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In-Depth Information
within the region and allow greater flows of goods, capital and labour across
the borders. With successful industrial development on the Indonesian island
of Batam, focus shifted to the neighbouring island of Bintan. Just a short
ferry ride away from Singapore, the island was selected to become a major
resort complex over the next two decades. Efforts are under way to develop
a 23,000-hectare resort complex on the north coast of Bintan. Singapore and
Bintan are marketed together as tourism destinations. Critics of the growth
triangle. however, argue that it is Singapore that is the main beneficiary of
the developments in the region and the Malaysian state of Johor has been
left behind (Timothy, 2000b). While the government of the state of Johor
would like to become a more active member of the growth triangle, it needs
to wait for approval for action from the federal government. The federal
government in turn, however, fears that as Johor is already the fastest grow-
ing state, further integration would increase growth and the federal govern-
ment is trying to maintain a national policy of spreading economic growth
to other parts of the country (Timothy, 2000b). Other similar cases of inter-
national collaboration include the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand triangle and
the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines collaboration. International tour-
ism collaboration is also being developed in the Greater Mekong Subregion
(GMS), which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and
China. The GMS Tourism Sector Strategy 2005-2015 was developed in
assistance with the Asian Development Bank with the objective of the strat-
egy being:
To develop and promote the Mekong as a single destination, offering a
diversity of good quality and high yielding sub regional products that
helps to distribute the benefits of tourism more widely; add to the tour-
ism development efforts of each country, by fostering a sustainable tour-
ism development approach, by contributing to poverty alleviation, gender
equality and empowerment of women, while minimizing any adverse
impacts. (MTCO, 2014)
As with any partnership there are dangers that there will not be an equal dis-
tribution of risks taken and benefits achieved. This can become even more
apparent when the partnership crosses political boundaries and various
national interests need to be served.
Conclusion
Tourism continues to be a favoured regional development tool for many
governments around the world. Regions are complex entities ranging from
a small sub-region of a nation to an international region. Where regional imba-
lances exist, tourism is seen as way to generate jobs and create new income.
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