Coping With COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam
Coping With COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam
Coping With COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam
Article
Coping with COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of
Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam
Najib Noorashid 1 and Wei Lee Chin 2, *
1 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei;
noorashid.najib@gmail.com
2 Geography, Environment and Development Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei
* Correspondence: weilee.chin@ubd.edu.bn
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel and tourism industry, economies,
livelihoods, public services, and opportunities globally. This is also observed in the small country
of Brunei. As one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19 transmissions,
Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through its community-based tourism (CBT). Fol-
lowing Sharma et al.’s resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19
established in 2021, this study incorporates responses from semi-structured interviews with 16 local
CBT owners on the challenges, the management, and the CBT initiatives during the height of the
pandemic until today. These initiatives include diversifying more tour packages and utilising local
resources and products. Despite the lockdown imposed by the government, which suspended
businesses and restricted all travelling, local CBT operations flourished, generated more income for
the owners, and created job opportunities for the community. Such efforts have caused the public to
Citation: Noorashid, N.; Chin, W.L.
appreciate local cultures, the environment, and ultimately increase CBT experiences in the country.
Coping with COVID-19: The While shedding light on Brunei’s unique management of its tourism industry during the pandemic,
Resilience and Transformation of this paper also demonstrates theoretical and conceptual contributions to the recent literature of
Community-Based Tourism in Brunei resilient and transformational tourism and provide suggestions on how to manage CBT operations
Darussalam. Sustainability 2021, 13, during these challenging times.
8618. https://doi.org/10.3390/
su13158618 Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; community-based tourism; resilience; transformation; hospitality;
technology; local communities; Brunei; Southeast Asia
Academic Editors: Luigi Mastronardi,
Aurora Cavallo and Luca Romagnoli
the Sultanate on the 9th of March 2020, Brunei has promptly restricted inbound and
outbound travellers to prevent continued transmission within the country [14] where
the number of inbound travellers coming into Brunei had dropped by more than 70% in
2020 [15]. Today, as one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19
transmissions [16–18], Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through various
national and community approaches, particularly through the growth of its community-
based tourism (CBT) operations.
CBT is normally marked by certain criteria such as tourism involving community
members and their participation, community control and empowerment, conservation,
and its contribution to the well-being and the development of community [19]. Whilst
CBT is ‘a much-contested area of practice and research that is marked by differences in
opinion on definition, interests served and bases for assessment’ [20] (p. 178), in the
current study, we refer CBT as a form of tourism runs by local community members
that specifically focused on offering products and services in small-scale industry and
hospitality. In comparison to general tourism that is normally managed by large-scale
industry and companies, CBT is often operated by community members. Whilst the current
study observed that there are more than 30 CBT establishments operating as homestays,
lodges, and cultural centres across Brunei, this figure is not fixed due to the rapidly growing
CBT operations from the outbound travel restrictions imposed in the country. It has become
a necessity for countries to assess the effects of COVID-19 in various aspects of life for
future references, including its bearing to the decline of travel and tourism industry in
global contexts [11,13,21,22]. However, fewer studies have been undertaken in the context
of Brunei, particularly involving the small-scale industry such as CBT operations that
have contributed to the growth of the economy. This is amid international recognition of
Brunei being ‘exemplary’ and ‘a success story’ in mitigating COVID-19 issues [16–18,23–25].
Thus, this paper attempts to highlight research importance and potential contributions to
the contemporary literature of tourism and hospitality studies and COVID-19 in Brunei
and internationally. This paper also acknowledges the scarcity of research on CBT in
Brunei [26,27].
