a close-knit rural community. In the centre of the front cover of the Kangaroo Island 1999 Visitor Guide is a photograph of a group of Australian sea lions on a beach. Between the photograph and the garland of native wildflowers which line the border of the cover is a margin of white space. This, along with the absence of humans, conveys a sense of pristine wilderness. The front cover design with its encompassing wreath and purity of white space simulates an iconographic representation which transforms the sea lion picture into a sacred object. The garland of flowers honours the seal in its natural habitat -- the most appealing aspect of the island for the tourist (Warren, personal communication). However, hovering ambiguously among the wildflowers is the possibility that the front cover's frame represents a funeral wreath -- perhaps in memory of those early days when fur traders turned the South Australian island into a slaughterhouse. Or maybe it is as a foreshadowing of the consequences of a tourist "invasion". Despite the sacralising of the seal, the marine mammal remains a commodity to be "consumed" by those who visit. Kangaroo Islanders are aware that tourism has sounded the death knell for many small communities -- in the 1950s the Gold Coast was a small fishing village, in the 1970s Cairns was a sugar cane town -- and are attempting to impose management practices which will control the amount and type of tourism consumption in order to prevent destruction of the island's native wildlife, its fragile biological systems and the authenticity of the local community. Residents' acceptance of the significance of native fauna and flora in recent years is, to some degree, driven by a pragmatism not dissimilar to that of early fur traders: both view the seal as a commodity, although behaviour towards these protected mammals contrasts strongly with past behaviour when sealing was an especially lucrative industry. Although seal numbers have increased, their classification as an endangered species is a legacy to those days when "fur seals [and Australian sea lions] made a valuable contribution to the economy of the colony of New South Wales" as the sale of the skins enabled the new colony to buy imports (Newnham 34). By the end of the nineteenth century changing market demands and severely depleted sources meant native animal skins were no longer a major source of income. Problems of land and wildlife management increased when sheep farming was introduced. With the allocation of land to farming for soldier/settler communities in the twentieth century, heavy tree clearing and overgrazing resulted in problems of soil erosion and increasing salinity levels, problems which also confront those in mainland rural communities. Following the decline in rural commodity prices for sheep, wool and beef in the 1990s, the local community has targetted tourism as one of the preferred alternative industries. Despite some opposition, the majority of locals feel that with proper management and monitoring, sustainable tourism will offer salvation rather than destruction of their island community. Local views are evident in the high profile given to tourism by the Kangaroo Island Economic Development Board (KIDB), "whose 1998-1999 Annual Plan has identified a number of opportunities to develop the Island's tourism infrastructure, and encourage visitors to stay longer and provide more value to the Island" (Islander 9 July 1998). From 1991 to 1993-1994, 85,000 visits per annum of at least one night stay were recorded with an estimated 50,000 additional annual visitors from day trips (Kangaroo Island Regional Tourism Profile 1). By 1998 over 160,000 visitors arrive on Kangaroo Island each year. KIDB's year long visitor exit survey shows viewing the island's wildlife is the main reason why international and interstate tourists travel to the island and is one of the main reasons why intrastate visitors come (Islander 9 July 1998: 6). However, KIDB is aware of local community concern "to [facilitate] development processes particularly towards sustainable development" (UNCSD, Paper 16 22). Community concerns that tourism must be carefully managed to avoid invasion has led to a number of initiatives including the publication of the Tourism Management and Development on Kangaroo Island Working Party Report in 1984 (KI Tourism Policy 1). The publication in 1991 of the Kangaroo Island Tourism Policy acknowledged a need for the island to "diversify and strengthen its economic base" by aiming to be a "specialised destination that emphasises quality before quantity" (12). Kangaroo Island's increasing importance as an tourism destination is also significant to South Australia's ailing economy -- a fact which could impede rather than aid the island's goal to maintain control tourism management. To date they have successfully prevented large scale development. However, Democrats spokesman on Regional Development and Small Business, and local resident of the island, Ian Gilfillan, is reported to be alarmed at the South Australian government's plan to fast-track tourism development. The government's Kangaroo Island Working Group Report talks of "bypassing normal planning procedures" and claims that tourism developments should not have a maximum size imposed upon them but rather should be "determined by commercial factors". Gilfillan fears that the government's "fast-track" development policies "will not only jeopardise Kangaroo Island's unique environment, but will also ensure that profits from tourism will mostly leave the Island