Whenever people talk about entrepreneurship, the concept that comes to mind is about people starting their own business. Although the idea is compatible in part with the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship with a slight difference, entrepreneurship is nothing more than the power to make things happen. According to Oscar Motomura, an entrepreneur is anyone capable of generating results in any area of human activity. For example, many housewives are entrepreneurs in making everything regarding their family works. However, some studies define entrepreneur as a process of identifying, evaluating and pursuing opportunities through creativity, innovativeness and transformation to produce new products, processes and values that are beneficial.
The word “entrepreneurship” is derived from the French “entreprendre”, which means to undertake or to do something. There are several fields of entrepreneurship such as regular entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and sustainable entrepreneurship.
Sustainability fundamentally means a way of living in its totality that makes possible the best conditions of living for everyone. Sustainable also means a way of life by the whole of society that considers the needs of future generations. Sustainability or the concern for long term viability covers three main dimensions such as economic, social and environment. Economic viability can be defined as business activities that must be economically profitable. Social viability to individuals or private gains are activities that must promote community and social well-being while environmental viability are activities which must be ecologically friendly.
What does “sustainable entrepreneurship” mean? It is the creation of new ventures based on the understanding of the ways of social, financial and ecological systems that intersect. Developing the ability to analyse these systems in-depth strengthens entrepreneurial skills in environments ranging from non-profit attempts at creating social change to companies trying to implement more sustainable business practices. However, another definition of sustainable entrepreneurship is essentially the realisation of sustainability innovations aimed at the mass market and providing benefits to the larger part of society. By realising such (radical) sustainability, often the innovations sustainable entrepreneur addresses unmet demands of a larger group of stakeholders.
The Malaysian government has played a strong role in ensuring environmental sustainability by way of introducing necessary policies and implementing them. From the International of Social Science Journal dated 30th May 2013, the study was conducted on the sustainability of tourism entrepreneurs.
In 2010, the tourism sector in Malaysia attracted 25 million foreign tourists with a revenue of RM56 billion. Malaysia’s tourism market is forecast to show a steady growth of 5-7% per year after the year 2011 and expects a total of 3.2million tourist arrivals in 2015 (Business Monitor International). Among the priority under the 10th Malaysia Plan ((2010-2015)) was to expand the size of the tourism industry in the next five years. Within the five years, the Government has allocated RM230billion for development expenditure, including the tourism industry. The Government shows the determination and commitment to develop this industry by formulating various funds and assistance.
The Kedah government’s main focus will be on attracting more than three million tourists a year to Langkawi, with a projected annual tourism-related gross income of RM3.8billion by 2015. Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir said that last year, revenue receipts from the approximately three million recorded tourist arrivals in Langkawi amounted to about RM2.6 billion.
“In order to be two or three steps ahead of them, we must act out of the box,” he was reported to have said after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) and Pekan Artisan Sdn Bhd which will see two exclusive and innovative development projects on the island.
The uniqueness of the Lenggong Valley archaeology site must be protected to maintain its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz cautioned that if the site was not well protected, the UNESCO recognition, which was obtained a year ago, could be retracted. The recognition, which took some five long years to obtain upon application, is prestigious, adds economic value and coveted by all countries.
Lenggong Valley is a unique outdoor museum and features one of the first human civilisations in South-East Asia. It is the fourth site in Malaysia to receive the UNESCO recognition after Malacca and George Town, the Kinabalu Park as well as the Mulu National Park.
The Perak Man, found in the Gunung Runtuh Cave, was one of the oldest and most complete human skeletal remains in South-East Asia that was dated 10,000 to 11,000 years old. Nazri said that any development at the site must be implemented carefully to protect the “outstanding universal values”.
As an Islamic country, Malaysia is promoting tourism worldwide to attract more tourists to visit the country. Islamic tourism is associated with religious, spiritual and cultural aspects of tourism. The tragedy of September 11 2001, affected all countries economically in the world. However, Islamic countries received less impact of it due to their own specialty, which is the tourism industry. There are four well-known tourist destinations in Islamic countries which are Morocco, Egypt, Malaysia and Turkey.
Tourism in Islam is a balance for dual life of the present world and the hereafter. Travelling not only strengthens relationships among humans but also towards Allah. In other words, tourism may be one of the factors that influence happiness in this life and the hereafter simultaneously. The exclusiveness of Islamic tourism in Malaysia is very interesting due to the religious, culture and also spiritual aspects and the most important component in Islamic tourism development in Malaysia.