Using the case study approach involving a number of CBT owners in Brunei, this study
investigates the impact of COVID-19 on CBT owners’ perceptions, experiences, and manage-
ment during the pandemic. Surrounding these themes, and by utilizing Sharma et al.’s [7]
resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19, the aim of
this study is to address three research questions: (1) what are the main challenges faced
by CBT and how they are managed accordingly; (2) what are the contributing factors to
making the tourism industry sustainable through CBT operations; (3) how can the tourism
industry make use of this unprecedented crisis as an opportunity to ensure sustainability
in tourism.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Challenges, Resilience, and Transformation of Tourism Amid COVID-19
Since the COVID-19 outbreak towards the end of 2019, the disruption of global flows
and mobility has triggered economic loss to the tourism industry [4,28,29], affected human
freedom and travelling rights [21,30], while also challenging public services and hospital-
ity [31–33], job precariousness [34–37], and emotional health and wellbeing [28,38,39]. The
pandemic also impacted smaller establishments and businesses, including CBT opera-
tions [9,40–42].
COVID-19 has changed the way people think and evaluate tourism practices, as it
brought about ‘a critical reconsideration of the global volume growth model for tourism,
for interrelated reasons of risks incurred in global travel’ [31] (p. 13). For example, the pan-
demic has influenced consumer attitudes and behaviours forcing various stakeholders to
reassess management strategies and adapt to the new environment. Luo and Lam [39]
found the changes in psychological attitudes among Hong Kong travellers influencing
their mobility intentions and destinations, while Im et al. [43] detected sudden changes
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 3 of 28
in South Korean consumer behaviours resulting in risk aversion such as social distancing
during travelling. Meanwhile, Toubes et al. [44] found the changes in tourist behaviours
and consumption in Spain that have forced the hospitality and tourism sector to adapt
their promotional and marketing strategies to the ‘new normal’ standards, including incor-
porating online platforms and digitization to secure health and safety standards. Similar
accounts have been reported in various case studies published globally, further changing
the tourism paradigm on many levels [44–47].
The pandemic has also impacted job employment on a global scale. Chirumbolo et al.’s [34]
analysis on 830 Italian workers showed that job insecurity and life precarity have had
a detrimental impact of consumer behaviours, due to the decreasing level of economic
opportunities and livelihood. Other studies also report on the loss of employment caused by
ceased business operations, which further led to raising mental and health issues [33,37,42].
Moreover, Jiang and Wen [38] reported several intersections of raising health concerns
and the hospitality industry not only among business practitioners but also consumers
worldwide. The psychological effects of COVID-19 towards hospitality workers and
businesses operators have raised concerns and have called for innovations in the tourism
management and industry [28,32,33,48].
To date, continuous efforts have been undertaken to mitigate the impacts of the
pandemic to prepare for a more adaptive and resilient industry while paving the way
to transform in coping with the unprecedented global health crisis and potential post-
COVID-19 tourism [7,32,38,49]. Recent literature on COVID-19 has called for the efforts
to alleviate and avoid the negative impacts of the pandemic towards tourism and hos-
pitality sectors [2,11,22,29,45,50,51], job precarity and related mental health and anxi-
ety [33,34,38,47,52], and the small-scale industry [4,9,53–56], among others. Moreover,
in these challenging times, the ‘formulation of appropriate recovery and resilience strate-
gies is still critical not only to the survival of the sector in tourism-intensive small states
but also to maintain the vital socio-economic linkages the sector cultivates’ [4] (p. 6).
As an attempt to prepare the tourism and hospitality industry post-COVID-19, scholars
and relevant organisations have continued their approaches to understand the new envi-
ronment to sustain the capacity of tourism in various levels. For example, Abbas et al. [2]
and Persson-Fischer and Liu [29] found that the tourism hospitality sectors need to adhere
to transformations, such as boosting the domestic market. These studies also report the fea-
sibility of such a strategy by taking into account of cooperative resilience management and
increasing social values among tourism key players throughout the pandemic. Meanwhile,
Lew et al. [12] suggested that the resilience adaptive cycle in tourism can be reviewed
in four phases: (1) (re)organization involving innovation and creativity, (2) growth of
opportunities from Phase 1, (3) consolidation of fixed institutions and rules of Phase 2,
and (4) collapse where the failure of Phase 3 to adapt to changes can be returned to Phase 1
or dissolution. In their analysis, Lew et al. [12] believe that Phase 1 is crucial in securing
sustainable tourism.
