MOUNTAIN GUIDING IN KINABALU PARK: AN EVALUATION OF VISITOR SATISFACTION

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Hong Ching Goh

Abstract

Tourism development in protected area could potentially become one of the most
significant sources of revenue and bring substantial benefits to the community living
surrounding protected areas. Local involvement in tourism activities must be
accompanied with capacity building in order to ensure effective participation of local
people. Based on the socio-economic principles of sustainable tourism, this will not
only benefit rural folks but also enhance tourist satisfaction, thereby boosting the
positive economic impact of tourism to support park conservation efforts. This paper
intends to reveal how jobs are created through mountain guiding in benefiting the
local communities. The paper aims to provide an insight into guiding quality
provided by the local members. Personnel from Sabah Parks and mountain guides
were interviewed and feedback through visitor questionnaire survey was obtained
from climbers in Kinabalu Park in 2005. The analysis results reveal the fact where
in despite of efforts by the park authority to create job opportunities to the local
people, training provided to the mountain guides may be insufficient to cater for
climbers’ dynamic expectations, which may thwart income and employment security
of the local people in the long run.

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