Creating a sustainable tourism business model for small-scale tourism products in Malaysia: embracing tourism opportunity for post-pandemic resilience


Citation

Anisah Abdul Waf, . and Suriani Mohamed, . and Zaliza Hanapi, . and Johan Afendi Ibrahim, . and Norsamsinar Samsudin, . (2025) Creating a sustainable tourism business model for small-scale tourism products in Malaysia: embracing tourism opportunity for post-pandemic resilience. Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities (Malaysia), 33 (1). pp. 29-49. ISSN 0128-7702

Abstract

The tourism business is battling to survive in 2019 due to travel restrictions, border closures, and the closure of most services. The pandemic is having a more severe impact on small-scale tourism products than on others. Therefore, it is urgent to introduce new elements into business models to assist these operators in maintaining operations and sustaining their products. Given that most revenue in the tourism industry comes from small-scale products that directly benefit local communities, tourism operators need to identify the key elements of their business model. The current nine elements of the small-scale business model are the customer segments, value proposition, revenue streams, channels, customer relationships, key activities, key resources, key partners, and cost structure. However, these small-scale tourism operators must add new components to their business strategies for product sustainability to remain competitive today. Hence, the goals of this study were addressed by using the qualitative technique as the research design. Ten informants, including tourism representatives and operators from Johor, Kedah, and Negeri Sembilan, participated in this semi-structured interview. Using NVivo, data were coded, translated as necessary, and transcribed. The content was analysed according to thematic analysis. The new main components of the business model are professional guidance, facilities, travel experience, information delivery, stakeholder collaboration, product management and risk management to guarantee the viability and resilience of small-scale tourism operators. These new findings can assist tourism operators in sustaining their products.


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Abstract

The tourism business is battling to survive in 2019 due to travel restrictions, border closures, and the closure of most services. The pandemic is having a more severe impact on small-scale tourism products than on others. Therefore, it is urgent to introduce new elements into business models to assist these operators in maintaining operations and sustaining their products. Given that most revenue in the tourism industry comes from small-scale products that directly benefit local communities, tourism operators need to identify the key elements of their business model. The current nine elements of the small-scale business model are the customer segments, value proposition, revenue streams, channels, customer relationships, key activities, key resources, key partners, and cost structure. However, these small-scale tourism operators must add new components to their business strategies for product sustainability to remain competitive today. Hence, the goals of this study were addressed by using the qualitative technique as the research design. Ten informants, including tourism representatives and operators from Johor, Kedah, and Negeri Sembilan, participated in this semi-structured interview. Using NVivo, data were coded, translated as necessary, and transcribed. The content was analysed according to thematic analysis. The new main components of the business model are professional guidance, facilities, travel experience, information delivery, stakeholder collaboration, product management and risk management to guarantee the viability and resilience of small-scale tourism operators. These new findings can assist tourism operators in sustaining their products.

Additional Metadata

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Item Type: Article
AGROVOC Term: small enterprises
AGROVOC Term: business models
AGROVOC Term: tourism
AGROVOC Term: risk management
AGROVOC Term: collaboration
AGROVOC Term: pandemics
AGROVOC Term: qualitative analysis
AGROVOC Term: resilience
AGROVOC Term: viability
AGROVOC Term: sustainability
Geographical Term: Malaysia
Uncontrolled Keywords: Business model, community-based products, small-scale tourism, sustainability, tourism attraction
Depositing User: Ms. Azariah Hashim
Date Deposited: 17 Aug 2026 04:03
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2026 04:03
URI: http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/4915

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