Assessment of rural landscape characters for tourism route in Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam

Abstract

Rural landscape characters are the characters that shape the setting and ambience of a place. The presence of landscape characters that give a scenic view and sensory along the driving routes have been acknowledged by numerous studies to be important in the planning of rural tourism. Tourism is the act of travel for the purposes of leisure, pleasure or business and the provision of services for this act. There are strategies for the tourism route planning that could increase tourism development opportunities, where the planning of resources and attractions can be better integrated to support infrastructural development of a region, conservation, and rejuvenation of cultural and natural resources. However, the urbanisation development in Malaysia has affected the land of the rural area to accommodate the high rise buildings and new residential areas. Besides that, the young generations that wants a better lifestyle start to move out from the rural areas to the urban areas, which make the local traditions and culture gradually forgotten. This research aims to determine the landscape characteristics of the rural area for the tourism routes to conserve and integrate the physical, cultural and environmental features of the rural landscape with tourism activities. The objectives of this study are, (i) to identify the landscape characteristics of the rural area and route for tourist attractions, (ii) to examine the needs of the tourists in rural tourism, and (iii) to determine the rural landscape characters and tourism-related attributes for tourism route planning in rural areas. This research has studied the Kuala Selangor to Sabak Bernam route in Selangor as it still has various characteristics of the rural landscape and rural tourism attractions. The data was collected through a method of inventory by observation and mapping along the study area. In addition, survey questionnaires were analyzed from 250 respondents among the local people and tourists to get the significant attributes of the rural landscape characters for tourism route planning. The semi-structured interviews were conducted on the Malaysia Tourist Guide Council and the homestay operator in order to obtain their views on the potentials and challenges of development rural tourism routes. This research found that the rural landscape characters are important in rural tourism, especially in terms of landscape features such as agriculture, fishing activities and physiographic character that cannot be reproduced since it is the natural setting of the area. In conclusion, the rural route can be promoted as a tourism route because it has the combinations of attractions, accommodations, amenities, activities and accessibility. Hence, the rural route needs to maintain its attractiveness and landscape character as part of rural tourism. These natural and cultural characters need to be integrated into the future plans of the rural areas, and activities can be created to allow tourists to experience the local environment.