Leisure,+Sports+and+Tourism+4

Leisure at the local scale: tourism Case Study: Malacca Source CULTURE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM: Models for Co-operation among Stakeholders A Case Studyon Malacca, Malaysia Submitted to UNESCO Office of the Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific = = = Discuss the strategies designed to manage tourist demands, maximize capacity and minimize conflicts between local residents and visitors, and avoid environmental damage. =

**1. Manage tourist demands and maximing capacity**
Malacca is expected to receive 3 million visitors in the year 2000 which is a 20% increase from the 1999. As the major attraction to Malacca is the history and the heritage which are concentrated at the old city (site / study are), we could possibly expected all the visitors will be coming to the site (stop-over or passing through).
 * Summary:**
 * Have clear targets for visitor numbers and type of tourists**
 * Have a wide range of attractions and activities**
 * Create publicity and information materials**
 * a. What is the site's target of visitors per year?**

The state aims to attract all kind of -- budget & high-income, students & professionals, back-packers & golfers, traditional & modern. The State Government of Malacca has started an aggressive promotion and publicity to attract those tourists through 8 sectors or tourism products. Each sector has set up their own Working Committee comprised of related agencies and NGOS. The 8 sectors are as follow: i. Historical & Cultural Heritage Sector ii. Recreation (Eco-Tourism) iii. Sport (golf & water sports) iv. Shopping v. Convention vi. Education vii. Health ('Resort Hospitals') viii. Agriculture (Agro-Tourism)
 * b. What kind of tourist is the municipality hoping to attract (budget, high income earners, etc)?**

From the 8 sectors, history and cultural heritage are the main focus of the State as the name Malacca itself is saleable without much problem. Malacca is known to every Malaysian for her history and legends. People learn about Malacca through history subject in school since the primary level. Therefore a visit to Malacca is a must to all the Malaysian as this is the birth place of the nation. Due to this reason, all of the subjects mention in the school's history book (historical sites, monuments and artefacts) are the top priorities for the conservation programme. Most of these have been gazzetted as National Monuments and well maintained by the Department of Museums and Antiquities. These are to focus of the promotion made by the State. The main target group for the year 2000 is the school children in which a special package has been design for the schools tailors to their requirements.
 * c. What schemes are being planned to achieve these objectives?**

The package includes visiting the historical sites and the museums. To date Malacca has a number of 15 museums and 10 of them located at the site / study area. Among the ready facilities to receive the visitors to Malacca are as follow : i. 8 golf courses of International Standard. ii. 8 shopping complexes. One of those is one of the largest in Malaysia. iii. 14 convention and resort hotels have upgraded their facilities for the MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention & Exhibition) programmes. The 14 hotels make-up 3,675 of rooms (62%) out of the total 5,900 rooms (56 hotels) in Malacca. iv. 4 private specialised hospital v. 17 higher learning institutions most of all are the twinning colleges with the foreign universities mainly the US, UK and Australia and 3 public Universities.

1. Are there local tour guide services? There are a number of 80 local tour guides in Malacca under Malacca Tour Guides Association (MTGA). They mostly attached to Malacca Association of Travel & Tour Agent (MATTA) with only 5 of them are freelances. The municipal did not raise money from the association.
 * d. Current schemes implemented by the municipality**

2. Sales of books, brochures, maps, etc. : The municipal / government did not raised money through this scheme. All brochures, tourist maps and small booklets are given free to publics.

3. Are public toilets available ? There are 4 toilets buildings in the site providing 15 wc & 10 urinals for male and 20 wc for female. The charge is 0.20 cent.

4. Does the municipality organise stage shows ? There are at least 3 mega stage shows organised by the municipal / state government every years. The shows are : i. Festival of Malay Drums This festival on every April attracted participant from the Malay world mainly in Southeast Asia. ii. Independent Day Celebration Organised every year on the eve of 30 August until mid-night. The shows include cultural dances of the various ethnic groups and stage show by the popular Malaysian pop singers. The venue is at the study area. iii. Stage shows during the Water Festival every June at KlebangBeach, 10 km from the city. All the stage shows organised by the municipal are free for the publics.