In a comprehensive review of responses from tourism sectors globally, Cave and
Dredge [51] also call upon innovations in the hospitality sector, including diversifying
economic practices of enterprises, labours, and properties in order to raise regenerative
tourism. Meanwhile, Kampel [4] outlines several potential strategic actions to be imple-
mented by small countries mitigating the loss of economy and hospitality industries during
the pandemic. The study suggests initiatives including diversifying tourism products and
services while increasing collaborations between stakeholders. Reviewing salient features
on the effects of the pandemic and the ongoing mitigation efforts undertaken by tourism
stakeholders, Sharma et al. [7] produced a policy framework for market players and gov-
ernments worldwide to cope with the challenges emerging in the global tourism industry.
As global tourism and hospitality industries are still facing challenges from the un-
certainty of the pandemic, more literature on strategic management of resilience and
transformation are needed to revive tourism industries in preparation for post-COVID-
19 [6,11,21,56–62].
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 4 of 28
Figure1.1.Resilience-based
Figure Resilience-basedframework
framework for
for reviving
reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19
post-COVID-19 [7]
[7] (p.
(p.8).
8).
source: Elsevier.
source: Elsevier.
This
Thisstudy
studyutilised
utilisedSharma
Sharmaetetal.’s
al.’s[7]
[7]framework
frameworktotosubstantiate
substantiatethe theunderstanding
understanding
ofofthe current
the current CBT management during the pandemic by formulating
management during the pandemic by formulating research research ideas,
ideas, ad-
administering interviewquestions
ministering interview questionsand and guidance
guidance for discussion.
discussion. Beside
Beside itsitscurrent
currentrelevance
relevance
and
andinfluence
influenceinincontemporary
contemporarystudies
studieson onthe
theeffects
effectsofofCOVID-19
COVID-19towards
towardstourism
tourismand and
hospitality
hospitalitysectors
sectorsglobally,
globally,the flexible
the nature
flexible nature of of
thethe
framework
framework in evaluating
in evaluatingthe the
potential
poten-
factors of resilience
tial factors and and
of resilience transformation
transformation through multi-faceted
through multi-facetedlevels andand
levels perspectives
perspectivesis
deemed highly adaptive with the current explorative study’s research
is deemed highly adaptive with the current explorative study’s research aims and ques- aims and questions.
Even though the framework has detailed four specific subdivisional factors in each of
tions.
the two overarching
Even though the themes of resilience
framework and transformation,
has detailed this study added
four specific subdivisional twoinmore
factors each
transformational factors of (1) the innovation of roles and practices and
of the two overarching themes of resilience and transformation, this study added two (2) the appreciation
towards local products and
more transformational services.
factors of (1)By
thetaking accountofprevious
innovation roles and literature
practicesin and
tourism amid
(2) the ap-
COVID-19 and our early observation on CBT industry in Brunei, we
preciation towards local products and services. By taking account previous literature in believe that these
two added
tourism factors
amid are expected
COVID-19 to remain
and our significant on
early observation post-COVID-19.
CBT industry This newlywe
in Brunei, adapted
believe
framework will be used in this current study to further discuss the situation in Brunei as a
case study (see Figure 2).
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 of 29
that these two added factors are expected to remain significant post-COVID-19. This
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 newly adapted framework will be used in this current study to further discuss the situa-
6 of 28
tion in Brunei as a case study (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Resilience and transformation-based framework during and after COVID-19 (adapted from
Figure 2. Resilience and transformation-based framework during and after COVID-19 (adapted
Sharma et al. [7] edited by authors).
from Sharma et al. [7] edited by authors).
