The impacts of tourism on the livelihood of the stateless sea gypsies in Semporna, Sabah

As a popular tourist destination, Semporna, Sabah receives more than 2,000 visitors daily. Yet, despite its popularity, Semporna is also home to a more than 26,000 stateless sea gypsies, which is the highest in Malaysia. This study analysed the impacts of tourism on the livelihood of the stateless sea gypsies in Semporna, Sabah and vice versa. Its objectives were: i) to examine Sabah’s policy and practice towards the Pala’u and their involvement in tourism, ii) to explore in what ways and to what extent Sabah’s tourism affected the sea gypsies and vice versa, and iii) to analyse the push and pull factors of compliance and noncompliance of tour operators in relation to the sea gypsies. This study employed a qualitative method and was guided by sustainable livelihood framework theory. Primary data were collected through structured and semi-structured interviews with respondents chosen using the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Secondary data were mostly sourced from journals and articles. The data extracted from semi- structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that since there was no specific policy or set of guidelines in place to govern stateless sea gypsies in tourism industry, some of the negative impacts included violation of human rights issues, illegal employment, shifting culture, exposure to unislamic conduct as well as social and legal problems. Nevertheless, it had also led to some positive impacts such as the sea gypsies’ improved standard of living, improved communication skills and higher tendency of mixed marriage which led to citizenship acquisition. Additionally, the study identified five key themes under Objective 3, which were categorized into push and pull factors. The push factors include bureaucratic hassle, desire to maximize profit, and minimize operational costs. On the other hand, the pull factors are avoiding fines and license suspensions, as well as ensuring business sustainability.The data classified into tangible and intangible impacts. For future studies, it is recommended that a different methodology such as ethnography is employed to better observe and understand more on the impacts of tourism on the livelihood strategies of the stateless sea gypsies.