Global Ecotourism and Local Communities in Rural Areas

This book discusses global ecotourism and its impact on local communities in rural areas. In recent years, an increasing number of international travelers travel all over the world in search for natural resource-based settings, tranquility and adventure in remote areas. Tourist expenditures create local demands for traded goods and services, thus creating jobs and generating income for local people. This book explores the impact of global ecotourism on the livelihoods of local people in Kinabalu National Park in Sabah, Malaysia, and the extent to which they incorporate daily economic activities in ecotourism industry. This book also suggests a model of rural production (household livelihood strategies) in an ecotourism area which highlights the increase in non-agricultural income from both wage-work and home-based production. The new forms of employment have benefited local women who now have easy access to income. The consequences of world incidents such as the attack on World Trade Center on September 11, 2001; Bali bombing and the outbreak of SARS disease on the arrival of tourists and the livelihood of local people here are also discussed.