Barriers To Digital Marketing Adoption at Remote R

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International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7 (2.

29) (2018) 86-90

International Journal of Engineering & Technology


Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJET

Research paper

Barriers to digital marketing adoption at remote rural tourism


destinations in Sarawak: an exploratory study
Sharon Cheuk1*, Azuriaty Atang2, Lo May Chiun3, T. Ramayah4
1Senior
Lecturer, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
2Lecturer,
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
3Professor, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
4Professor, Universiti Sains Malaysia

*Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Rural tourism has been shown to benefit local communities from the economic perspective. Digital marketing allows marketing infor-
mation to be transmitted directly to potential visitors without the need for an intermediary, in a low-cost but effective way. Rural tourism
destinations in Sarawak now have an opportunity to benefit from the Sarawak state government’s initiative, the Digital Sarawak Centre
of Excellence, in terms of digital content creation and website maintenance. However, the current level of adoption is zero to minimal in
rural tourism destinations. This study examines the barriers towards digital marketing adoption from the perspective of rural tourism
providers. Fieldwork was performed at two sites, Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai, in July 2016 and February 2017 respectively. In-depth
interviews were conducted with a total of 19 respondents. The study revealed that tourism providers currently depended on word-of-
mouth recommendations or direct contact for bookings, but were willing to adopt digital marketing with the assistance of knowledgeable
parties. However, certain physical, logistical and social constraints may have a detrimental effect on the community’s readiness level to
entertain tourists on a larger scale and may further impede the overall progress of digital marketing adoption, at both the individual and
destination levels.

Keywords: Digital marketing adoption; Tourism Service Providers; Rural Tourism

in research and development by partnering with higher education


1. Introduction institutions and industry players. Tourism has been earmarked as
a priority sector in this initiative (Aubrey, 2017). In view of the
Tourism has been envisaged to greatly benefit rural communities rural tourism destinations’ need for effective digital marketing and
from the economic and social perspective, especially in bringing the availability of the state government initiative, rural tourism
employment/income opportunities and much-needed regeneration destinations should capitalise on the opportunities presented and
(Kotler, Haider, & Rein, 1993; Liu, 2006; Sharpley, 2002). How- profit from them accordingly (Chua, 2017).
ever, a rural destination may not be well-recognised in the tourism The adoption of digital marketing by rural tourism destinations in
marketplace, and hence tourists need to be made aware of its ex- Malaysia is still in the infancy stage. The two rural destinations
istence as well as its tourism potential prior to visiting. Destina- examined by this study, Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai, have solar-
tion marketing that is effective will, therefore, promote rural tour- powered telecentres which were installed under consultation with
ism by increasing tourist arrivals; tourists would be also more Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which connected the vil-
satisfied, return to a particular destination, as well as recommend lages to the internet (Ba’kelalan to get its own ICT centre, 2010;
the said destination to others (Ekinci & Hosany, 2006; Murphy, Richards & Yeo, 2014). Subscription to internet service was pro-
Moscardo, & Benckendorff, 2007). Digital marketing has been vided by a local telecommunications company; telecommunication
noted as a low-cost and effective method of providing essential towers were installed thereafter, providing general internet access
information to target customers (Garren, 2012); such information to those with mobile internet devices (Zaman, 2016).
can include those of a visual nature (Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, With mobile internet access and the involvement of Unimas in the
2007; Greaves & Skinner, 2010). As such, digital marketing can role of advisor, we would expect an expedited transition towards
bypass the physical barriers of transmitting information transmis- full digital marketing adoption. However, to date, the rural tour-
sion to the intended market, a feature particularly important for ism suppliers have not fully embraced digital marketing. In view
rural tourism destinations. of the foregoing, we explore and examine the barriers towards
In Malaysia, ICT in general, and telecentres in particular, have digital marketing adoption from the local community perspective,
helped to advance tourism at rural destinations (Lo, Mohamad, particularly amongst the tourism service providers.
Songan, & Yeo, 2012). More recently, the Sarawak statement
government has, via the setting up of the Digital Sarawak Centre
of Excellence (DSCOE), led an initiative towards the digital trans-
formation of the state economy. The DSCOE would be involved

