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The development of sports tourism towards residents
of Langkawi Island, Malaysia
P.H. Khor & N.F.H. Ibrahim-Rasdi
Faculty of Sport Science and Recreation, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis, Malaysia
K.C. Lim
College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
ABSTRACT: Sports tourism has been documented as a platform for various developments towards
sports events destination. Understanding the impact of sports tourism development in Langkawi Island
from the aspects of economic, environmental, and socio-cultural can facilitate the planning of significant
shared development strategies between the local government and residents in promoting sports tourism
in Langkawi Island. The objectives of this study were answered based on survey research conducted
among local communities. The results revealed that in general, the local residents have a high perception
of economic and environmental impact on the development of sports tourism in Langkawi Island. Addi-
tionally, development of sports tourism brings positive effects towards the residents of Langkawi Island.
Significant differences were also identified in terms of gender and marital status. Further specific study
could be conducted on the attributes of sports events which contribute to positive development impact in
promoting Langkawi Island as an international sports tourism destination.
Keywords :
Sports tourism, economic impact, environmental impact, socio-cultural impact
1 INTRODUCTION
the development of tourism as a whole and does
not distinguish among the impacts on different
aspects. This study examined the impact of sports
tourism development towards Langkawi residents
in relation to the economic, environmental and
socio-cultural aspect, as Hritz and Ross (2010)
reported that sports tourism is strongly associated
to economic, environmental, and socio-cultural
impacts.
The findings of this study provided additional
data in understanding the theoretical perspective
of effects on sports tourism development towards
the islanders. The information could also increase
the likelihood for residents' support in promoting
Langkawi Island as a sports tourism destination.
Perceptions involving different age and marital sta-
tus groups display the demographic of the popula-
tions in Langkawi Island. The hypotheses generated
were:
Langkawi Island is located in the Andaman Sea,
some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwest-
ern Malaysia. It is a duty-free-island, with a popu-
lation of about 65,000 people and administered
by Langkawi Development Authority (LADA).
Equipped with outstanding services on the trans-
portation, communication, accommodation and
sporting infrastructures, Langkawi Island is in
a good position to promote itself as a choice for
international sporting events. Le Tour De Lang-
kawi, Ironman Langkawi, Langkawi International
Mountain Bike Challenge, and Royal Langkawi
International Regatta are a few examples of annual
sporting events that attract global tourist (Ministry
of Human Resources Malaysia, 2012).
Sports tourism is currently adding five bil-
lion Ringgits annually to the Malaysia's revenue.
Hence, it is rated as one of the best growing sec-
tors in the tourism industry, as related by Malaysia
Sports Tourism Council. With a yearly growth of
eight to ten percent, it is gaining major attention
for its impact on the economic, environmental, and
socio-cultural towards the related destination. Pre-
vious research on tourism has focused wholly on
(ii) There are differences in sports tourism impacts
observed by local community in Langkawi
Island, Malaysia in term of age group.
(ii) There are differences in sports tourism impacts
observed by local community in Langkawi
Island, Malaysia in term of marital status.
 
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