Tourist-Local Interaction on Pulau Tioman: Controlling the Borderzone

Abstract

This thesis studies the dynamics of tourist-local interactions on Pulau Tioman. Employing the use of ethnographic methodology over a span of 55 days in the field, this research explores the attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of tourists and locals as they interact on a daily basis in kampong Salang, Air Batang and Juara on Tioman. The study adopts Bruner¿s (2005) concept of the ¿touristic borderzone¿ and Causey¿s (2003) idea of ¿utopic space¿ to conceptualize the space where encounters occur, and therefore positions itself to regard all interactions between tourists and locals not as fixed relations but as open relations where identities, desires and perspectives are constantly being negotiated, contested and interpreted. It will be examined how the local community attempts to control the `borderzones¿ in order to protect their private spaces as well as to maximize their desires from the interactions. It is discovered that this control of the `borderzone¿ is not unique to encounters that occur near private spaces, but also extends to encounters that occur throughout the island suggesting that the local community has effectively devised strategies to maximize the benefits from tourist encounters and to live with tourism.