Copyright © 2018 Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
International Journal of Engineering & Technology 87

2. Literature Review perceptions (Gao & Wu, 2017; Zhou, Chan, & Song, 2017). Only
tourism service suppliers were selected, which included homestay
owner-operators, transportation operators, catering suppliers and
Much literature has been written on digital marketing adoption
tour guides. The researchers ensured that interviews were held
(DMA) in the development of tourism (Bonn, Furr, & Susskind,
with only voluntary participants.
1998; Bai, Elsworth, & Countryman, 2004; Luo, Feng, & Cai,
Interviews, done in-depth, were conducted to answer the research
2004). In particular, DMA was examined amongst tourism organ-
objectives. Such an approach has the advantage of rendering the
isations (El-Gohary, 2012; El-Gohary & Eid, 2012), travel agents
information gathering process more flexible; as new thoughts and
(Abou-Shouk, Lim, & Megicks, 2016) and homestays (Yiamjanya,
ideas arise, they can be probed further immediately. Additional
2016). Internet marketing for rural tourism enterprises was ex-
clarification or further discovery of underlying motivations would
plored by Clarke (2005), Duffy (2010) and Andreopou-
then be sought. To serve as a guide to the interview and to ensure
lou, Tsekouropoulos, Koliouska, and Koutroumanidis (2014). In
that research objectives are covered, a standard semi-structured
terms of DMA perspective, El-Gohary (2012), El-Gohary and Eid
interview sheet was used by the interviewer. Respondents were
(2012) and Abu-Shouk, Lim and Megicks (2016) designed or
permitted and in fact, strongly encouraged, to expound on their
validated DMA adoption frameworks; Yiamjaya (2016) analysed
views (to increase the richness of the data), and the interviewers
tourism enterprises from the perspective of e-marketing features.
would attempt not to interrupt, only providing clarification if re-
ICT functions, level of ICT adoption and usage, and/or causal
spondents appeared not to understand the questions asked. If re-
factors and barriers/challenges behind ICT adoption were explored
sponses were unclear, prompting would ensue. Two interviewers
by Duffy (2010), Reino, Frew, and Albacete‐Sáez (2011), Andre-
attended every interview session; one to conduct the interview
opoulou et al. (2014) and Nkosana, Skinner and Goodier (2016).
(ask questions) and the other to write down the responses. This
These studies reveal knowledge gaps from two perspectives.
was done to ensure that the first interviewer could concentrate on
Firstly, none of the studies explored rural tourism destinations that
asking the questions and evaluating the sufficiency of the answers
were very remote. Secondly, none of the studies examined the
before taking follow up action, if and when necessary. The im-
adoption barriers amongst rural tourism organisations which dis-
mediate recording of the oral responses in writing also served as a
played a negligible to zero level of adoption.
visual reference for the first interviewer in his/her decision to seek
Previous studies pertaining to Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai were
further clarification or to probe for deeper responses. Voice re-
also reviewed. From the tourism perspective, Hitchner, Apu, Ta-
corder usage would not allow for this as the transcript of the inter-
rawe, Aran, and Yesaya (2009) investigated community-based
view would be written up much later.
transboundary ecotourism in the Kelabit Highlands (of which
The length of the interviews generally were about an hour, and
Ba’kelalan is a part). For Long Lamai, Siew, et al. (2013) used
had to be scheduled according to the interviewees’ convenience.
the SHIP (systemic, holistic, interdisciplinary and participatory)
As such, some interviews had to be carried out at night as the re-
perspective to study ecotourism; Falak, Lo and Yeo (2016) exam-
spondents had to conduct their day time activities, such as padi
ined the positioning of rural tourism from the perspective of local
planting or harvesting. The qualitative nature of the study meant
community. On the ICT front, Harris, Bala, Songan, Khoo and