As Southeast Asian countries are underrepresented in the development of Sharma et al.’s [7]
As Southeast Asian countries are underrepresented in the development of Sharma et
theoretical framework, we believe our newly adapted framework offers a more well-
al.’s [7] theoretical
rounded perspective framework,
on strategic we planning
believe ourfor newly adapted
resilience framework offers
and transformation amidaCOVID-
more
well-rounded perspective on strategic planning for resilience and
19 that can be utilised by other Southeast Asian contexts and beyond, particularly involving transformation amid
COVID-19
small-scale thatcommercial
can be utilised by other Southeast
establishments Asian contexts
and domestic tourism. and Asbeyond,
there isparticularly
a myriad of
involving small-scale commercial establishments and domestic
literature on COVID-19 and tourism, this study further takes this opportunity tourism. As there is a myr-
to incorporate
iad of literature on COVID-19 and tourism, this study further
the perspective from Brunei, whose tourism industry has prospered in recent years and takes this opportunity to
incorporate the perspective from Brunei, whose
how its new CBT operations are mushrooming during the pandemic. tourism industry has prospered in recent
years andWhilsthowSharma
its newetCBT operations
al. [7] reviewedare mushrooming
responses during
of various the pandemic.
stakeholders predominantly
Whilst
in mass Sharmaindustry
tourism et al. [7]during
reviewed responses
COVID-19, thisofstudy
various stakeholders
expands predominantly
its potential to focus on
inthe
mass tourism industry during COVID-19, this study expands
community tourism by investigating CBT owners’ perceptions and their management its potential to focus on
the community tourism by investigating CBT owners’ perceptions
during the challenging times. CBT has been claimed to generate national economy vis-à-vis and their management
during the challenging
mass tourism industrytimes.
in theCBTglobalhascontext
been claimed
[73,74], to
as generate
it supports national economythe
and empowers vis-à-
com-
vismunity
mass tourism industry in the global context [73,74], as it supports
on many levels [19,75] including the context of Brunei [26,27]; thus, the framework and empowers the
community
is essentialon to many levels the
understand [19,75] including of
management theCBTcontext of Brunei
operations [26,27];
during the thus,
height the
offrame-
the pan-
work
demic is essential
and today, to and
understand the management
in its correlation of CBT operations
to appropriating resilience and during the height offor
transformation
the pandemictourism
sustainable and today, and in itsFurthermore,
and economy. correlation tothereappropriating
is ‘a need for resilience and transfor-
a “community-centered
mation
tourism forframework”
sustainable tourism and economy.
with responsible Furthermore,
approaches to reset,there is ‘a need
redescribe, and for a “com-
refamiliarize
munity-centered tourism framework” with responsible approaches
the tourism industry in the interest of local communities’ [7] (p. 7), which is the focus of to reset, redescribe,
and
therefamiliarize
current study. theIntourism
this case, industry in the interest
the formation of local communities’
of a community-managed [7] (p.
tourism 7),
frame-
which
workisisthe focus of to
imperative theunderstanding
current study.the In ongoing
this case,issues
the formation of a community-man-
faced by local communities amid
aged
the tourism
pandemic. framework
As CBTiscan imperative
stronglyto understanding
impact a country’s theeconomy
ongoing issues faced by
even during thelocal
pan-
demic [4,55,66,73,74],
communities this study attempts
amid the pandemic. As CBT can to raise theoretical
strongly impactand conceptual
a country’s contributions
economy even
to the the
during recent literature
pandemic of resilient andthis
[4,55,66,73,74], transformational
study attemptstourism to raiseand further provide
theoretical sugges-
and concep-
tions on how to manage CBT operations during these challenging
tual contributions to the recent literature of resilient and transformational tourism and times. This is expected
to generate
further provide further discussion
suggestions on the
on how tointerests,
manage CBT the effects,
operations and the contributions
during of CBT on
these challenging
a larger
times. Thisscale of mass to
is expected tourism.
generate further discussion on the interests, the effects, and the
contributions of CBT on a larger scale of mass tourism.
