Development impact of Malaysian ecotourism as perceived by the local public: The case of Bakau, Seri Manjung, Perak

Responsible ecotourism is supposed to go hand in hand with the participation of local communities. To gauge the extent to which this is happening in Malaysia, a micro study was conducted at Taman Paya Bakau Seri Manjung, Perak , a site that flourished as an ecotourim attraction because of the uniqueness of its natural environment. A set of questionnaire probing into members of the local public’s perceptions of ecotourism development and its impact there was administered for primary data. The data collected were processed using SPSS and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results of the analysis showed that although ecotourism had developed for quite a while in Taman Paya Bakau Seri Manjung local economic growth was slow measured by the lack of local community’s involvement. The findings point to the imperative of upgrading local infrastructure and facilities in order to develop Taman Paya Bakau as a recognizable ecotourism site.