that there was no predetermined sample size. Instead, the re-
Trang (2001) examined the opportunities and challenges behind
spondent number was considered as sufficient when saturation
the introduction of ICT, especially in the form a telecentre, to the
point was achieved. Data collection was done in Ba’kelalan over a
Kelabit community; a decade later, Cheuk, Atang and Lo (2012)
five-day period in July 2016, and in Long Lamai over another
examined the community attitudes towards an established telecen-
five-day period in February 2017.
tre in the same area. An initial sustainability model was presented
The research study objectives were first introduced and explained
by Cheah, Masli, and Mit (2013) to support an e-commerce pro-
to each respondent prior to the interview proper. The following
ject for the Long Lamai community; post-mortem findings on the
questions were then asked in-depth:
same project were later presented by Cheah, Abdul Halin, Lu and
1. Does your tourism business utilise a digital marketing vehi-
Chee (2016) upon completion of the same. From the review of
cle (e.g. social media, website)?
studies on the 2 research sites, it is noted that digital marketing
2. How do your customers (tourists) locate you?
adoption barriers, from the perspective of the local community and
3. What are your perceptions/attitudes towards employing digi-
tourism service providers, have not yet been explored.
tal marketing for your tourism business?
In view of the foregoing, the objective of this study is to investi-
4. What are the barriers/problems against the adoption of digi-
gate the aforementioned barriers, from the perspective of the tour-
tal marketing for your tourism business?
ism service providers in Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai. Such ser-
From the recorded verbatim comments of the respondents, content
vice providers would include homestay owner/operators, transpor-
analysis was performed. The qualitative-phenomenological ap-
tation operators, catering providers, handicraft makers and tour
proach was utilised to derive meaning from the data and people
guides.
examined (Patton, 2002). The responses were thoroughly ana-
lysed. A single phrase, or meaningful and significant statements,
3. Methodology form the basis of the unit of coding. Themes pertaining to the
perceptions and barriers preventing the adoption of digital market-
The research sites of Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai were chosen not ing, from the perspective of tourism suppliers, were generated.
only because they were both remote rural tourism destinations, but The identified themes were grounded in the respondents’ own
both presented contrasting aspects of tourism. Ba’kelalan is rela- descriptions, and hence the findings’ validity and reliability are
tively more economically established and has homestays that are enhanced.
active. It is also more accessible in the sense that there are flights
servicing it. Long Lamai on the other hand, is less established in 4 Results and Findings
economic activities and is physically less accessible, in that it can
only be reached through a boat ride from a neighbouring village
We first present a brief background of the research sites
which has flight access. Therefore these two sites are considered
Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai. Both are remote rural destinations,
as good representatives of rural tourism destinations from two
but Ba’kelalan is more accessible than Long Lamai. Ba’kelalan is
ends of a spectrum.
comprised of 9 villages in the Kelabit Highlands and can be ac-
The study followed a qualitative research approach in order to
cessed by flight (via a 19-seater plane) or by land (via logging
appreciate in-depth the perceptions and motivations of the local
roads which are unsealed) (Wikitravel). Long Lamai is a village
community. For sample selection in the two research sites, a con-
located on the Upper Baram River; it does not have direct flight
venient non-random method was used; this method is consistent
service. Usually travelers will take the flight to Long Banga, and
with current tourism research on investigating tourism supplier
88 International Journal of Engineering & Technology

