Environment Of Perhentian Island Malaysia Tourism Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

For many small islands tourism is economically significant as a source of income and employment. Islands, especially small islands, continue to attract tourists, and for tropical such as Malaysia having many small islands off the east coast, they all have become increasingly popular among foreign and local tourist alike. Islands like Perhentian is drawing more and more people to visit and this popularity although good for the economics has brought about a mass tourism phenomenon whereby large amounts of people visit the island at one given time thus crowding the island. This drives the tourism authorities, hotels and tour operators to supply to the demand, focusing more on the mass tourism and the revenue it generates, thus neglecting the environmental degradation that brings about many negative impacts to the island. Many conservation programmes have been since embarked by the tourism authorities after realising the need for protection for the environment but most are just ad hoc and has not been sustained.

The Perhentian islands off the east coast of peninsula Malaysia have been a tourism destination since the late 1980s when backpackers found out about these islands. The two main islands of perhentian have experienced development since then, and this island has since attracted more and more visitors to its majestic islands. And this paper examines how mass tourism can affect a particular destination as a result of its popularity.

1.2 Research question

What are the effects of mass tourism to the environment of Pulau Perhentian ? that will be my research question.

My problem comes with mass and advancing tourism industry and its effect to the natural setting that we have in Perhentian Island.

Urbanization is not indeed a problem to anyone, judging by the way everyone is living compared to 20 years back. The convenience to carry out a task is made so simple by so many gadgets, storing, managing and sharing data and information has never been easier after the invention of the internet and so on. It's a virtual world now that we are living in.

Tourism is the no 1 hospitality industry in the world, with the advancement of technology in transportation and information transfer. Booking, choosing, travelling and experiencing has never been more easy. But have we ever stop to think what is required for us to experience these holidays? Hotel? Land? Natural resource? , and have we ever taken a step back to think what and how our activities have done to our environment? I am not arguing saying that tourism industry is the main cause of all the pollution and devastation caused. But in this paper I am going to show what some irresponsible stakeholders have done to Perhentian and how our mother nature suffers while watching us frolicking.

1.3 Research objectives

Malaysia is a country which embraces its modernity while its tradition and world old charm, together with this is its thriving beauty of the natural setting, the tropical jungles and its diverse ecosystem. Therefore this destination is fuelled by an increasing number of local and international tourists, and with advancement of global communication, the numbers are rocketing up. But with the increasing number of tourist host and suppliers in Malaysia need to cater to the demand thus causing development and urbanization, and thus causing Malaysia to lose much of its land, rain forest, sacrificing endangered species of animals along the way

This research has three specific objectives in order to understand the impact of mass tourism to the environment.

The first objective is to examine perhentian island which have been affected, the result of these pollutions and to prove that these pollutions are caused by mass tourism activities.

The second objective is to understand how government, NGO's and the public are doing to preserve the environment.

The third objective is to provide solutions and ideas that can be used for the future of tourism and also preserve the environment at the same time so that tourism and sustainability can coexist without destroying each other.

1.4 Significant of studies

This research provides several benefits to the tourism industry , the local community and Perhentian island.

This research will help to show how mass tourism has been affecting the natural setting of perhentian island, and the danger that it poses to the endangered species of animals that share the islands warm water and jungles with us. Second, by identifying the cause and effect of the damage to perhentian island, measures can be than taken by local authorities and other government bodies to preserve the remaining of the island and set boundaries and rules which may in return bring back the balance in the ecosystem and the natural setting of perhentian island. Third, by implementing ;"travel laws" in perhentian , this would help to reduce on the damage that has hit perhentian. And help to preserve the environment and its ecosystem for the younger generation to experience.

Lastly, this research also contributes knowledge to sustain the natural setting not only in perhentian but also other destinations in Malaysia that could face the same problem as Perhentian.

1.5 Limitations of studies

This research is done to identify the relationships between Mass tourism activity and its direct impact to Perhentian island. Besides that, this research examines the results of such activity and the solutions that can be resorted to in order to maintain a balance. This research is conducted in Perhentian Island, Malaysia. Interviews will be carried out to both local and international tourists who are visiting Perhentian. The questionaire's will be given out to tourists who are of 18 years old and above only.

The sample size is limited to 100 respondents. As perhentian is a small island

2.0 Literature review

2.1 Mass tourism

What is tourism?

There is no single definition of tourism which everyone uses. Many definitions have been used over the years, some of which are universal and can be applied to any situation, and others terms for a more specific purpose. Different tourism organisation, for example, often devises definitions that satisfy their own specific requirements. The more universal definition builds on Goeldner and Ritchie (2006)

'Tourism may be defined as the sum of the processes, activities and outcomes arising from the relationship and the interaction among tourist, tourism suppliers, host governments, host communities and surrounding environments that are involved in the attracting, transporting, hosting and management of tourist and other visitors.'

Tourism according to the Cambridge online dictionary states that it's the business of providing services such as transport, places to stay or entertainment for people who are on holiday. Meanwhile the oxford online dictionary says that it's the commercial organization and operation of holidays and visits to places of interest.

What is mass tourism?

Mass tourism is the act of visiting a leisure destination with large amounts of people at one time. The development of mass tourism is parallel to the development and improvements of technology. Transportation and internet has evolved so much in time , making communication fast and easy, this allows tourist to research, find out and book and even pay for their holidays online, this thus contributing to the rise of mass tourism, besides that the improvement in technology in the transportation industry also helps in the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, so that greater numbers of people could begin to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

Mass tourism has always been the subject of criticism for its negative impacts around the world. Many books point out mass tourism's potentially destructive impacts on societies, culture and environment. Many authors condemned and still condemn this mass consumption and those who enjoy it. Actually the debate over the advantages and the disadvantages of tourism has raged incessantly and will continue. Tourism development in many places, and especially mass tourism, has led to deterioration in environment quality. In the 1960s, the effects of mass tourism and the increasing awareness of the human impacts on the environment led to a general state that nature is not an inexhaustible resource.