and go to the mainland, interstate or overseas" (Islander 22 January 1998: 1). In 1998 a residents' survey conducted by the KIDB indicated that 89 per cent of islanders felt that tourism was either "good" or "very good" for the island (Islander 14 May 1998: 2), whereas the proposed tuna farm at Penneshaw was least supported with only 17 per cent saying it was "good" or "very good" and 60 per cent saying it was "bad" or "very bad". Residents' opposition to the tuna farm is evident in a number of letters to the editor of the Islander. Newspaper articles express concern about the impact of the industry upon the local Australian sea lion population, the island's major tourist drawcard. Besides discouraging tourism, the industry might lead to the "attraction of sharks, entanglement of marine mammals and waste disposal" problems. Support from "CSIRO experts and marine researchers" also lent weight to the local position (Islander 9 Apr. 1998: 1&3). The Kangaroo Island 1999 Visitor Guide markets the island as "nature's pleasure island" implying that it welcomes low impact tourism for those who want to experience a combination of wilderness and comfort. Words such as "visitor", "guests" and "invited" construct an image of the island as a destination for those who might willingly fit Urry's definition of the Romantic traveller -- those wishing to escape so called mass or intensive tourism (46-7). A number of Letters to the Editor of the Islander reinforce the concept of the island as a supportive and hospitable community, as excerpts from the following letter illustrate: The island is magic, but it is magic because it is what it is, and the locals are unpretentious, fun loving, good hearted and innovative. Tart up the island too much and impact negatively on the natural environment and laid back style, and visitors will find somewhere else to go. Kangaroo Island is one of the last places on earth where we can experience what the planet might have been like if we hadn't wrecked it in the pursuit of wealth and power. And the locals remind us stressed out city folk of the joys of a simpler life style. (Islander 2 April 1998: 9) Trish Edwards has visited the island eight times. She advises the islanders that "visitors want to meet locals and get a feel of what it is like to live in such a magical place" and that tourism "needs the anchor of human interaction to make [a location] memorable". Her enjoyment of the island is based upon the seeming lack of "front stage/backstage" hospitality and tourist performance (MacCannell 92-93). Her letter reinforces the concern some local residents expressed to me in interviews I conducted, namely, that tourism must be contained and kept under the control of the local community so that an "invasion" does not destroy what is at the very heart of the island's appeal: its authenticity as a small rural community in a location of great natural beauty where visitors can view wildlife in its natural habitat with minimum impact to that environment. But is this realistic? Tourism is a massive global industry based on our consumer society with its insatiable demand for new experiences and new places. Travel and tourism is the world's largest industry, directly and indirectly accounting for 11.7 per cent of world's gross domestic product in 1999 (WTTC 1). There were 650 million international travellers in 1998, and predictions are that the number will double in the next decade. An estimated 30 to 40 per cent of tourist demand is for nature-based experiences (WTTC 1). This 21st century threat of invasion will be very difficult for Kangaroo Islanders to contain. References Centre for Tourism and Hotel Management Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast. Kangaroo Island Regional Tourism Profile. Adelaide: South Australian Tourism Commission, 1996. "Commission Hears of KI's Concerns." Islander 9 Apr. 1998: 1&3. Eastick, A.B. "Tourism Key to Island's Continued Growth." Islander 9 July 1998: 6. Edwards, Trish. Islander. 2 Apr. 1998: 9. "Focus is on Tourism." Islander 14 May 1998: 1-2. Kangaroo Island Tourism Commission Survey. Kent Town: Tan Research, 1998. Newnham, W.H. Kangaroo Island Sketchbook. Adelaide: Rigby, 1975. "Report Not Looking at Real Issues." Islander 22 Jan. 1998: 1. Tourism Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island South Australia 1999 Visitor Guide. TKI Inc. 1999. United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. Briefing Papers, 1999. Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. London: Sage, 1990. Warren, M. Personal interview. 16 Sep. 1998. World Travel and Tourism Council. Travel and Tourism Economic Impacts: March 1999. London: WTTC, 1999. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Sandra Brunet. "Is Sustainable Tourism Really Sustainable? Protecting the Icon in the Commodity at Sites of Invasion." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.2 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9903/tourism.php>. Chicago style: Sandra Brunet, "Is Sustainable Tourism Really Sustainable? Protecting the Icon in the Commodity at Sites of Invasion," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 2 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9903/tourism.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Sandra Brunet. (1999) Is sustainable tourism really sustainable? Protecting the icon in the commodity at sites of invasion. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(2). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9903/tourism.php> ([your date of access]).

