Communication, Leadership, and Community-based Tourism Empowerment in Brunei Darussalam

Wei Lee Chin; Najib Noorashid

doi:10.14764/10.ASEAS-0075

Authors

Wei Lee Chin Universiti Brunei Darussalam https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9297-283X
Najib Noorashid Universiti Brunei Darussalam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7994-0721

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-0075

Keywords:

Community-based Tourism, Communication, Empowerment, Leadership, Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

Effective communication plays a part in the success and the sustainability of tourism and hospitality management, including community-based tourism (CBT). In Brunei Darussalam, communication barriers have affected the growth of the CBT industry at both local and national levels. By analysing responses from 16 local CBT operators, this investigation focuses on aspects of communication and its channels in securing sustainability and empowerment of the CBT industry. This study found that the CBT ventures in Brunei include: (1) horizontal/lateral communication between CBT operators and sur-rounding communities; and (2) top-down communication and bottom-up accessibility between authorities, community leaders, and CBT owners. This paper further discusses how bureaucracy can impede the success of CBT operations, and how a collaborative approach between stakeholders has inspired the formulation of a new Interactional Model of Leadership and Empowerment among CBT stakeholders, which can be used to measure the efficacy of communication among stakeholders in the CBT industry.

Author Biographies

Wei Lee Chin, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Wei Lee Chin is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UniversitiBrunei Darussalam, specialising in destination competitiveness specifically in developingcountries in Asia. Her research interest also includes small scale island tourism, tourism com-munity development, smart tourism, socio economic sustainability as well as tourism impactsin Asia. She has field experience in Southeast Asia and is also a recipient of several Universitygrants. She has also published in international journals like Current Issues in Tourism andTourism and Hospitality Management.

Najib Noorashid, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Najib Noorashid graduated with Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and has previously worked as newsjournalist for both Malay and English national broadcasting at Radio Televisyen Brunei. Hecurrently focuses research and writing on issues involving linguistic diversity, culture and me-dia studies and national education in Brunei and has since published in Cambridge UniversityPress, Elsevier, Springer, and Palgrave Macmillan, among others. He is currently working as aresearch assistant for a number of research projects in Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

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