APPRAISAL OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY TOURISM IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Family tourism is a growing market even though it is understudied and unexplored in Malaysia. Given the rising purchasing power and quality of life among families, and little work has been done on exploring these family friendly policies and their implementations, this article aims to uncover to what extent that family-friendly policies are implemented in Malaysia. This article utilised a descriptive method with qualitative data from historical writings, tourism reports and research findings concerning the participation of family tourists. This study revealed that the policies and implementations of family tourism are of different level of concern among various stakeholders. At the national level, families are encouraged at both explicit and implicit initiatives, while at the tourism providers families characters are commoditised as tourism products. The changing demand of families received attentions from the tourism providers as well as from the governmental agencies. The setting up of a comprehensive guideline on familyfriendly destination should stand as a competitive edge in promoting family tourism.