HOMESTAY PROGRAMME ORGANISATION MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The tourism sector is the second largest sector that contributes to the national income after manufacturing. Homestay program is a community-based tourism which contributes to the national income. Statistics showed the total number of tourist arrivals to the homestay program in January to December 2010 stood at 196.472, an increase of 21.6% over January to December in 2009. This shows that the need for homestay program increased every year. Therefore, the government should focus on homestay program in order to sustain the success and the quality as well as to increase the number of visitors arrival. One of the key success factors of the homestay program depends on th ability of the management leader in planning, organizing, implementing and controlling the homestay program activities effectively. The study found that there are some items that have a high mean level that can be used as a model for homestay program. In addition, there are several items that showed low mean that should be emphasized by management to increase the participants commitment. Therefore, this study discusses on the factors that have been practice by management leaders in enhancing the organizational commitment among homestay program participants for the development of rural communities.