Page 39 - FREN-C2021 PROCEEDINGS

EXAMINING LOCAL TOURIST EXPERIENCE ON MALAYSIAN
HOMESTAY PROGRAM IN MALAYSIA

1
Nur Amilin Abdul Halim *, Dr. Arif@ Kamisan Pusiran

1 Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

* Corresponding author: emyabdulhalim@gmail.com

Abstract
Homestay is a type of holiday or visit in which one stay in the home of an unknown person. In
Malaysia, homestay is an alternative tourism product that allows tourists to observe experience and
learn about the way of life of the residents of their cultural heritage and destinations. The Ministry of
Tourism Malaysia has identified four categories of activities involved during the tourist stay. Under
the Malaysian homestay program, there are four categories of activities: cultural and lifestyle,
economic activities, recreation, and environmental preservations that one should experience during
their stay as part of the program. These activities may look fascinating to foreign people as it is
different from their cultural roots. However, little research focuses on how local tourists perceived
these activities as special and unique during their staying experience. The objective of this study is to
examine for imminent research the most impactful activity in the homestay program that affects their
staying experience during the program. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a tourist experience
framework for the activities in Malaysia homestay program guidelines issued by the government,
specifically from the local tourist perspective. This study is an argumentative paper adopting
secondary data as sources. The finding of this study is hoped to improve the activities in the homestay
program in the future.

Keywords: Homestay Program, Community-based tourism, Tourist experience, MOTAC.

Introduction
Homestay tourism is a type of community-based tourism (CBT) that focuses on facilitating family and
local social life and local custom. It was designed to attract the tourist market that needed authentic
experiences, encourages individual and family interaction. Homestay tourism, on the other hand, is
intended primarily to provide temporary accommodation for long term family reunification.
Homestay tourism was first introduced in New Zealand by Ria Gee in 1986. In New Zealand, this
type of tourist was considered to be highly beneficial. It is allowed families to spend time together
without any expectation of permanent settlement. The Community-based tourism (CBT) concept was
used a long time ago to boost rural development, both in developed countries such as Ireland (Storey,
2004) and developing countries such as Brazil (Honey, 2008). The CBT tourism concept was closely
related to nature, culture and enhancing community development, poverty alleviation and
conservation (Equation, 2008). With the introduction of homestay tourism, CBT popularity has grown
over the last few years.

In Malaysia, the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia (MOTAC) is in charge of tourism promotion providing
the Malaysian Homestay Program helps Malaysia to grow the homestay tourism industry. According
to Kayat (2009) in 1988, the first Homestay program began at Desa Murni Homestay which consists
of five villages namely as Desa Murni Sanggang, Desa Murni Sonsang, Desa Murni Kerdau, Desa
Murni Ketam and Desa Murni Perangap. These local village communities worked together to create a
Homestay program and its success has had a dramatic effect on the local economy in terms of
financial benefits. The homestay program provides visitors with the chance to stay with a selected
family, engage with and experience the everyday lives of their homestay family, and learn about the
culture and way of life of the rural community in Malaysia, among other things. A homestay program

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