4. Methods
This study is qualitative in nature. Using purposive sampling, 16 owners of CBT
operations running the same line of work in Brunei were approached and interviewed (see
Table 1 for respondents’ background). A few CBT operations were approached through
the list of CBT operators gathered from the official webpage of the Tourism Department,
Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism in Brunei [76], while others were selected
due to their success and active role in running CBT operations in Brunei. The interviews
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 7 of 28
were conducted in March and April 2021 at the respondents’ CBT establishments when the
country had implemented the de-escalation plan, and businesses operated normally.
CBT
Respondent Age Gender District Year Established
Line of Work
A 54 Female Lodge Brunei Muara 2015
B 52 Female Homestay Brunei Muara 2018
C 50 Male Homestay Brunei Muara 2009
D 36 Female Travel service provider Brunei Muara and Tutong 2018
E 46 Male Lodge Brunei Muara 2015
F 40 Female Homestay Brunei Muara 2012
G 52 Male Homestay/cultural village Brunei Muara 2015
H 26 Female Cultural centre Tutong 2012
I 64 Male Homestay/cultural centre Tutong 2017
J 40 Female Homestay Temburong 2011
K 67 Female Guesthouse Temburong 2006
L 59 Male Guesthouse Temburong 2014
M 69 Female Guesthouse Temburong 2001
N 25 Male Lodge Temburong 2020
O 56 Female Homestay Tutong 2010
P 76 Female Homestay Temburong 2007
This study utilised semi-structured interviews enquiring the CBT owners’ knowledge
on COVID-19 and its effects to tourism and hospitality industry in Brunei and internation-
ally, their perceptions and experiences during the height of COVID-19 and today, and their
personal and collective approaches (with the community) to mitigate the effects of the
pandemic to their businesses (see Appendix A for the list of interview questions). In this
study, a semi-structured interview was used to acquire more in-depth information in order
to understand the current situation of small-scale tourism industry in Brunei from the
perspective of the key player (CBT owners), while identifying the reasons behind the
sudden upsurge in CBT operations during the pandemic. As this study is explorative
amid scarcity of similar studies in Brunei, the combination of using a semi-structured
interview involving purposive samples had provided opportunities to explore the relevant
participants’ thoughts, beliefs, and expectations, while delving further into their personal
and professional perspectives in managing CBT operations during COVID-19, ultimately
showcasing new findings.
Theoretically grounded by Sharma et al.’s [7] framework, content analysis was used
to create relevant themes based on salient features and discussion surrounding the CBT
owners’ responses to being resilient and transformed to secure sustainability in operation
amid COVID-19. Content analysis is used as it is a reliable yet flexible approach in
determining relevant themes in contexts and times (which in this case is on CBT during
and after COVID-19) that are replicable and can be reproduced in different contexts and
settings by other researchers [77–79].
Brunei (see Figure 3 for map of Brunei Darussalam) was chosen as a case study due to
its effective responses to COVID-19 and has since garnered international attention. As of
mid-July 2021, the country had detected a total of 291 cases with only three deaths [80].
The last local case reported was on the 6th of May 2020, which marks more than 400 days
without local transmissions. Whilst Brunei has been successful in flattening the curve
and has been able to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the country [16,18,25] through
prompt actions from the government and mutual adherence by the people, there are still
concerns among the people on a possible emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 in
the country [81]. As with other countries worldwide, Brunei’s tourism has been severely
affected by the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Brunei enjoyed an upsurge in incoming
tourists, but this plunged by 81.3% year-on-year since the border closure in 2020 [82,83].
without local transmissions. Whilst Brunei has been successful in flattening the curve and
has been able to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the country [16,18,25] through
prompt actions from the government and mutual adherence by the people, there are still
concerns among the people on a possible emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 in the
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 country [81]. As with other countries worldwide, Brunei’s tourism has been severely 8 ofaf-
28
fected by the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Brunei enjoyed an upsurge in incoming
tourists, but this plunged by 81.3% year-on-year since the border closure in 2020 [82,83].