Relation between environment and tourism

Today, people are being more sensibility for the natural environment, this is because the tourism industry is the only economical sector that uses a destinations natural environment as a very important part of its product. In other words, the natural environment is a key element of the tourism activity. Krippendorf (1982) "the landscape is the real raw material of tourism; it is the reason for the existence of tourism as well as its economic driving force". This highlights that tourism product quality is linked with environment quality, and it's highly dependence between tourism and environment because its often used as basic argument to make the tourism industry aware about the negative impacts of mass tourism on the environment.

Environment

The environment can be considered as a tourism resource and is a part of the tourism product because tourism is directly affected by environmental quality. This close relationship or interdependence between tourism and environment, can be defines it as "the environmental part of tourism"

Multiple surveys confirm the hypothesis that the quality of natural environment constitutes "the primary factors that attracted the present-day tourist" (WTO, 1983: 28). So, if tourism wants to survive, it seems imperative to reach this harmony between people and nature. It is the only way to minimize the costs of tourism on the environment and permit the tourist to enjoy undisturbed nature. (Mieczkowski, J. 1995) This "symbiotic relation", term used by Budowski (1976) has a name, it is sustainable tourism.

Mass tourism creates intense environmental pressures due to the fact that such activity involves a large number of tourists in small areas. Moreover, those pressures are accentuated by the temporal polarization of mass tourism (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002). Hudman and Jackson (2003) acknowledge that coastal resorts are a good example of changing pre-existing forms associated with both the human and physical environment. In Spain, for example, several coastal villages have been changed rather dramatically in the past few years. Travel posters of the area usually highlight the area as it was before tourism. Yet, with the growth of mass tourism, the scattered villages of Torremolinos, Benidorm or Lloret del Mar, and other small villages are no longer recognizable. Lloret de Mar, was among the first in Europe to be developed for mass tourism (Telegraf.co.uk, 2001). More recently, the development of transport facilities such as airlines have permitted to those places to attract still more tourists. For example, since the arrival of Ryanair, the low cost airline company, at Gerona airport, the town of Lloret de Mar has become far more accessible, especially to those who maintain a strict travel budget. Mass tourism has a range of impacts of all types on natural environment (e.g. coastal, mountains or inland) but also on built environments (e.g. historic sites or cities).

Mass tourism leads to the direct degradation, pollution, even destruction of elements (air, soils, geology, vegetation, water and wildlife) and ecosystems (coastal, mountains, inland and polar) (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995). The main causes are the construction of tourist facilities such as hotel complexes, theme parks and marinas and the concentration of tourists in the same place. The simplest way to view such environmental impacts is to consider mass tourism within specific environments. Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to mass tourism because they represent the most desirable places to spend vacation. In some places such as the Mediterranean, there has been widespread destruction of the ecosystems. It is the marine ecosystem which supports and is affected by mass beach tourism, especially concentrated during the high season (from June to August). The summer months have most sun and they include the longest school holiday period when families take their main vacation. The marine ecosystems suffer from garbage disposal by hotels and littering by tourists, oil spills from cruise ships and other motorized boat traffic, etc. (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995). All the construction of tourism facilities required for mass tourism in coastal areas affects the beach in any ways. Infrastructures are required to cope with the large volume of consumers in a short period of time (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002)

Why did mass tourism happen?

Mass tourism appears after the World War II, it was initiated in the back streets of the industrial towns and cities in the north of England. The development of mass tourism in the western world was linked to the economic development of society and as a matter of fact to the incorporation of a more powerful middle and lower class inside the tourist market. This expansion has been based on external factors such as generalisation of paid holidays, rising standards of living and a rapid improvement in the means of transportation such as the increase in air travel. The growth of such tourism represents a democratisation of travel and this democratisation means that status distinctions will be drawn between the different classes of traveller, but less between those that can travel or not. There are a lot of factors which have or can cause an increase in tourism which then results in the mass tourism phenomenon, the development of the demographic in Malaysia plays an important role in contributing to the increase in tourism activity. First would be the increase in wealth, Malaysia's middle class has increased tremendously through the years, and this is because of the modernization of Malaysia has caused a increase in supplies and demand, thus creating employment offers, which then attract people to migrate to the city to improve the standard of living. With that comes the increase in the disposable income, this means more money for the family to spend, the new generation of families are getting smaller, most of the young adults who get married are having only one or maximum two kids. All this creates more time and money to be spend for leisure. Here are some factors which contribute to the increase in travel, in and out of Malaysia;

• holiday entitlement

Employee entitled to holiday, creates more free time to be spent doing leisure activities.

• shorter working week

More and more companies are practicing a 5 day work week then a 6 day work week, to create a balance

• larger incomes

Increase of living standards result in a larger income, to sustain the cost of living caused by the developing cities.

• less children

Families are becoming smaller, younger generation of adults are looking to have one or a maximum of two kids.

• Two wage-earner families

With everything becoming more advanced socially, and the cost of living increasing it has come to the point where, there are two earners in one family. This results in more disposable income, due to the small family

Technology

Besides all that, the advancement in technology also plays an important role in the increase in tourism, computer reservation system has made booking, viewing and making payment easy. Consumers can now view, book and pay for any tourism service without leaving the comfort of their office or their homes.

The package tour

The package tour, also called package holiday, also plays a very important role in causing the mass tourism phenomenon. Package travel or all-inclusive package are often standardised and with limited flexibility. The package refers to the purchase of a package of travel services including transport and accommodation. All other types of trips are non-package tours. When buying a package, the tourist feels sure to receive the service promised. Today, the industry tourism has adapted its offer to the customer needs and expectations and proposes tailor-made packages where the customer can combine all the components of his trip. The idea of the package tour is the same but more flexibility is granted

What are the effects?