1. What are the tourist's reaction to the above schemes ? Tourist are quite please with the facilities in Malacca, in fact the foreign tourist only pay what the local pay without any extra charges. However, for the local, there are expecting free entry for the museums as they believe this should be part of the government social obligation to the people for education.
 * e. Evaluate the effectiveness of the above schemes.**

2. Do the tourists complain ? The tourist complains: (a) Not enough toilet facilities. They have to queue sometime if the tour coaches arrive on the same time or if the transit visitor from the cruise ship arrive. (b) Expensive taxi fare. Taxi fare are supposed to be cheap and the fares are stated in tourist brochures. If they taxi overcharged the tourist it is beyond the control of the municipal if they do not equip with proof. (c) Traffic-jam A normal scenario during weekends and school holidays. The municipal at this moment is doing a few trial circulation to reduce traffic jam including introducing one-way street etc. but this received a lot of complaint from the local communities. (d) Not many night activities. The site is almost dead at night but the emergence of few cafés housed in heritage building have give a new life to the city. Many local communities however prefer quiet life and the cafes are disturbing due to the noise either from the music or from the youngsters themselves. The celebration during the eve of Year 2000 saw a lot of unexpected events to the surprise of the locals especially the senior folks. The youngster/café guests overflow to the streets, dancing together with foreign tourists and disturbing the passing through traffics. (e) Expensive food The foods and drinks are quite expensive in Malacca for the local visitors. The retailer quite often over charged the visitors in order to get good collection during the peak season.

**2. Minimize conflicts between local residents and visitors**
i. How many of the tour guides are local ? All the tour guides are local. Malacca has a total of 54 registered tour guides under Malacca Tour Guides Association (MTGA). Most of them attach to local travel agencies (MATTA--Malacca Association of Travel and Tours Agencies.) Only a few are freelance.
 * Summary**
 * Get locals involved involved directly and indirectly with the tourism industry and ensure they benefit**
 * a. Services**

ii. How many of the restaurants/food outlets are owned and run by local? 95% of the food outlet are owned and run by local Malaccans. Only a few (5%) big restaurants and café owned b outsiders (Kuala Lumpur and Singapore) but run by the locals and served local (and western) cuisines.

iii. How many of the accomodation facilities are owned and run by local ? All hotels and guest houses owned and run by local except the international class hotels. One heritage hotel (Puri Hotel) is operate by the Singaporean an the house belong to the Singaporean Millionaire who anchester were Malaccan Strait-born Chinese.

iv. How many of the sourvenir/craft shops are owned and run by local ? All of the craft stalls operated by the members of Malacca Petty Trader Association and Malacca Art Society. All the souvenir/craft shops located in heritage house and owned by the house owners. This include art galleries and antique shops.

v. How many locals are employed in traditional performing arts ? Malacca State Government has established a local cultural troop since 1989. The group comprises of 10 male and female dancer and singer and 10 musicians. The group performed traditional Malay, Chinese, and Indian dance and music at every state fuctions and dinners. There are also Indian Temple of Fine Arts perform during the temple activities, the Peranakan group of the Strait-born Chinese and the Portuguese Cultural group. These are all locals and mostly youth and students. The Portuguese group is the most active performing at many hotels. All of the cultural groups are oversee by Malacca Cultural Council established by the government and the coordinated by Department of Art and Culture.

i. How many locals are involved in volunteer programmes of heritage conservation ? There is not yet any volunteer programmes for heritage conservation or heritage activities. A heritage NGO, Malacca heritage trust was only established in 1999 brought together all the related professional and local community from various ethnic groups. However the Trust has not yet put forward any activities related to conservation programmes. Since, any conservation projects have to go through Malacca Museums Corporation for approval, the museum's personnels provide supervision and consultation to every project schemes.
 * b. Conservation:**

ii. How many locals are employed in heritage conservation schemes ? Until to date, there is no local contractors registered for conservation project. However despite the works being offered and carry-out by outside contractors, 50% of the carpentars and labours are the local including sub-contractors.