then thereafter a 1.5 hour boat ride into Long Lamai. Long Lamai ply the involvement of outside parties who were accordingly
can also be accessed by land via unsealed logging roads followed skilled. However, other respondents were eager to learn how to
by hiking through dense forest (Zaman, 2016). create marketing websites. They would also be willing to consider
The main economic activities in Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai are the later adoption of a payment/booking engine for future service
agricultural in nature, mainly rice production. Ba’kelalan is more bookings, as it would enable earlier preparations to be carried out
engaged in the tourism activity as compared to Long Lamai. At prior to the arrival of visitors, such as ensuring that food supplies
the time of the study, we noted 25 homestays in Ba’kelalan which were sufficient and that boats were in good condition. It is noted
were organised into a ministry-approved homestay association and also that most respondents already possessed smartphones; this
located throughout the 9 villages, with the bulk (16) of the indicates that the digital divide between the community members
homestays at Buduk Nur (the largest village). We were informed and their urban counterparts is not that wide, and this in turn
by Ms. Corina Balang, the homestay operator and secretary of the should facilitate the learning process. An older participant indi-
Ba’kelalan Homestay Association, that in terms of activity, only 4 cated his willingness to learn ICT to avoid having to depend on
homestays were considered more active. For Long Lamai, the the younger community members in the use of technology. A
total number of homestays is 9, but there were plans for 2 more to sample of the responses relating to eagerness to adopt ICT are as
be started. Food catering services, transportation (boat and four- follows:
wheel drive) and tour guide services are also offered. We were “I would like to learn to design marketing websites for my
informed by Mr Gary Jengan, a long-timer resident at Long Lamai, homestay…(Interview informant 1); “Having a booking and pay-
that visitors had comprised of researchers and students, whose ment engine in the future would be beneficial..(Interview inform-
stays were longer than that of standard tourists, and church-related ant 2); “A website would help in the booking process as well as
visitors, but not normal tourists. for business promotion…(Interview informant 6);
The total number of participants of this study was 19 and their I don’t have much idea in website design and content and how to
details are summarised in Table 1. manage one, but I am open to using one when I am
ready..(Interview informant 8).
Table 1: Details of Respondents Barriers to digital marketing adoption noted can be separated into
Attribute Item Frequency % Cum % 2 categories: one, those pertaining to direct barriers in website
Male 9 47 47 deployment, and two, those linked to the barriers to tourism as an
Gender
Female 10 53 100 industry. In the first category, respondents noted a lack of tourism
Homestay attractions and regular tourism events that could serve as attractive
Catering ser- 10 45 45
vice/canteen 3 14 59
content for marketing websites. For instance, Ba’kelalan used to
Tourism busi- Transportation (boat) 3 14 73 hold a Sukan Sempadan involving Brunei, Indonesia, Sabah and
ness type Transportation (4- 1 4 77 Sarawak, which has now been discontinued. Similarly, the Apple
wheel drive) 4 19 96 Festival used to be held due to the fact that the area has apple or-
Tour guide 1 4 100 chards; the festival has also been discontinued to poor apple har-
Handicraft maker vest as a result of lack of orchard maintenance. A sample re-
sponse relating to barriers to digital marketing adoption is as fol-
It is usual in rural regions for community members to hold multi- lows:
ple roles at the same time. For example, a boat operator could “We used to have a Sukan Sempadan but it is no longer held…I
also be a tour guide, and a homestay owner could also run a boat would like to fight for it to be reinstated…It can be a four-day