The impact of the mass tourism is quite popular, especially upon the environment. Besides, very limited share of money spent on holidays actually get to the local people, which regional and native cultural attractions we all enjoy. These are the people who actually save the traditions and habits of their local areas. The people, who allow us to catch a glimpse of their cultural heritage, they are who have preserving and taking care of the un-spoiled nature for all of us. Maybe many of the people are used to think that big tour operators and large travel consortiums have a responsibility to preserve that local cultural heritage and environment. But they are only concerned about their profit and nothing else. But if one do not look a bit further in future and see that this way, one day there would not be many remaining tourist resources and gains will start descending fast. Unfortunately, this will affect no one so greatly, but the locals. After all, alternative tourism forms include small groups of people, who surely do not harm the environment that much. Besides, if not familiar, as I am sure most of them are, one of the aims of the alternative tourism forms is to acknowledge how to preserve the environment and local traditions and culture. Actually, some alternative forms are meant to enable man to appreciate the greatness of nature, a great such example is the eco-tourism. However, it is totally different situation in some big resorts with thousands of people running around and a lot of hotels keeping the beautiful nature views away from your sight. Of course, there are many ways of entertainment in view of the tourist's animation, nightlife, and other. But is it not exactly that what we are running from? Could great nightlife and various animations with the difference they are at different place, compare with the variety of all alternative forms; to compare with the naked nature and cultural heritage?

Advantage

1) Jobs are generated by tourism in many areas - in the initial construction of the resorts, in travel, in food provision and in other service related industries.

2) Local people benefit directly from employment

4) Transport facilities are developed

5) The local tax base increases so the local government/council can invest in schools, healthcare and social services.

Disadvantage

1) TNCs (Trans National Corporations) from rich countries are often involved - this can result in a lot of profits leaving the country.

2 ) Jobs can be seasonal - especially in beach and skiing based resorts. people can therefore find themselves out of work in the close season.

3) Tourists consume huge amounts of resources including food and water - this type of tourism is particularly UNSUSTAINABLE in this manner.

4) Tourists introduce new values and cultures - this causes cultural pollution.

5) Land is lost from farming to tourist developments.

Example of a place affected by mass tourism

For years Bali, the pearl among the Sunda Islands, has been touted as an earthly paradise, thanks to the its tropical landscapes, its white sandy beaches, the tormented beauty of its Hindu temples and its inhabitants' reputation for kindness and tolerance. But this idyllic spot may soon be a thing of the past, with the threat of Bali becoming a prey to the accumulated effects of mass tourism, unbridled consumption of resources and environmental collapse. From the 1970s onwards Bali really became a tourist destination. Hundreds of hotels uses up a large share of freshwater reserves, with each four-star room consuming 300 litres a day. By 2015 Bali could be facing a drinking water crisis. More than a million visitors came to Bali in 2001. The figures for 2011 suggest that numbers have more than doubled since, ultimately unaffected by the 2002 terror attack, which left 202 dead, including many Australians. Every year 700 hectares of land is lost to hotels, luxury housing for rich foreigners or just roads to improve connections on the island. Every day some 13,000 cubic metres of waste is dumped on public tips and only half is recycled. With 13% more cars on the roads every year, the steadily increasing traffic causes massive jams. In an attempt to mitigate the ill effects of mass tourism on the local Hindu culture, an exception in largely Muslim Indonesia , the authorities have introduced environmental legislation. One of its provisions makes it compulsory for resorts to be set back at least 150 metres from beaches, with no hotels within 5km of Hindu temples.

In January 2011, the governor of Bali, Made Mangku Pastika, issued a ban on new buildings in heavily developed areas, warning that Bali was in danger of becoming a sterile land bristling with concrete. The ban is far from popular with investors. Tourism is partly due to the attraction of our culture: if mass tourism develops in a way that threatens the culture, and this will result in the locals losing their specific attraction. Compared with other holiday venues in south-east Asia, Bali has retained much of its magic, at least in the areas so far spared by mass tourism. But if nothing is done to halt current trends, it may suffer the same fate as other dream destinations.

2.2 Perhentian Island

Asia-Pacific is one of the world's fastest growing tourism areas in terms of international arrivals, especially in the South-East Asian sub-region with booming tourism in established destinations such Thailand (14.1 million international arrivals in 2009) and newer, emerging destinations such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos (UN WTO, 2010). The focus of this paper, Malaysia, also has a growing international tourism sector with 24.6 million international arrivals in 2010 generating over US $18.2 billion in receipts, and contributing at least seven per cent of GDP (MOTOUR, 2011). 4International arrivals data to Malaysia is disaggregated according to country of origin and not by market segment so it is unknown how many backpackers visit, but one estimate suggests at least 300,000 per year (Ian and Musa, 2005). Within the emerging South-East Asia backpacker trail, the Perhentian islands are one of the 'hotspot' sites in northern peninsula Malaysia. Typically, backpackers enter Malaysia from southern Thailand (or travel north from Singapore) and then journey in a circuit between Penang via the Cameron Highlands and then to the east coast specifically to visit the Perhentians. Backpackers often stay on islands or at other beach resorts as mini break from harder travelling within their larger trips around the region.

The Island of Perhentian

About an hour's boat ride from the quiet jetty of Kuala Besut, nearby the city of Kota Bharu is the jewel of the Northeast of Peninsular Malaysia, nearby the city of Kota Bharu, . Perhentian is very popular in Malaysia because of the great spots for diving and snorkeling, this island is also very easy to reach, but during the mosoon season that is from October to early march, the whole island will be closed to the public, due to rough waters. As part of the marine park, visitors will have to pay a conservation fee of Rm5.

