The Relation Between Humans and Animals in Food Tourism Rural and Community Based Tourism Development in Malaysia: Prospects for Homestays as a Social Economy Enterprise

Abstract: This paper is a conceptual study examining the implementation of the homestay programme as an establishment type in developing rural tourism in Malaysia focusing on rural community based tourism initiatives. It explores the policy background that encourages the growth of rural tourism in Malaysia. An illustration in the form of a homestay in Kedah, involved the investigation into regional planning and the establishment of social economy enterprises. Community-based tourism (CBT) is often considered as one component of a broad-based plan to improve rural and urban economies, which intertwines and sometimes overlaps with rural and urban tourism concepts. CBT development is characterised as a form of locally situated development that uses tourism to generate economic, social, and cultural benefits within a community. This process occurs through increased community participation in decision making and the sustainable development of both natural and cultural resources. These objectives of CBT are sometimes parallel to the objectives of rural and urban tourism development in Malaysia. The objective of this paper is to examine work in the field of rural tourism development in the form of a Homestay Programme as a Social Economy Enterprise. It aims to prove that social-economy enterprises can fulfil multiple areas of needs within rural communities as well a