A study on the challenges faced by inbound tour operators in Kota Kinabalu district / Athanasia Nointin

The booming tourism industry in Sabah and in Malaysia as a whole has attracted many entrepreneurs to swamp the industry. In the last 5 years the increased number of tour operators in Sabah has doubled and that trend seems continuous. With the current high number of 136 tour operators in Kota Kinabalu District itself there are more coming where approvals have been given. This study is prompted with the interest to know if this seemed to be a lucrative industry is as what it is perceived and to identify the challenges faced by those tour operators in this very competitive business environment. A set of questionnaires were distributed to all the 136 tour operators in Kota Kinabalu District along with some interviews and personal observations were done during the period of study. The findings show that this industry is indeed still a worthy industry to go in but this phenomenon will not be permanent as the uncontrolled influx has already started to create unhealthy competitions. Various measures are being suggested that may help to counter this situation and it is timely to seriously look into this situation now while it is still in a manageable stage.