The island of perhentian has two separate islands, one called the pulau kecil ( small island) and another called the Pulau Besar ( big island), and these two islands are what make up to be Pulau Perhentian. Both islands offer and have an array of accomodaion facilities for visitors, this ranging from simple chalets, with only the basic amenities, to luxury resort's that offer cabanas. But there are no international brands of hotels in both islands.

http://divezone.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/perhentian-islands-map.gif

http://go2travelmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/images/perhentian_map.gif

T

Pulau perhentian has a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere to it, even the locals are friendly and and chilled out, Most part of the islands is still untouched and only a the locals live in a fishing village on perhentian kecil. The only way around the islands are footpath which cuts through the jungle, and water taxi's as there are no roads on the island. monitor lizards, fruit bats, squirrels or even the elusive mouse deer, all this animals can been seen while taking a hike in the footpath in the jungle

Activities In the island

Attractions in Perhentian island are all nature based, ranging from snorkeling to scuba diving and jungle treeking. All eager to teach tourist about the ecosystem that surrounds the island. These islands have been gazette as a marine park and as such littering, fishing and collecting of any marine life (whether dead or alive) is strictly prohibited. As it is a marine park, this also means that the rich diversity of aquatic life has been preserved and it is beautiful to experience.

Snorkelling 

Perhentian is famous for its great snorkeling possibilities. A lot of resorts on the island have their own house reef. This means that you can snorkel directly in front or within walking distance of your resort. On the Perhentians there are dozens of diving schools. There, you can rent diving goggles, an air tube and flippers for a small fee (usually around RM15 per day). With this equipment you can snorkel in front of your bungalow. Sadly the fish in front of the resorts often are very spoiled. This means that, as soon as you are in the water you will be surrounded by small (and sometimes also large) fish that expect you to feed them. Also, the coral reefs near the resorts usually are less beautiful, because boats regularly pass by to drop people off at the resort. Some of the popular spots for snorkeling are Shark Point, Teluk Pauh and Tanjung Basi. If you are lucky, a combination of these stops may mean that you see a turtle, some black tip reef sharks and an abundance of colourful coral all in one. But the sheer amounts of visitors and careless practices have resulted in damage to the coral and consequently the marine life around the islands rip.

Scuba Diving

Many tourists visit Perhentian Island to enjoy a couple of great dives. As there is fierce competition between operators diving at the island is relatively cheap, usually ranging between RM60 and RM80 per dive. Diving at Perhentian is especially for beginners as there are almost no currents and visibility is almost always fine. There are better places to dive in Malaysia, but almost none of them are so affordable and easy to reach as on Perhentian. Marine life is in abundance here and apart from the many species of hard and soft coral that form the backbone of these ecosystems you can also expect to encounter turtles, several species of sharks, mackerel, jacks, moray eels, nudibranchs and various other reef fish. This gives a chance for ecotourist to learn about marine life in their natural habitat and to learn how not to spoil their habitat.

Jungle Trekking

On both the islands there are a number of hiking trails, there are no roads however. The trails are light and usually don't take more than 30 minutes to complete. Perhentian is too small to spot real wildlife, but there are monitor lizards, monkeys, fruit bats and some species of birds on the island. Because walking in the heat is not very pleasant for many, you can take water taxis to return to your resort after the hike. When going to secluded locations, come to an agreement on the pickup for the return trip. Tropical forest covers the greater part of the Perhentian Islands and a few trails that twist through the greenery allow you to explore the diversity of plant life. Tread quietly and you may just meet a few of the islands' animals along the way. Monitor lizards are in abundance, as are numerous species of insects and birds. If you are lucky, you may even spot a group of long-tailed macaques (a type of monkey). The elusive mouse deer is also said to inhabit the island, but these tiny animals are rarely seen. 

Perhentian a conservation island ?

In line with the conservation effort Perhentian Island has Marine Parks as Marine Park are ideal places for viewing the rich aquatic life that abound in Malaysia's water. There are 5 marine parks and tourist wishing to visit these parks must take note of regulations. A Marine park is an area of the sea zoned as a sanctuary for the coral reef community which is considered as possibly the most productive ecosystem in the world, with its diversity of flora and fauna. Coral reefs are also important breeding and nursery grounds for many commercially important species of marine organisms and fish.

Among the objectives of the Marine Park and Marine reserves are:

- Preservation and protection of coral reef areas from the impact of development.

- Upgrade and preserve the natural habitat of endangered species of aquatic life.

- Establishment of zones for preservation of the aquatic flora and fauna and also for the purpose of research and educational activities.

- Establishment of zones for recreational uses consistent with the carrying capacity of the area.

With the establishment of the Marine Park, the benefits are as follows, the ecosystem and habitat of marine life will be protected and maintained, besides that it will also help in rejuvenation of over exploited zones and their maintenance for the protection of   endangered species of marine organisms, and establishment of zones for research and educational purposes.

Perhentian and mass tourism

The growth of tourism changes and modifies the environment. Environment is land, water, air, flora and fauna, but also people and culture and the impacts of tourism are reflected on elements of the natural environment as well as on the man-made environment or built environment (development of environments for tourism as for example holiday resorts). The development of tourism requires the existence of an infrastructure, as well as hotel accommodation and another facilities specific to tourism. In some areas highways and airfields have been constructed to make stimulate tourism but not always has the local population benefited from these developments. Infrastructure and facilities require land and the consequence is that land prices rise in the areas were tourism is developing

What are the effects so far?

