Pelancongan dan pembangunan setempat di Malaysia: Satu analisis SWOT Royal Belum sebagai produk ekopelancongan (Tourism and local development in Malaysia: A SWOT analysis of the Royal Belum as an eco-tourism product)

Abstract

Pelancongan menjadi salah satu industri terpenting kerana bukan saja berupaya mengembangkan dimensi fizikal dan ekonomi negara tetapi juga sektor sosial, budaya, politik dan teknologi. Kajian ini meneliti produk ekopelancongan di Taman Royal Belum dalam pelbagai aspek sejak diwartakan sebagai Taman Negeri dari segi kekuatan,kelemahan, peluang dan ancaman dalam model perancangan dan pembangunan pelancongan wilayah. Pendekatan kajian adalah secara kualitatif dan analisis SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunity and threats) telah digunakan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa Taman Royal Belum sebagai salah sebuah tarikan destinasi pelancongan banyak menawarkan pelbagai keistimewaan seperti flora dan fauna, masyarakat, tanih, pemandangan dan sebagainya. Namun terdapat kelemahan di sebalik kelebihan ini seperti pembalakan di sekeliling, ketidakseimbangan alam sekitar, pencemaran dan kekurangan infrastruktur asas. Permasalahan ini telah melahirkan pelbagai cabaran yang perlu dihadapi oleh pihak berkuasa dan masyarakat secara umumnya untuk merealisasikan hasrat bagi memelihara Royal Belum sebagai salah sebuah aset pelancongan negara.

Katakunci: analisis SWOT, Belum-Temengor, ekopelancongan, NCER, pembangunan mampan, produk pelancongan

Tourim is fast becoming a crucial growth industry not only because of its ability to generate physical and economic development of a country but also to act as catalyst for its social, cultural, political and technological development. This study examined ecotourism products at the Royal Belum Park since gazetted as a National Park in terms of its strengths, weaknesses; opportunities and threats in the planning and development of regional tourism. Qualitative research approach and a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) were adopted. The results showed Royal Belum Park as an intriguing tourist destination offering a variety of exciting features such as flora and fauna, people, soil, landscape. There were, however, certain weaknesses behind Royal Belum advantages such as logging within the vicinity, environmental imbalance, pollution and lack of basic infrastructure. These drawbacks had given rise to various new challenges to be faced by the authorities and local community at large in their effort to realize the goal of maintaining the Royal Belum as a vital tourism asset.

Keywords: Belum-Temengor, ecotourism, NCER, sustainable development, SWOT analysis, tourism products