operating business. Hence, the total types of tourism businesses festival…it would greatly boost the economy in this area. In fact
represented in Table 1 does not equate the total number of re- tourists can make day trips to Long Bawan across the border
spondents interviewed. which is also a tourist attraction in itself” (Interview informant 4).
Our findings revealed that none of the tourism suppliers inter- The process of learning about digital marketing may be impeded
viewed had adopted zero to minimal digital marketing for their by the low level of technical knowledge amongst community
business. The homestays at Ba’kelalan used to be promoted on a members and the low level of education amongst the youths. The
general blog featuring Sabah and Sarawak homestays; however adoption of digital marketing would usually lead to the need to
the said blog is now offline. Currently the said homestays are carry on a dialogue with potential customers in some form, such as
listed on the Homestay Borneo Facebook page; however the said email; the current low English language competency amongst the
page had not been updated in the past 2 years at the time of writ- community members may hamper online communications, espe-
ing. Guests communicate with the tourism suppliers by calling cially with Western tourists. The general preference for the use of
directly, via private message through SMS or Facebook, or via a cash (as opposed to credit cards or online bank transfers) may
designated agent. Guests would also walk-in without prior book- serve as an obstacle towards the adoption of e-commerce that
ings. A large number of guests patronised the homestays through usually forms part and parcel of an online booking process. A
links with the World Challenge and Gap Challenge programmes. sample of the responses relating to the foregoing are as follows:
World Challenge organises team-building and educational school “Online banking is not preferable to the folks in Long La-
expeditions for students from the Western Hemisphere, as well as mai…people prefer cash” (Interview informant 9).
New Zealand and Australia, whereas Gap Challenge organises “I don’t feel secure with online banking, however I have not yet
engagement programmes for volunteer teachers in rural destina- used it so I can’t say for sure” (Interview informant 13).
tions. These programmes involve Ba’kelalan as a regular destina- “I have problems in communicating in English with tourists, espe-
tion; one particular homestay serves as an annual host for pro- cially Westerners” (Interview informant 12).
gramme participants. The tour guide respondent advised that oth- Websites could be designed for the individual tourism supplier,
er being booked directly by tourists, fellow tour guides would and/or for the entire village. While the respondents at Ba’kelalan
refer jobs to him if they were not confident, due to poor English did not have a preference for either, respondents at Long Lamai
competency, to accept the business themselves. For Long Lamai, were of a different view. The younger respondents in Long Lamai
a main tourism coordinator (contactable via Facebook) acted as preferred to have individual supplier websites. The reason for this
the main point of contact for tourists. was that they would be free to post and receive booking infor-
Reactions by the tourism service providers towards the adoption mation directly without going through the tourism coordinator;
of digital marketing were generally positive, and the value of digi- however, they were in agreement with the creation of a village-
tal marketing is largely acknowledged. Although there was no level website as well. On the other hand, the more senior re-
discernible fear of technology usage, respondents admitted that spondents were of the opinion that a village-level website should
they would be in need of help in digital content creation, website be first created, with individual websites to be implemented as and
design and maintenance of any websites created. This would im- when the providers are ready. This could be due to the egalitarian
International Journal of Engineering & Technology 89

