Equal Opportunities in Rural Tourism Entrepreneurship: Challenges in Malaysia

Abstract

Summary Malaysia’s rural demography is multi-racial, with a blend of indigenous sub-groups. To advance the socio-economic status of rural communities, the government introduced various incentives and protectionist policies, including targeted measures in tourism development. As rural Malaysia is predominantly home to the Malays, the indigenous Orang Asli and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, these policies are consistent with the government’s constitutional responsibility to safeguard these groups’ welfare. Notwithstanding the equal opportunity premise of the tourism policies, the government’s initiatives to advance rural tourism entrepreneurship arguably benefit some groups more than others. In West Malaysia, this is due to the indigenous Orang Asli’s lack of entrepreneurial readiness, which means that they are less able to capitalize on these opportunities. Consequently, the Malay entrepreneurs reap the benefits of protectionist policies and government aid, while the Orang Asli lag behind in tourism participation. This is arguably the outcome of a broad-brush approach in capacity building, with limited differentiation between the rural communities. Information © The Author 2024