Community Based Tourism and Quality of Life

Community based tourism (CBT) has been acknowledged as a tool for community development through tourism projects. Majority of the rural communities involved in tourism to reap its economic benefits since theoretically an increase in income gained from tourism activities will improve their quality of life. This paper is intended to explore factors influencing rural communities’ quality of life in Malaysia, particularly those who manage homestay program. It is important for tourism development program to highlight quality of life issues in order to manage and sustain the program for the benefit of its community. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding of the community based tourism project in Malaysia by exploring its current development and its implication towards community in rural area. It is suggested that the quality of life of residents who operate homestay will largely depend on their own attributes economically, government involvement, community role and the issues of sustainability.