Sense of place of host community in tourism development : the case of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Sabah

• Main Author: Wong, Paulin Poh Lin
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: G154.9-155.8 Travel and state. Tourism
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37777/1/24%20PAGES.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37777/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37777/

Residents, or the 'host community' are often an understudied stakeholder in tourism. Specifically, the literature disregards sentiments of attachment which the host community develops for place. Sense of Place (SoP) is defined as the emotional, cognitive and functional bonds with place. In Sabah, Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (TARP) has transformed from a local recreation site into an international tourist and faces increasing demand for activities and space. Destination sustainability is a key concern for national parks management and raises the need to understand what visitors care about and to protect such experiences. This study identifies and interprets the experiences and relationships of the host community in Kata Kinabalu towards TARP. Understanding place meanings provides an insight into the uniqueness of place, and informs peopleplace relationships. This understanding could guide parks management to minimize potential negative impacts, preserve and utilise local SoP to provide quality tourism experiences. As place meanings are complex, this study employed an interpretive inquiry paradigm and an innovative combination of focus group interviews, Visitor Employed Photography and an adapted Q-methodology for data collection. This combination of pictorial and verbal measures enhanced the ability to evoke participants' memories and the adapted Q-method application, enabled the systematic extraction of group place meanings. This qualitative research design incorporated triangulation of methods to enhance the trustworthiness of findings. Four groups of hosts consisting five individuals each participated in a two-part data collection that includes focus group interviews and visits to TARP to take photographs of meaningful scenes for each group. Eight sets of transcriptions and two hundred fifty photographs were derived for analysis. All.AS.ti 7 was used for data interpretation. Results derived include five main positive themes with two subthemes each: 'Hedonia-seeking'; 'Aesthetics Appreciation'; 'Companionship'; 'Ephemeral Escapade'; 'Being Host' and three negative themes: 'Crowdedness', 'Observing Island Changes', and 'Underwater Devastation'. Themes produced the TARP Host Meanings framework which validates Pearce's Place model, albeit for hosts. A Typology of Host Community Visitors with four categories was derived and demonstrates their relationship with TARP: 'Enthusiast', 'Associate', 'Ambivalent' and 'Disconnected'. Finally, the Place Meanings Matrix addresses the transformation of relationships with TARP due to tourism. This study contributes to the literature on preserving and applying host community SoP in planning for tourism. Host community place meanings could play a role in destination sustainability if incorporated into park management plans.