The Perhentian Islands are fast taking the middle ground of the tourism industry. Not big enough for runways and golf courses like its neighbour Redang Island, tourism comes in two main forms - backpackers on Pulau Kecil and weekenders on Pulau Besar. There are only a couple of high-priced resorts, while the bulk of the accommodations cater to the mid-range crowd. Only two decades ago, Perhentian was considered a well-kept secret; now the beaches are chock-a-block full of resorts, chalets, dive shops and cafes. Back in 1985 less than ten chalets occupied the coastline of both islands, but a building boom has since pushed the total over thirty today. A tourism development case study of Perhentian in 2000 concluded that any further development must proceed with extreme caution due to the size of the islands. Mega-tourism projects were deemed to be inappropriate and the temptation to attract affluent tourists with international-type resorts must be avoided. It added that budget travellers dominate the traffic to Perhentian and planners should not be misled by the misconception that they do not spend enough money. Many problems still exist even with the current level of development. The study pointed out that the "smallness of scale of physical resources causes them to be more susceptible to negative impacts of mass tourism development", especially excessive water demand, improper sewage and solid waste disposal and a shortage of suitable beachfront land. This is readily apparent as tourism developers dredge coral channels for boat access and septic tanks discharge wastes to the sea during monsoon floods

The physical presence of tourists in the destination area, especially if they are in large groups. Residents usually resent the fact of sharing facilities and services with visitors and often mention congestion as problem. It is evident that the concentration of large numbers of tourists causes congestion of facilities and services. Dispersing tourists can reduce tourist densities so that the ratio of tourists to hosts is reduced without decreasing the number of tourist arrivals. The demonstration effect. Residents frequently resent the visible economic superiority of visitors and try to copy their behaviour. The introduction of foreign ideologies and ways of life into societies exposed to tourism indicates a foreign domination of the industry and an adaptation of work. Furthermore, the hosts perceive quickly the desire of tourists to spend money and their weaknesses are exploited. Hosts may develop an inferiority complex that start out a process of imitation. Most case studies that examine demonstration effect agree that tourism can modify local behaviour and divide the population of destinations areas. Foreign ownership and employment. The employment of non-locals in executive and professional occupations, carrying greater responsibility and superior salaries to those available to local residents, also provokes resentment. These features have been labelled in the literature and in this paper as outgrowths of neo-colonialism.

What are the initiative taken by the government / NGO's to prevent this?

March (2004) the Coral Cay Conservation organization,

a British conservation group, began the Malaysia Reefs and Island Conservation Project (MRICP) with volunteers from Britain and Malaysia on a three-month pilot phase project. Their aim is to conduct marine and terrestrial surveys on Perhentian to provide baseline information on the flora and fauna of marine and forest habitats. Afterwards the MRICP will be split into two three-year projects - the Malaysia Coral Reef Conservation Project (MCRCP) and the Malaysia Tropical Forests Conservation Project (MTFCP). Sponsored by the Department of Fisheries Marine Park Branch, Coral Cay intends to collect primary data for use in providing habitat maps and species inventories to aid the long-term management of the isle's natural resources. And according to Coral Cay scientists, a literature search revealed, "very little baseline ecological survey work has been completed on the Perhentians." The MRICP is split into two phases - marine and terrestrial. The marine surveys kicked off the project in March and will continue until the two main islands of Besar and Kecil are completed later in the year. The terrestrial phase started in mid-May and is probably the first biodiversity research study of its kind to be undertaken on Perhentian.

This is not Coral Cay's first project in Malaysia, having conducted reef surveys here in the past in association with WWF. The not-for-profit conservation organization has sent volunteers worldwide to work with local communities and agencies since 1986 to survey endangered coral reefs and understudied tropical rainforests. Coral Cay currently has expeditions in Fiji, Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines

3. Methodology

"The impacts of mass tourism activity on the environment of Perhentian Island,Malaysia "3.1 Research design

Increase of pollutions

Waste management

Problem statement

Degradation of natural setting

Impact of mass tourism to the environment.

Solutions and ideas to preserve the natural setting of perhentian

Perhentian island

Objective

Local and international tourist

Limitation of Study

Cause of degradation of environment

Effect of mass tourism

Solution to environmental issue

Significant of Study

3 part questionnaire

Result will be taken and recorded in SPSS

Methods

Secondary data - Journals, book & webpage

Primary data - Questionnaires ( Close ended & scale response)

3.2 Sample size/population

Motivation and the evaluation of Perhentian were collected using a questionnaire with closed ended questions and scaled response. This is to identify the reason behind visiting the destination and to examine what the tourist felt about the deterioration of the natural setting.

The study is fixed to Perhentian Island. Respondents will be approached and informed about the survey and asked if they were to participate in the survey. The sample size is 100 respondents as it is a convenient sampling.

The questionnaires were given out on the 4th till the 7th of June 2012, it was given out to tourist, who were staying on the Pulau Besar island, from the 4th till 5th, and the Pulau Kecil from the 5th to till the 7th of june. Tourist were handed out the questionnaire at the hotel lobby, at the beach, while in the speedboat and also while in the bars. Tourist were explained of what my intension and purpose of the questionnaires and most of the tourist were glad to be a part of it. I had long conversations with most of the tourist that were visiting and they were a big help and I certainly had an idea of what people really what to see happen to perhentian.

3.3 Data Collection

The data collection can be categorized into primary and secondary data. The primary data includes a set of questionnaires with close ended questions and scaled response to identify the motivation of tourist visiting Perhentian Island, the three part questionnaire used incorporated a series of closed questions as follows, the first section investigated the tourist's socio- demographic backgrounds. The second part investigated the tourist's travel purpose and and the third section focused on the satisfaction with their experience in Perhentian what they think of the natural environment. These questions will prove to be helpful in many ways, for example, if the majority of tourists are visiting Perhentian to experience the natural environment. Then isn't it sad to see the main attractions which is the environment slowly deteriorating. The first part of the questionnaire, tourists were asked to fill in their personal data, such as gender, nationality, age group, their length of stay, type of accommodation. On the second part of the questionnaire, tourists were asked about their travel and trip characteristics, which include questions such as how did they find out about the island and other island trips that they have made, the primary purpose of the trip, where they have gathered information about the place, and also about their satisfaction with the local's hospitality and their overall visit. The third part, tourists were how they felt about the mass tourism that is currently and issue in the island, Besides, the secondary data which comprises of gathering information regarding the impacts of tourism on the environment in Perhentian. And any other relevant information useful to this research This information may include journals, books, webpage, etc.