nature of the village community, whereby advancement of a needed to temporarily halt the building process to concentrate on
community had to be fairly experienced and enjoyed. They were agriculture planting and harvesting.”
of the opinion that that individual websites may lead to unequal Handicraft-making is also a long and laborious process. Interview
income distribution within the village should there be some pro- informant 16 informed that “first a suitable species of rattan
viders who were better at promoting their services than others. In needs to be located in the jungle, which takes a long time as the
other words, better income may be earned by suppliers with more said rattan is not common; thereafter, the process of cutting, de-
attractive websites. Furthermore it may create different prices for coring, softening, natural dyeing and weaving is also very time-
similar products. Such an egalitarian psyche and collectivist atti- consuming”.
tude of the community, as well as general deference of all to the The above findings can be summarised in the following Table 2:
village elders, may slow the process of digital adoption at the in-
dividual level. A sample of responses pertaining to the foregoing Table 2: Summary of key findings
are as follows: Item Summary of findings
“Different websites for different homestays may give rise to differ- Existence of digital • None utilised adopted digital marketing
ent prices for similar services or products, we don’t want this to marketing vehicle for their tourism business.
happen…a village-wide website can help to promote products like • For Ba’kelalan, homestays were repre-
sented on the Facebook page named
handicrafts, festivals and gatherings” (Interview informant 18).
Homestay Borneo. However the website
“Having my own website would be good as booking of my services had not received updates since 2015.
would be more efficient and the information can be passed to me How customers locate • Direct contact - Facebook messaging,
directly. I would have more time to prepare for the guest’s arri- the tourism provider phone/SMS to the main tourism coordi-
val” (Interview informant 13). nator
The second category of barriers/problems pertain to tourism as an • Peer referrals
industry within the villages. For Ba’kelalan, the respondents high- • Via a designated agent.
lighted the lack of flight services to the area, especially compared • Via Homestay Borneo Facebook page.
to the nearby Bario. Ba’kelalan is serviced by only 3 flights a • Walk-in customers with or without
week, whereas Bario is serviced by 2 flights per day. Furthermore, word-of-mouth recommendations.
the number of flight services are increased to 7 per day during the Perceptions towards • Largely positive and there is a general
adoption of digital mar- consensus on the value of digital market-
annual Slow Food Festival. Hence, Bario is perceived to be a
keting ing for tourism services
direct competitor with Ba’kelalan in terms of number of tourist
• No fear of technology noted. However
arrivals. A sample response pertaining to the foregoing is as fol- help is needed in the setting up of mar-
lows: keting websites in terms of content, de-
“Bario has regular daily flights compared to Ba’kelalan…we sign and management
don’t have a big annual event to attract visitors which leads to • Adoption of ICT in the booking process
increased flights..(Interview informant 6). will allow more efficient operations.
Although Long Lamai is even more inaccessible than Ba’kelalan, Barriers/problems pre- • Lack of tourism attractions and events to
respondents did not point that out as a reason for low tourist arri- venting the use of digital be used a promotional material on mar-
vals. Instead, they highlighted various physical constraints to full marketing keting websites
engagement in tourism. Firstly, agriculture, especially rice- • Lack of technical knowledge
planting, is the main economic activity and is seasonal and labour- • Low level of education amongst the
youths
intensive. As per Interview informant 9: “Harvesting is done on a
• General preference for cash - an obstacle
gotong-royong (communal) basis…villagers will work in teams to to the adoption of e-commerce
help each other harvest their fields…they will move from field to • Poor English language competence
field.” Such labour-intensive activity would compete with tour- • The egalitarian psyche and collectivist
ism in terms of available manpower and therefore priorities would attitude of community, and deference to
need to be set. the village elders may slow the process
Another major problem for tourism is the lack of readiness to fully of digital adoption at the individual level
engage in it, due to physical constraints such as electricity supply, • Poor accessibility (few flights to
water supply, food, and materials for building houses, boats and Ba’kelalan)
for making handicraft. Interview informant 9 advised: “The water • The need for manpower planning: tour-
ism v. farming
and electricity supplies are linked. Electricity is generated from
• Lack of readiness to fully engage in tour-
the nearby hydroelectric generator installed at the nearby river. ism, due to physical constraints
Supply may be interrupted if the generator is blocked by floating
leaves in the river. Water is taken from the river via direct piping;
like the hydro-generator, the piping could also be blocked by 5. Conclusion
leaves which interrupts water supply.”
As for food, the main sources are paddy and vegetables. Interview In conclusion, the Ba’kelalan and Long Lamai communities are
informant 9 also informed that “a single paddy harvest would generally open to adopting digital marketing, with the assistance
generally be sufficient for one family for half a year to a year. of outside parties in digital content creation, website design and
Vegetables are usually planted and if there is too much rain and website maintenance. However, barriers exist in the form of those
poor drainage, the seeds could be killed.” Hence, the catering of that pertain to problems in website deployment, and those linked
food for tourists, on top of that for the community, may be a chal- to the barriers to tourism as an industry; the latter would affect the
lenging process. communities’ readiness to receive and entertain tourists on a large
Finally, constraints for obtaining material to build houses, boats scale. The collectivist nature of the Long Lamai community in
and to make handicraft exist. Interview informant 15, a homestay particular, aimed at ensuring equal participation in economic ben-
owner, informed that: efits, may slow down the process of digital marketing adoption as
“…to build houses, suitable timber needs to be first located from a whole.
the forest; the timber needs to be chopped, processed, and trans- Practical suggestions would include fully utilising the local uni-
ported down the river to Long Lamai before the actual building versity to first set up the website infrastructure and brainstorming
can commence. The process of obtaining and transportation of tourism attractions and events to be part of the website content. A
timber involves significant time away from the village. Some village-level landing page with separate links to individual suppli-
houses in the village were left half completed because the owners er-level websites would have better search engine rankings. The
writing of Wikitravel pages, containing essential visitor infor-
90 International Journal of Engineering & Technology

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