Hasyudeen: The value of a tourist spot

Islands are natural tourist attractions. While Malaysia does not have many islands such as Indonesia and Singapore, we have managed to developed many of our islands, especially from the tourism perspectives.

Penang or also known as the Pearl of the Orient has been a famous commercial centre since the early days. Once a free-port, Penang today is still famous for its tourism appeal although economically it has managed to attract many global electronic manufacturers to locate their facilities around the island.

Tioman and Redang are other islands which are known for their beautiful beaches and marine lives. Their value propositions are different from Penang. Sipadan in Sabah is one of the best dive locations in the world. As a person who use to dive before, I have not been there as I was told that once you go to Sipadan, other dive sites will not be the same again.

I suppose islands have their natural beauty and that attracts people to go and enjoy those natural features which having a break from their normal routine at their offices or businesses. Naturally, with higher number of tourists, the demand for infrastructures will increase, resulting in more buildings and other facilities are built. This will later spur commerce and more physical structures would be needed as well. How far should we go before these new additions to the ecosystem start to provide reduced value, from the angle of tourism?

I don't have the answer but certainly I would like to see more of the natural beauty to be preserved so that they can be enjoyed by our children and theirs.

These are some of the photos of Langkawi from my recent visit. Mostly on the natural beauty of the island taken using my iPhone 6.