3.4 Statistical Analysis ( SPSS )

Data instrument

For this research paper, I will be using a software to study the data received by giving out the questionnaire's. With this software, all the answer of the 100 respondents were be entered and the results will be shown of tables and table charts. And with the result it will be clear to see if Mass tourism has a negative effect on the environment. The IBM SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions) will be used in this paper to for the data entry. It will show and overall result of the mean, median, standard deviation and the frequency of the data tabulations. Besides that it will also provide a few bar charts to base my argument on that mass tourism and its effects on the environment of Perhentian Island . Besides that I have also provided a cross tabulation test, to see if a certain variable indeed has an impact on the outcome.

3.5 The statistics

The above graph shows the basic calculations done with the SPSS software, above stated are the important questions in the questionnaire's which shows the degree of impact mass tourism has on the environment and the tourist satisfaction, it states valid of 100, meaning to say that out of the 100 questionnaire's given out and answers entered into the SPSS system, all 100 is valid and can be used for the test. Accordingly it shows the mean, median, mode, standard deviation and the variance of the questions asked.

Here are the frequency tables that show the results of the questionnaire in a more organised way.

The below shows the age of respondents and if we look at the data, its clear that 42% of the tourist that visit perhentian islands are between the age groups of 25-30, the second highest being 26% are between the ages of 31-40, followed by 24% of adults above 40 years old and 8% of teens being 18-24, this is because most of the tourist visit perhentian either to relax or to engage in adventure tourism. The next table shows the nationality of the respondent's, according to the table the highest visitors to perhentian are Malaysian themselves scoring a 34% followed by Asians comprising of, Thai nationals, Chinese, Japanese and other Asian countries. The European market had a total visitor of 29% and the Middle Eastern only had 6%. Middle eastern tourist often choose more famous places like Penang or Langkawi, and perhentian is popular among Malaysian tourist who are looking for a getaway.

Frequency Table

Age of Respondents

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

18-24

8

8.0

8.0

25-30

42

42.0

42.0

31-40

26

26.0

26.0

40 and above

24

24.0

24.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Nationality of respondents

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

European

29

29.0

29.0

Asian

31

31.0

31.0

Middle Eastern

6

6.0

6.0

Malaysian

34

34.0

34.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Next is the gender of the respondents, being made out of 59% are guys, and 41% girls, being an adventure tourism spot, most of the tourist come to indulge in adventure tourism such as diving, kayaking and jungle trekking and that's the main reason why 59% of the tourist are male. Most of the visitors that visit perhentian only stayed for 1-2 days which were 38%, and those staying 3-4 days were 31%. Those tourist who stayed for more than a week only made 11% of the total. Nd the 11% were the tourist who stayed to dive in Perhentian famous diving spots. As mentioned above, most of the tourist come to Perhentian for a particular reason ad the reason being adventure tourism, if you look at the graph labelled 'the purpose of this trip?' you can clearly see that 33% of tourist visit perhentian for the purpose of adventure tourism, activities such as diving, snorkelling being their primary attraction.

Gender of respondents

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Male

59

59.0

59.0

Female

41

41.0

41.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Length of stay in perhentian?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

1-2 Days

38

38.0

38.0

3-4 Days

31

31.0

31.0

5-6 Days

20

20.0

20.0

One week and above

11

11.0

11.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

The Purpose of this trip?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Leisure ( Rest & Relax )

32

32.0

32.0

Family Vacation

32

32.0

32.0

Honeymoon

3

3.0

3.0

Adventure tourism ( diving, snorkeling etc )

33

33.0

33.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

The next table shows the overall cleanliness of the island, now this can be directly related to the mass tourism that has taken over the island of perhentian. The more tourist visit the place equals more rubbish and waste they produce thus, waste management comes in, 43% of the tourist think that the overall cleanliness of the island are only at a satisfactory level, and 41% which is a high number of respondents stating that the island is indeed not very clean, and left with 8% of tourist who think that the island is very dirty.

Overall cleanliness of the island

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Very Clean

8

8.0

8.0

Satisfactory

43

43.0

43.0

Not very clean

41

41.0

41.0

Dirty

8

8.0

8.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

This table shows the result of the question ' is perhentian island overcrowded', this is an important question as I get to find out what the tourist themselves think is happening to the island. 75% of the respondents state that yes! The island is indeed overcrowded and only 25% thinks its not overcrowded. Next table shows the result of the question ' is perhentian overdeveloped?' , 55% of respondents think that perhentian island is over developed, meanwhile 42% of tourist think it is overdeveloped, but in a moderate amount and it has to be stopped to prevent too much development till it masks the natural beauty of the island.

Is Perhentian overcrowded?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Yes

75

75.0

75.0

No

25

25.0

25.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Is Perhentian Overdeveloped?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Yes, I strongly agree

55

55.0

55.0

A moderate amount, and it has to stop

42

42.0

42.0

Not at all

3

3.0

3.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

62% of respondents when asked the question, do you think Mass tourism affects perhentian's environment in a negative way, answered yes, mosltly say that because they come to experience perhentian's natural beauty, by diving to see the reefs, jungle trekking to see its wildlife's, but mass tourism. Is indeen taking a toll on the island. 14% says that it may have a negative effect in the future while 22% says no, it does not pose a treat to the environment of Perhentian.

Does mass- tourism affect Perhentian island?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Yes

62

62.0

62.0

No

22

22.0

22.0

Maybe, in the near future

14

14.0

14.0

I have no idea

2

2.0

2.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Next I asked a question if the over development of the island had any effect of the respondent's stay in the island, and 58%, of the respondent's answered yes, and they stated that, they came to perhentian for the natural beauty and not for the modern development, yes, accommodation and facilities is a must, but not until it destroys the natural setting of the island. 29% said it does not affect their stay and 13% said that they don't mind.