The purpose of this research was to analyse the content and context of tourism stakeholder management in Negara Brunei Darussalam and to investigate stakeholder views on tourism management, planning and development. The author attempted to identify the web of stakeholders as perceived by the main key groups of players in the tourism industry in the months leading up to the sultanate's first ever 'Visit Brunei Year 2001'. In addition, she attempted to investigate the underlying causes of ineffective tourism management in Negara Brunei Darussalam, which operates under a strict Malay Muslim Monarchy ('Melayu Islam Beraja' or'MIB') system of governance and national philosophy. Many hold the view that developing the tourism industry in Negara Brunei Darussalam is a necessary stepping-stone towards diversification from its dependence on oil and gas. However, very little effort has been made to educate the general community on its benefits and disadvantages. In addition, only a very select group of people are directly involved in its planning and development leading to conflict in the community. Little has been said about real community support of tourism development and on the impact it may have on its stakeholders. The present study has attempted to do this. Problems in tourism management, planning and development are expected to arise because of Negara Brunei Darussalam's inexperience in this field, lack of coordination and planning between government and private sectors; and, perhaps due to conflict between its MIB philosophy and the perceived negative nature of the tourism industry. Research was conducted in several stages from November 1999 to February 2001. Data collection from the fieldwork was elicited through questionnaires administered by four trained interviewers in all four districts in Negara Brunei Darussalam and through in-depth interviews with selected tourism stakeholders by the author. The author observed that key players of tourism were relatively unaware of the concept of community participation in tourism development and planning, as well as the identity of a wider range of tourism stakeholders. The community at large does support tourism development and planning and expectations for accrual of tourism revenue and benefits are high. Many in the private sector have voiced the view that the government should do more to give this industry a boost. Similarly, the governmental body believes that a pro-active private sector is needed for sustainability of this industry. An alternative model to western stakeholder management is proposed that is applicable to this small Muslim sultanate.

COVID-19 struck the world, and nothing has remained the same. The various industries of the world can attest to how much effect the abrupt disruption amounted to their various sectors and how much it affected them in terms of revenue generation, human resources, and flow of operation. Although some were eventually able to gain their footing by being able to leverage technological solutions, tourism felt the brunt of the pandemic as the operations were brought to a sudden halt, and the tourism sector found it very challenging to cope. Many were let off their jobs, and what used to be a great source of revenue generation for several economies suffered a great loss. The pandemic without any doubt served as a wakeup call to the reality of the not-so-effective state of the tourism sector. Technology brought about the solutions with which other industries withstood the ravaging challenges of the pandemic. The digital world is the new normal for the world, and for the tourism industry to grow, it must find the best way to leverage technological solutions.

Academic research on film tourism has been around since the early 1990s, but the popularity and extensiveness of research in this area has increased in recent years (Hahm, Upchurch & Wang, 2008; Beeton, 2010), with a number of studies examining the increase of visitor numbers to film locations (Beeton, 2005; Busby, Brunt, & Lund, 2003; Cousins & Anderek, 1993; Croy & Walker, 2003; Gundle, 2002; Kim & Richardson, 2003; Riley, Baker, & Van Doren, 1998; Riley & Van Doren, 1992; Schofield, 1996; Tooke & Baker, 1996; Di Cesare et al., 2009). Similarly, the impact of films on people's image formation has been widely acknowledged in the literature (Butler, 1990; Gartner, 1993; Iwashita, 2003). Films are not generally produced with the intent to attract tourists to a destination, but tend to influence viewers indirectly as a background part of the movie's message (Butler, 1990; Hudson & Ritchie, 2006). This is because they can present millions of viewers with substantial information about a destination, create a first-time image, or alter an existing image in a relatively short period of time (Hahm et al., 2008). Thus, this study makes a modest attempt in the direction of identifying the relationship between film tourism and tourist's desire to travel, which is a cross national comparison between India and China.