Page 41 - FREN-C2021 PROCEEDINGS

the world:

“Mealtime is an opportunity to learn about Malay culture. First, footwear is removed before stepping
onto the veranda that leads to the host family’s front door. Guests sit cross-legged on the floor
adjacent to the dapur or kitchen in a long dining hall. Before and after the meal, hands are rinsed
using water from a kendi an ornate silver kettle with a basin to catch the water. The food is eaten
without utensils using only the right hand. Scooping up the white rice takes some practice but is made
all the more fun by trying out a variety of foods such as chicken curry and sambal belacan a spicy
shrimp paste. Desert is often pineapple, papaya, rambutan, or other fruit grown in nearby orchards.
Evenings are often spent quietly enjoying traditional dances and music performances.”

Each homestay program has something unique to offer tourists and organizes its special activities into
four categories of activities and examples which are cultural and lifestyle (history, traditional dance,
food and cultural marriage); economic activities (rubber tapping, fish breeding and agricultural);
recreation (sightseeing, jungle trekking and white water rafting); environmental preservation (tree
planting program). A homestay program also is where a visitor will be hosted by a family and shares
their meals and enjoy the daily routines of village life. The program's outcomes have had a significant
impact on the local economy, the improvement and growth of the standard of life, and the progress of
the community, while also causing environmental degradation and economic disparity in the local
communities. Tourists may get a flavour of village life by watching, experiencing, and learning about
traditional culture, riverside fishing, ethnic dances, musical performances, and even a mock wedding.

If tourists visit Negeri Sembilan, for example, one of the main attractions is the traditional food,
which includes coconut gravy cooked with bird's eye chillies known as masak lemak cili padi.
Additionally, they have a way of life and customs known as the adat pepatih, which is a one-of-a-kind
and invaluable heritage (cultural and heritage). Along with the homestay program, fish farming is
another popular economic activity in many communities in Perak. Tourists may feed the fish and learn
about freshwater fish management while participating in a fish farming program. Kelantan is a great
destination for those who want to get a feel for the life of a fisherman. The homestay, which is located
on a tiny island, provides visitors with the opportunity to experience life in a fishing village while
participating in their everyday activities. Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia's most distinctive and
treasured natural wonder is the only other natural wonder in the country. It is the focal point of
Kinabalu Park, which was designated as Malaysia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Walai
Tokou Homestay is located only 10 minutes from Kinabalu Park and offers guests the opportunity to
participate in recreational activities such as bird watching, forest walks, and even a visit to an ancient
burial place. For environmental preservation, the example may be seen in the Banghuris homestay
program, where tourists are invited to participate in a fruit tree planting program as a memento of
their visit.

Tourist experience
To have their own experience in a tourist attraction, modern tourists had prepared to interact with the
experience that is provided by tourist destinations. Van Manen (1990) described the experience as one
of the special types of practice that people experience and perceive. Schmitt (1999) defined
experience as all of the mental reactions of perceptual and rational aspects of human existence,
including sensory experience by five senses, sensibility experience by heart, experience by thinking,
and experience by the relationship with others. Experience is defined as subjective personal reaction
and feelings that one feels by consumers when consuming or using a service (Chen & Chen, 2010).
However, the experience economy is used as an overarching concept for service providers in the
leisure and recreation industry whose primary goal is providing high-quality experiences
(Mehmetoglu & Engen, 2011). Inexperience research, the “Experience Economy” paradigm explored
by Pine and Gilmore (1999), is the final phase of economic progress that has developed from
commodity, product and service economy. Pine and Gilmore (1999) defined experience as “events

[36]