Does the overdevelopment effect your stay?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Yes, it does

58

58.0

58.0

No, it does not

29

29.0

29.0

I dont mind the crowd

13

13.0

13.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

57% of the total respondents said that they would indeed recommend Perhentian island to their friends and family, while 43% of them said, maybe they might recommend Perhentian to their friends & family. 40% of the tourist that were given the questionnaire to heard about the island through online, it maybe Facebook, or travel blogs, while 24% of them came across Perhentian island from their family and friends. 20% of them saw it on travel magazines and promotions of hotels in perhentian in the newspaper and 16% of the respondents heard of Perhentian through travel agents which sold them the package to the Perhentian Islands. Most of the tourist that come to Perhentian often stay in Pulau Besar as shown by the table below, 60% of all tourist stayed on Pulau besar, and only 40% of tourist stayed on pulau kecil, most of the tourist that stayed in pulau kecil made up of backpackers.

Would you recommend Perhentian to your friends & family?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Yes, of course

57

57.0

57.0

Maybe

43

43.0

43.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

How did you find out about perhentian?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Online

40

40.0

40.0

Newspaper/Magazine

20

20.0

20.0

Travel Agent

16

16.0

16.0

Friendly & Family

24

24.0

24.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Which part of island did u stay in?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Valid

Perhentian Kecil

40

40.0

40.0

Perhentian Besar

60

60.0

60.0

Total

100

100.0

100.0

Bar Chart

Cross Tabulation

This here is a test of cross tabulation I have conducted of the following variables and the outcome of the question to see how they intervene each other and how they affect each other. I have used the variable of 'is perhentian Overdeveloped? 'Against the outcome of the cleanliness question on perhentian. The second cross tabulation is using the variable of 'is perhentian overcrowded' against also the cleanliness of the island. The reason why I choose these variables is because, the result of Mass tourism is in fact the increase of the tourist arrivals in a certain area in one given time. Through the results of the cross tabulation we can see the immediate effects of the sudden increase of tourist in Perhentian island.

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid

Missing

Total

N

Percent

N

Percent

N

Is Perhentian Overdeveloped? * Overall cleanliness of the island

100

100.0%

0

0.0%

100

Is Perhentian overcrowded? * Overall cleanliness of the island

100

100.0%

0

0.0%

100

Is Perhentian Overdeveloped? * Overall cleanliness of the island Crosstabulation

Count

Overall cleanliness of the island

Very Clean

Satisfactory

Not very clean

Dirty

Is Perhentian Overdeveloped?

Yes, I strongly agree

4

20

28

3

A moderate amount, and it has to stop

3

23

11

5

Not at all

1

0

2

0

Total

8

43

41

8

The Bar chart above shows the cross tabulation that I did, between the question ' is perhentian overdeveloped?' against the overall cleanliness of the island, now here we can see how these two data cross each other, the percentage of respondents state that the island is overdeveloped also agree that the island is not very clean. This proves that the overdeveloped caused by the increase in demand does effect the environment of the island, thus causing the increase in rubbish and waste disposal.

Is Perhentian overcrowded? * Overall cleanliness of the island Crosstabulation

Count

Overall cleanliness of the island

Very Clean

Satisfactory

Not very clean

Dirty

Is Perhentian overcrowded?

Yes

7

30

30

8

No

1

13

11

0

Total

8

43

41

8

This bar chart shows the cross tabulation between the question 'is perhentian overcrowded?' against the overall cleanliness of the island. Its stated here that the percentage of respondent's that said the island is overcrowded also agrees that the island's cleanliness is satisfactory as equal to the percentage of respondents who said the island is dirty. Between these two cross tabulation I still find the increase of tourism activity in Perhentian is causing the enviromental degradation of the island.

4.0 Findings

In the outcomes above, it is clear to see the effects of Mass tourism towards the environment and the overall tourist satisfaction. According to the results of SPSS, it shows that 58% of the respondents said the development in Perhentian island does indeen effect their stay. It is important for the tourism providers to provide and supply to the increasing demand, and this is the main problem faced by perhentian, that too much development is not healthy for the environment of the island. Development is important but not to the stage where we destroy the natural beauty to make way for more and more buildings. With all these development under constructions, 62% of the respondents agree that Mass tourism does have a negative impact on the island of perhentian. The demand increases and so does the supply, and it is a never ending cycle, tourism operators are more focused on making money than preserving the core attraction of the island which is the environment and the natural setting. More and more jungle area are being cleared to make way for the building of hotels and chalets thus creating catering to more tourist, resulting in more rubbish and waste. Due to all this and littering the rubbish in the oceans are increasing causing the sea creature to die of eating foreign materials which are thrown into the sea by the increasing number of tourist. What's the point of building so many hotels when one day, because of mass tourism's effect there won't be crystal clear beach, with white sand and there won't be any coral reefs to dive and see. Out of the 100 respondents 75% think that the island is indeed overcrowded, most of the respondents come to perhentian to get away from everyday life, and to enjoy the calm and peace that the island has to offer, but now that is disrupted by the noise and the crowd that perhentian has attracted. Huge groups of people diving or snorkeling may cause an effect to the marine life, this may scare away the fish, and have drastic measures on the coral reefs which depends on fishes like the clown fish or known as Nemo to survive, and this causes other fishes who rely on Nemo as a source of food to follow the Nemo leaving the reef empty and to die. The cleanliness of the island is directly affected by the number of people visiting the island, the more tourist visit the place equals more rubbish and waste they produce thus, waste management comes in, 43% of the tourist think that the overall cleanliness of the island are only at a satisfactory level, and left with 8% of tourist who think that the island is very dirty. This is caused by the littering of the people that visit the island and the rubbish that they leave behind, hotel operators should have a better waste management and set rules and regulations for littering .

