These villages are carefully selected by the ministry and in order to participate in the homestay programme, they are obliged to follow the strict guidelines that have been laid down. In return, the programme also benefits the locals, whereby they can be directly involved in the tourism industry. This shows the country is smart in making use of the villages in terms of its artistic and socio-cultural customs that have been well maintained and preserved. As Malaysia is made up of 13 states, each state may offer different homestay experience and therefore, visitors will find that each homestay has its own uniqueness and specialties. In 2017, Malaysia received a total of 382, 961 homestay tourists (domestic and international) and generated a total of RM30.1 million in income, an increase of 8.6% from RM27.7 in 2016. Of the 21,165 international tourists who joined the homestay programme in Malaysia from January to March 2018, 48.5% of them were from South Korea, followed by Japan (13.7%) and Singapore (12.7%). By receiving a total of 11,488 foreign tourists between January and March 2018, Sabah, the second largest and most northern located state of Malaysia, came in first as the state with the most number of homestay visitors from the overseas, followed by Johor (3,909) and Selangor (2,099).
Co-operatives in Malaysia, especially those in the rural areas are highly encouraged to directly involve in the tourism industry as it will help them to increase their income, offer job opportunities to locals and diversify business activities involved by co-operatives. The National Co-operative Policy 2011 – 2020 also has identified Tourism as one of the five areas of high value economy as Entry Point Projects (EPP) that can be focused by co-operatives. As of April 13th, 2018, the number of co-operatives in the country that run homestay programme has reached 43 while the total income recorded by them in 2017 has reached RM8.3 million. The number of international visitors who stayed at homestays operated by co-operatives has doubled to 30,989 in 2017 from 15,817 people in 2016. Some of the homestays operated by co-operatives in the country have received recognition at the ASEAN level. One of them was Mukim Batu Puteh Kinabatangan Tourism Co-operative (KOPEL), which has received award for community-based tourism at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2017 in Singapore. KOPEL has been operating the Miso Walai Village Homestay since 2000 in Kinabatangan, Sabah. Seven other co-operatives have received ASEAN Homestay Award: 1. Kampung Parit Bugis Muar Homestay Co-operative (Parit Bugis Homestay) 2. Seterpa Kelantan Homestay Co-operative (Seterpa Homestay) 3. Lonek Jempol Homestay Co-operative (Kg. Lonek Homestay) 4. Walai Tokou Kundasang Homestay Co-operative (Walai Tokou Kundasang Homestay) 5. Benjamin Angki Co-operative (Homestay Benjamin Angki) 6. Bersatu Maju Hulu Chuchoh Co-operative (Banghuris Homestay) 7. Bukit Kuda Labuan Homestay Co-operative (Bukit Kuda Labuan Homestay) In 2015, ANGKASA introduced “Coopstay” brand as one of the efforts to rebrand homestays managed by co-operatives in Malaysia and open opportunities for them to bring business activities based on tourism to a higher level. Under this program, co-operatives receive integrated training and guidance especially on the Standard Operating Procedures of homestay management. For more information on the Malaysian Homestay Programme, visitors can visit the official website of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, www.motac.gov.my, where they can also retrieve the full list of all homestays in the country.
» Visitors are enjoying the local home-cooked meals provided by the host family.
» Buggy services are provided by the Bersatu Maju Hulu Chuchoh Co-operative for their visitors.
» Visitors get to participate in activity such as making “lemang”, a traditional Malay delicary, which is usually eaten during Eid-al-Fitr.
» Catching fishes using just your hands give a rare insight of village lifestyle to the visitors.
August 2018 PELANCAR June 2018
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