Theimpact
The impact of of COVID-19
COVID-19on ontourism
tourisminin Brunei
Brunei cancan
be illustrated
be illustrated withwith
somesome
key gov-
key
ernment decisions imposed within a few days of the first detection
government decisions imposed within a few days of the first detection of the virus of the virus in thein
country
the countryin March
in March2020: the pronouncement
2020: the pronouncement of a national lockdown
of a national lockdownon theon16ththeof16th
Marchof
wherewhere
March all citizens and residents
all citizens of Brunei
and residents were not
of Brunei permitted
were to leaveto
not permitted theleave
country without
the country
the statethe
without approval; all travellers
state approval; arriving arriving
all travellers in Bruneiinstarting
Brunei on 20th March
starting on 20thwere
Marchrequired
were
to undergo self-mandatory isolation for 14 days at the government-designated
required to undergo self-mandatory isolation for 14 days at the government-designated facility; the
restriction of all foreign nationals through any points of entry (including
facility; the restriction of all foreign nationals through any points of entry (including transit purposes)
since 23rd
transit March.since
purposes) Aside from
23rd theseAside
March. responses,
from the Brunei
these Government
responses, the Brunei has implemented
Government
other measures such as introducing the BruHealth application
has implemented other measures such as introducing the BruHealth application (a one-stop mobile(aappli-
one-
cation
stop for any
mobile related COVID-19
application updates
for any related in Brunei)
COVID-19 and in
updates contact
Brunei) tracing for every
and contact con-
tracing
firmed
for everycase, while provisionally
confirmed imposing incoming
case, while provisionally imposing travel restriction
incoming travelfrom countries
restriction fromre-
cording ongoing
countries recording COVID-19 cases [84]. cases [84].
ongoing COVID-19
Themajor
The majorthemes
themesin inthis
thisstudy
studyareareononthe
themain
main challenges
challengesfacedfaced by by these
these CBT
CBT owners
owners
and operations, their resistance and resilience facing the pandemic,
and operations, their resistance and resilience facing the pandemic, and transformational and transformational
effortsin
efforts in securing
securing sustainability
sustainability of ofthe
thesmall-scale
small-scaletourism
tourism industry,
industry, community
community well-be-
well-
ing, and
being, andtheir
theirown
owneconomy.
economy.Ethical
Ethicalconsent
consentagreement
agreement between
between the the researchers
researchers andand the
the
participantswas
participants wasmade
madepriorpriortotothe
theinterviews.
interviews. The The participants
participants also also requested
requested to to remain
remain
anonymousininthe
anonymous thewriting
writingof ofthis
thisreport.
report.
any social activities. Local businesses were disrupted, and the CBT owners had to cease
operations for the following three to four months. The owners also claimed that the
pandemic was the most unprecedented challenge that they had ever faced in years of
operating their businesses, as it also affected the economy of most of these CBT operations.
We couldn’t receive any customers for a while, especially in the very beginning
[of the first COVID-19 case recorded]. It continued for months. We were afraid.
Customers wanted to check in to our homestay, but we couldn’t accept due to
the risk [of transmission]. Once the virus transmission was contained, then we
could slowly accept customers but in a small number. Yes, we couldn’t accept
a lot. At the end, we didn’t make any profits. Yet again, we were apprehensive
that the virus may spread again (Respondent K).
Yes, it has affected my business due to no incoming tourists [considering her
homestay caters mostly for foreigners]. Foreigners can no longer coming to
Brunei, and Bruneians can’t travel outside of country. If there were, now I only
receive expatriates who are working in Brunei. They only stay for a day or two.
I used to cater large numbers from abroad, corporate people, or even from foreign
students from many international universities (Respondent M).
The fear of receiving customers and engaging in socialisation in the hospitality in-
dustry is expected during the height of the pandemic. For example, Jiang and Wen [38]
found several intersections of raising health concerns and hospitality industry across the
globe since the emergence of COVID-19. Luo and Lam [39] further found changes in
psychological attitudes among Hong Kong travellers influencing their mobility intentions
and destinations, while Im et al. [43] detected sudden changes in South Korean consumer
behaviours resorting for risk aversion such as social distancing affecting tourism sector.
