University of Tasmania, Australia

Mrs Norhazliza Abd Halim

Graduate Research Candidate

Contact Details

Project title: Pro-poor Tourism and Rural Poverty Reduction in Malaysia

Abstract
Rural areas constitute some of the main tourist attractions and are home to many less-advantaged people, especially in developing countries. Tourism can have significant impacts on economic and social development in such areas and as such there are linkages between tourism and poverty alleviation. This study aims to understand the concept of Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT), which highlights the role of tourism in poverty alleviation. In order to do so, it adopts an exploratory approach to develop an empirical understanding of this concept. The innovative framework used is an adaptation of Value Chain Analysis (VCA), which provides a systematic approach that can be applied to explore the linkages between the tourism sector and the rural poor. It describes how value is distributed along the tourism value chain and a key objective is to focus on ways it may be adapted to address poverty. Using VCA, this research sets out to identify relevant PPT strategy processes, and how these linkages are strategically managed to alleviate poverty. Since tourism is a relatively important sector in Malaysia, and eradicating rural poverty is also an important policy agenda of the country, it is important to seek and explore how PPT initiatives can help to reduce poverty while boosting the tourism industry in Malaysia.

Keywords
Pro-poor tourism, poverty alleviation, value chain analysis.