The future course of Malaysia’s total tourism endeavour — which is to aspire to be the lead global tourist destination — relies mainly on sustainable and responsible tourism, where instances of these include ecotourism.
The Director General of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia), Dato’ Dr. Ammar Abd Ghapar (pic) told BusinessToday exclusively that the National Energy Transition Roadmap 2023 (NETR 2023) have several positive impacts on the tourism sector where clean energy initiatives can enhance the overall attractiveness of a destination, reduce its environmental footprint, and offer unique experiences for tourists.
Eco-Tourism Opportunities: Transitioning to clean energy sources like solar and wind power can reduce the carbon footprint of tourist facilities and activities. This initiative aligns with the growing demand for eco-friendly tourism, where travellers seek destinations prioritising sustainability and environmental conservation. Malaysia can promote itself as a sustainable and eco-friendly tourist destination, attracting a segment of environmentally conscious travellers.
Clean and Healthy Environment: Clean energy sources can lead to reduced air and water pollution, making the environment more attractive for tourists. Cleaner air and water can enhance outdoor activities such as hiking, water sports, and wildlife watching, all of which are popular tourist activities in Malaysia.
Improved Infrastructure: Developing clean energy infrastructure can also lead to improvements in overall infrastructure. For example, better roads, transportation, and energy-efficient buildings can enhance the overall visitor experience and encourage tourists to explore more areas within the country.
Cost Savings: Adopting clean energy sources can lead to cost savings for businesses in the tourism sector. Lower energy costs can result in reduced operational expenses for hotels, restaurants, and attractions, which could offer lower prices or better amenities to tourists.
Diversified Tourism Offerings: Malaysia can leverage its clean energy initiatives to diversify its tourism offerings. For example, it can develop eco-friendly tours and activities related to clean energy production, such as guided tours of solar farms or wind energy installations. These unique experiences can attract tourists’ interest in learning about sustainable energy practices.
Marketing Advantage: Malaysia can use its commitment to clean energy transition as a marketing advantage. Promoting the use of clean energy in promotional materials and tourism campaigns can attract environmentally conscious travellers and set Malaysia apart from competitors in the region.
Long-Term Sustainability: Clean energy transition contributes to long-term sustainability, ensuring that the natural beauty and resources that attract tourists are preserved for generations to come. This long-term commitment to sustainability can enhance the country’s reputation as a responsible and forward-thinking destination.
Dato’ Dr. Ammar said: “It all boils down to the effectiveness of implementation and promotion of clean energy initiatives within the tourism sector. Collaboration between the government, tourism industry stakeholders, and environmental organisations is now crucial to ensure that the NETR 2023 positively impacts the tourism sector. And, this is the future that many world travellers seek. As an example, ecotourism or green tourism means we cannot interrupt Mother Nature’s makeup where any form of development has to be strictly regulated and abided by without destroying any part of nature, which is most important.”
“Malaysia’s sustainable tourism or the development of the industry today has to be centred on the ‘tourism assets’ Malaysia already has, like the long list of tourist spots highlighted over decades, to ensure that we do not fall behind neighbouring countries. So, when we’re talking about ecotourism, it is not only about greenery or the beauty of an eco-system, but it is also about the sustainability of the way of life, our multiracial society and culture which has not eroded over time,” Dato’ Dr. Ammar added.
He also highlighted that Tourism Malaysia’s role is to align with the National Tourism Policy towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) by reinforcing the role of tourism as a catalyst for economic development in a sustainable, responsible and inclusive manner. This includes advocating responsible tourism in the management of fragile tourism destination areas (UNSDG Goal 12), managing the development of tourism islands in synergy with conservation by repositioning the tourism islands as premier marine ecotourism destinations, practising inclusive tourism development to include women, youth and disadvantaged groups, including reinforcement of the role of tourism as a catalyst for rural empowerment (UNSDG Goal 8), and developing a data reporting mechanism for sustainable tourism that is aligned with the UNSDGs (Goals 8, 14 & 15).
The Paradigm Shift
There is a constant need to educate people, awareness of the correct traits must be there as it involves all Malaysians and this process is well underway with the ministry. My task is for us to be number one, and the critical point is to ensure that there is a high-level awareness and spirit in every Malaysian to help achieve the aim. We have to know that tourism is a major contributor to the economy. And value is built up with greater conservation means to protect nature, for example, knowing about how using less detergent or recycling benefits environmental sustainability.
The issue now is how we go about enhancing knowledge within our people of what is green tourism all about and how they can contribute. Promoting Malaysia’s tourism cannot be shouldered solely by the government as it must be a collective effort by all.
Again, it is important that we express our strengths, which takes the form of the multiracial people, with diverse background living in harmony in a united Malaysia.
Collective Involvement
Different races and ethnic groups working together, to promote the nation is a blessing. This is what people have to understand when talking about community-based tourism. Each of us has the responsibility to promote the nation. This is one of our pillars for Visit Malaysia Year 2026, the main being educating the people. So, in order for us to be the number one destination, we have to ensure the environment is way beyond the mark.
Mind you, we are not against any development in the course of promoting tourism, but we have to abide by government policies. Now, for example, glamping is something new. The concept is not to disturb any of the trees and leaves nature as it is.
Tourism Today – Family Bonding
We must understand the need for tourism today. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism landscape and travel trends have changed. People now seem to travel in smaller groups and many don’t want to spend much time in big cities.
Tourism today is also an important means for family bonding, consciously or unconsciously this creates value. This bond also takes care of teaching other values like cleanliness. They also pass down the need to recycle.
Sustainable tourism does not mean that you don’t develop tourism infrastructure. If there’s no demand, there are no new hotels or theme parks. We must also push surrounding sectors like using electric vehicles to reduce emissions. Sustainability is balance. So, this must be controlled so as not to destroy nature.
Volunteer Tourism
Cleaning up beaches and caring for wildlife are parts of volunteer tourism which gives credence to sustainability. This is one result of education and awareness.
Dato’ Dr. Ammar said Tourism Malaysia is driven by the number of tourist arrivals. We need to be sustainable or the world will shun us. We believe we have set achievable targets, of 24.6 million tourist arrivals for 2025 and 26.1 million for Visit Malaysia Year 2026 and we all must work together to achieve these goals.
As Malaysians, we should be proud of our country being multi-racial and we have a lot of culture to offer, and history shows travellers appreciate these.