5.0 Discussion & recommendation

Discussion

Poorly planned tourism development, ineffective sewage treatment and solid waste disposal, and illegal fishing are some of the factors affecting the health of Perhentian's reef. during peak season, in July and August, visitors are likely to spot overflowing black plastic bags on rickety pontoons scattered around the islands. These are waste left on the pontoons by resort operators. A rubbish barge, sub-contracted by Besut District Council, is supposed to collect the bags daily and dispose the waste on the mainland. While talking to a few of the hotel staffs that I made friends with I also found out that some septic tanks overflow due to the increasing number of tourists and it because of the limited capacity of the tanks. Some resorts apparently release their untreated sewage directly into the sea. This in this case shows up as figures in the RCM's (Reef Check Malaysia) research showing the reefs in Perhentian have the poorest health as its live coral cover is only 34% compared to Tioman, Redang and Tenggol which have 50% or more. Also the islands have a high number of algae-coated reef, indicating nutrient pollution, probably from poor sewage treatment. Besides the environmental issue perhentian also faces another major problem , the turtle harvesting of turtle eggs has also become an issue in perhentian island, Locals from Terengganu consider eating this delicacy, which is a ping-pong to tennis ball sized eggs as a tradition. Because the prices that these eggs can be sold for, collecting them has become frenzy, and most of the locals treat them like buried treasure. Each one nest contains an average of 80 to 140 eggs and striking on nest can certainly guarantee a small fortune for a collector.The strong demand for the eggs has led to the over-collection and over-consumption of all types of sea turtle eggs due to illegal harvesting and sale by non-licensed locals. Besides that it is also a known fact that the turtle population is declining because of eating the rubbish that we throw into the se

Air pollution also poses atreat to the perhentian islands due especially to the emissions released by boats that travel up and down from the Kuala Besut jetty to the islands due to the tourism traffic, besides that the boats also cause the sea water to be polluted, they often leak oil into the sea thus causing the sea water to be polluted and also endangering sea creatures, the use of fossil energies for heating by hotels and restaurants also pollutes the air in perhentian. Most of the hotels and restaurants have generators which run through the night and supplies electricity to the establishment, and these generators consume fossil fuel to be able to generate electricity to power the establishment , thus emitting dangerous fumes which then pollute the air surrounding perhentian island.

Recommendation

Conservation planning is another way that can help the Perhentian island retain its natural beauty, (RCM) reef check Malaysia was appointed by the department of Marine parks Malaysia to overlook and to help to conserve the remaining beauty and natural setting of all islands and reefs in Malaysia. Reef Check founded in 1996 is the world's largest international coral reef monitoring programme involving volunteer recreational divers and marine scientist. RCM together with the department of marine parks Malaysia has launched a number of campaigns aiming to help islands like perhentian to maintain its quality and to help preserve its natural beauty, RCM launched a trial programme in 2007, with sponsors from HSBC ( Hong Kong Shang-Hai Banking corporation) and BP ( British petroleum), , targeted at children in the penultimate year of primary education (11 years old). The original format was based around a 2-day "Coral Reef Camp", during which children from the schools on the islands learned about the ecosystems around them and how important they are, they also taught them how they can help conserve the coral reefs. To ensure the interest level of the kids were high, the camp had a mixture of games, art sessions, competitions.

Sustainable tourism is also a solution for the magnificent island, Sustainable tourism is tourism that tries to make as low impact on the environment and local culture as possible, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development brings a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and the tourists themselves. This is perfect for perhentian island as it preserves the environment without having to disrupt the tourism activity. Perhentian is an island which depends on the tourism activity as its main source of income, we have to come up with a way to maintain its tourism income while still maintaining the environment and sustainable tourism is the answer, examples of tourism activity that falls under the Sustainable tourism is ecotourism, adventure tourism and agro tourism, adventure tourism can be used as an instrument in perhentian to both lure tourist, in and also to teach them about the importance of conserving the natural environment. How this can be done? The most famous activity in perhentian island is Diving, there are 20 over dive sites in perhentian and a few very famous onces. Now what can be done is, the department of marine parks Malaysia and the RCM has to work with the local dive schools and the diving center's to teach about the importance of conserving the reefs to all their clients. They should also have rules and regulations regarding the dive and how to help to maintain the reefs. This will help educate all the adventure tourist that come to perhentian to dive and snorkel about the importance of conservation program. Besides that ecotourism can also be used as an instrument to bring tourist in without degrading the environment, the main point of ecotourism is not only to provide tourist an enjoyable time but also to foster appreciation and to be exposed about the knowledge of wildlife and the ecosystem around us. Perhentian island an island with lush greens, exotic aquatic creatures, and various rainforest wildlife, by visiting this island and joining in the activities such as scuba diving and snorkelling, tourist can learn about the marine life and ways to preserve them, and they can also see for themselves of how our wrong doings effect their ecosystem, to see those creatures life, swimming in front of you is an experience that can never be compared to watching Nat Geo or Animal Planet, this provides the tourist the emotional bond with the creature. And can change the perspective on the animal. Besides that, activities like jungle trekking can teach tourist about the jungle environment and the importance of trees in a country, tourist will also get to see wildlife in their natural habitat.

6.0 Conclusion

The tourism product has definitely brought about benefit to the island, once a fishing village now a major tourism spot in Malaysia. The island of perhentian is an island dependent on the tourist sector as its main source of income, but who would have thought that the main source of income could pose such a big treat and cause the environmental degradation of the islands natural setting. Most of the locals rely on the tourism sector as their main source of income besides fishing and other activities. The only way for the island to survive while having its tourism bloom and also preserving its natural environment is to adopt the sustainable tourism concept and provide more susta