Entrepreneurs play an important role in sustaining rural tourism and formulation of sustainable strategies being the initiators of the tourism business and the engine of the local development. Therefore, it is necessary to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial activities for the recovery of rural tourism potential and regional traditions, maintaining local employment growth and increase living standards in line with identifies needs and priorities of regional human resources development. This article aims to discuss the involvement of local communities in development of rural tourism entrepreneurship as well as addressing the issue of entrepreneurship in rural tourism.

Abstract. The tourism industry is seen as capable of being an agent of change in the landscape of economic, social and environment of a tourist destination. Tourism activity has also generated employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to the local community as well as using available resources as tourist attractions. The tourism sector has the potential to be a catalyst for the development of entrepreneurship and small business performance. Through the development of tourism, the rural community has the opportunity to offer services or sell products to the both local and foreign tourists. To fulfill this purpose, local community participation in entrepreneurship is very important in order to develope the economic potential and to determine the direction of a development in rural areas. In the context of entrepreneurship, local participation is important not only as an entrepreneur and labor in this sector as well as complementary sectors of the others, but they can serve to encourage the involvement of other residents to join together to develop this entrepreneurial. This article aims to discuss the extent of entrepreneurship as a catalyst to the development of tourism in rural areas. Through active participation among community members, rural entrepreneurship will hopefully move towards prosperity and success of rural development.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is causing a global health crisis, which has inevitably led to a worldwide economic slowdown. In Malaysia, the small business sector is most affected by the movement control order (MCO). The MCO has caused the closure of the retail and transport sectors that has sharply curtailed the daily operations of the majority of small entrepreneurs, leading to a loss in income. However, if small business communities make optimal use of digital applications for their business activities, their income will be less affected by the current Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the everyday use of ICT has the potential to create numerous landscape improvement and business continuity, specifically for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs). This, in turn, would increase community participation in entrepreneurship.  Therefore, it is crucial to study the role of digital marketing in strengthening new business norms among small entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also imperative to identify other factors that can help boost digital business. This research examined the relationship between ICT use in empowering rural entrepreneurs during MCO in Malaysia. The study design consisted of a quantitative form for each research instrument using the Google Form online survey. This study’s sample was selected using a particular sampling method (purposive sampling) and snowball sampling (snowball sampling) involving 158 small rural entrepreneurs in Penang, Malaysia. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27.0 software. The findings showed that the respondents navigated the Covid-19 pandemic by carrying out business activities on the digital platform and took full advantage of the ICT applications as part of their new business norms. This study can provide input for the government to formulate strategies related to ICT in increasing awareness among rural entrepreneurs. Additionally, the input of this study can offer programs and activities to further enhance the entrepreneurs’ skills in using ICT.   Received: 4 March 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

The tourism sector is one of the major economic contributors to most countries. Island tourism is one of the important tourism products of a country and is able to catalyse socio-economic development for the local communities. In Malaysia, studies on local entrepreneurship development in Tioman Island has not been given much attention by researchers. To fill this gap, this study aims to provide information on the field of entrepreneurial tourism in Tioman Island. The main objective of this study is to identify the characteristics of the island community as a tourism entrepreneur and to analyse the problems and challenges faced by the island's tourism entrepreneurs. The findings show that the majority of entrepreneurs are male, aged between 25 to 44, receive education until secondary school and married. Most of the local tourism entrepreneurs run the food and beverage business and manage their businesses for 11 to 15 years and earn a monthly income of RM2001 to RM4000. The local tourism operators also face a few problems such as capital and finance, marketing, business management and infrastructure. At the same time, the entrepreneurs also expect collaboration from the government to play an important role in advancing the island's tourism industry. At the same time, local tourism entrepreneurs also expect cooperation from the government and other authorities to play a role in developing the island's tourism industry.

This study aims to examine the empowerment of local communities as tourism operators, as well as to analyze their perceptions of the economic impacts on Pulau Perhentian. The study used quantitative method involving 150 respondents comprising local communities working as tour operators. The respondents were recruited using purposive sampling and snowball technique. The findings reveal that the majority of tourism operators are male, aged between 25 to 44, with secondary level of education and married. Most of the operators have been managing their business for 16 to 20 years and have earned an estimated monthly income of RM1001.00 to RM2000.00. The study concludes that the tourism sector has contributed to: a) reducing unemployment rate, b) providing employment opportunities for women and single mothers, c) encouraging the involvement of local communities in the field of tourism entrepreneurial, e) generating income to communities, f) attracting foreign investors to invest, and g) reducing poverty rate. However, local communities are also affected by the negative impacts of the tourism sector such as: a) rising prices for goods and services, b) rising cost of living, and c) increasing the value of real estate and rental rates. This study is hoped to provide useful insights into the tourism entrepreneurship at Pulau Perhentian so that the government can take necessary actions in improving the sector.Keywords: Community empowerment, community involvement, island tourism entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial characteristics, economic impactCite as: Md Sharif, N. & Tuan Lonik, K.A. (2018). Penglibatan komuniti tempatan dalam keusahawanan pelancongan: Kajian kes Pulau Perhentian, Malaysia [Engagement of local community in tourism entrepreneurship: A case study of Perhentian Island, Malaysia]. Journalof Nusantara Studies, 3(1),103-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol3iss1pp103-119  AbstrakKajian ini bertujuan untuk melihat pemerkasaan komuniti tempatan sebagai pengusaha pelancongan, serta menganalisa persepsi mereka terhadap impak ekonomi di Pulau Perhentian. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif yang melibatkan 150 orang responden yang terdiri daripada komuniti tempatan yang terlibat sebagai pengusaha pelancongan dengan menggunakan prosedur persampelan jenis bertujuan dan bola salji. Hasil kajian mendapati majoriti pengusaha pelancongan tempatan adalah terdiri daripada lelaki, berumur 25 hingga 44 tahun, menerima pendidikan sehingga sekolah menengah dan berstatus berkahwin. Kebanyakan pengusaha menjalankan perniagaan selama 16 hingga 20 tahun dan memperoleh anggaran pendapatan bulanan RM1001 hingga RM2000. Kajian ini mendapati pembangunan sektor pelancongan di Pulau Perhentian berupaya: a) mengurangkan kadar pengangguran, b) memberi peluang pekerjaan kepada kaum wanita serta ibu tunggal, c) menyumbang kepada penglibatan komuniti tempatan dalam bidang keusahawanan pelancongan, d) menawarkan peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk, e) menyumbang kepada pendapatan penduduk, f) menarik minat pelabur asing untuk melabur, dan g) mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan. Namun, komuniti turut terkesan oleh impak negatif daripada sektor pelancongan seperti: a) peningkatan harga barangan dan perkhidmatan, b) peningkatan kos sara hidup, dan c) peningkatan nilai hartanah dan kadar sewa tanah. Dalam masa yang sama, pengusaha terlibat mengharapkan kerjasama daripada pihak kerajaan dalam memainkan peranan dalam memajukan industri pelancongan pulau tersebut.Kata kunci: Pemerkasaan komuniti, penglibatan komuniti, keusahawanan pelancongan pulau, ciri keusahawanan, impak ekonomi