i. How many people are employed by the tourism industry ? ii. What percentage of the total labour force does such figure constitute? Detail figure not available. It involved many related government deparment and agencies, private compaanies such as travel agents, guides and NGO. However the emergence of many new companies and businesses related to hospitality are very promising. Similarly to the increase number of café, arts and shops entertaiment outlets.
 * e. New job opporturnities and the emergence of new industries.**

a. Has the growth of the tourism indusrty led to a displacement of the local community ? No. But certainly house owners within the tourist area has converted their house into a cormmecial shop selling sourniers, craft or café but some opted to move from area and let the house to tenant for commercial use.
 * Evaluate**

b Has the tourism industry replaced local industries (i.e. farming, fishing)? No. However some land rclamation project has affected the fishing industries badly especially the coastal fishermen. However, the introduction of agro-tourism for the past few years has led the to the success of agricultural sector.

c. Has the large number of visitors had a negative impact on the spiritual life of the community ? Difficult to determine. Large number of the visitors did not giving an impact to most of the religious activities but some activities were over done to obtain tourist attention.

d. Has the growth of the tourism industry led to a change in the material culture of the community (i.e. clothing, daily utensils, lighting fixtures)? No. The people are more influenced by the Malaysian, Hong Kong and Western artists and film stars through TV and magazines.

e. Has the presence of visitors led to high levels of visual (signs, boards, etc. ) and noise pollution ? Not serious and still at an acceptable level by the local publics and visitors.

**3 Environment Damage**
a. Garbage The garbage collection system is very realiable in Malacca. However the garbage disposal is always a problem in tourist area especially at the study area during peak season. This is because of not enough garbage bins an the attitute of the visitors. Providing more garbage bins means more visual pollution at the present number of garbage bins are actually too many.
 * Not so successful**

b. land reclaimation (negative) A letter from a visitor

We are Finnish families who have fallen in love with the great beauty of the Malaysian landscape and people. After many memorable vacations in Malacca, we bought condominium units at the Tanjung Kling area. But in recent years, we have been devastated to witness the extensive reclamation work going on at Malacca’s beach. We have seen how the incredibly immense reclamation work has created irreversible damage to the environment, especially at the Klebang area.

The reclamation is now continuing into new areas which may further destroy the shoreline fronting our condominium. We appeal to the authorities concerned to stop this environmental catastrophe for the following reasons: 1. There is an unquestionable non-reversible damage to the ecology of the state in general, and to the area in particular. 2. For centuries, the Malacca Straits has been a key element of Malacca’s historic beauty. It is a definite attraction for locals and tourists, and so the reclamation has destroyed Malacca’s image. Many tourists have expressed great disgust at this ravage on the sea. 3. The coast which is important to Malacca and to the whole of peninsular Malaysia should not be destroyed. 4. Malaysia is a nature-loving nation. How can this kind of damage be allowed? 5. Sea frontage restaurant owners and fishermen will lose their livelihoods causing hardships to their families. 6. Residential homes and businesses suffer from sand and dust not only now but for years to come. 7. Rivers are blocked due to the moving sand and much rubbish is collecting up river. 8. There is no shortage of land in Malacca. Why reclaim land? Reclaimed land is known to be the most expensive land. 9. There are reclaimed areas in Malacca that have failed. The ‘Manhattan’ for example is a ‘no man’s land’ with neither people nor business ventures there. 10. Since new reclaimed land is not stable, most businesses avoid building anything on such land. 11. The existing sea-front condominiums have hundreds of unsold units. Many have not been completed and there is no demand for new condominiums sites. 12. There is another environmental damage to be considered – the source of all the sand that is being dug up to be shipped to Malacca

Most importantly this is an environmental catastrophe. This kind of work cannot have had a proper environmental study and approval. What is behind this historical damage to the ecology?

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