Other studies reported on the psychological effects of COVID-19 towards hospitality work-
ers and businesses owners that have caused innovations in tourism management and
industry [28,32,33,48]. This is also observed in the responses from the CBT owners in the
current study. In our study, the apprehension from both the owner and customer had
caused cancellation and suspension of CBT operations causing great financial loss to the
business owners.
COVID-19 further exacerbated financial difficulties faced by CBT owners whose
businesses were self-funded and relied heavily on the tourism sector where most of these
CBT businesses had only started operating since early 2000. Moreover, the pandemic
was deemed ‘the greatest challenge’ to their businesses, as Brunei had never been largely
affected by other major international outbreaks such as severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS-Cov-1), Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS), EBOLA,
or ZIKA disease.
For me it [COVID-19] was a great challenge, especially on my earnings. The econ-
omy, not just my homestay but also other travel agencies and commercial ac-
tivities related to tourism. It was a difficult time. We just hope everything will
be back to normal. Because of COVID-19, I no longer receive tourists from
Malaysia, my greatest source of travellers. I haven’t been able to receive anyone
[considering his homestay only caters to foreign visitors] (Respondent C).
As the country managed to contain the number of local transmissions, the government
slowly eased restrictions on movement. On the 27th of July 2020, the government allowed
businesses to continue operations while abiding to health and safety precautions. Today,
all businesses have operated at full capacity with less restrictions imposed on movement
and social engagement. As part of the state intervention, the government through its
Ministry of Health also introduced the BruHealth application (a self-contact tracing and an
application to be scanned in any premises, which also updates on COVID-19 development
and related policy measures, as it helps monitor health conditions of residents of Brunei) as
part of the de-escalation plan, where the information on the use and its benefits are made
available for the public [85]. This is also an effort to regain the trust and confidence of the
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 10 of 28
people (both consumers and service providers), which has been deemed significant in past
literature on resilience and transformation amid COVID-19 [7]. Today, all CBT owners
run operations normally with continued practice of health and safety measures including
incorporating the BruHealth QR code and scanning at their premises, as also observed by
the researchers.
As local businesses have operated at full capacity at a much more rapid rate than
any other countries [24], a few CBT owners recalled another challenge in meeting the
demands of consumers in the thriving industry of domestic tourism. In the interviews
with our respondents, we found that the scenario of ‘over-domestic tourism’ is one of the
challenges faced by CBT operations affecting other tourism stakeholders and environment.
The CBT owners stated that the sudden upsurge in consumers has made their businesses
‘uncontrollable’, whereas some of them also feel that ‘the market was not managed prop-
erly’. For example, Respondent D who is managing a travel service provider company
reported on the possibility of declining quality of local products and services in order to
meet the demands of the local market. They also claimed more travel agencies are eager
to overpromote domestic products that are albeit not ‘properly implemented’. A similar
sentiment was raised by Respondent G, who collaborated with local tour agencies and
recalled the constant disagreement and inconsistencies of tourism offerings between travel
agencies and hospitality establishments. Whilst the sudden upsurge in local demands
were expected to benefit local entrepreneurs, CBT owners described such situations as
a loss of opportunity and finance. This is because they believe that the inconsistency
of standardising the prices of tourism packages and scenarios of uncontrollable market
and overgrazing natural resources will potentially cause more harm to their businesses
and environment.
And then there was a new challenge—consistency. Suppliers—nobody wanted to
say no. Too many bookings, too many people. Quality—consistency has become
a problem. In December, people had gone a bit mad. Everybody is just looking
for something to do. It’s not only locals who are looking for something to do,
but also expatriates. They put massive pressure on the resources [referring to
overgrazing of natural resources such as local produce of honey, etc.]. I won’t
say greedy is the right word, but they were just overcommitted to themselves
(Respondent D).
There is one complication when dealing with travel agencies. These travel agen-
cies cater to the customers. They come up with their own packages with fixed
rates and time. Then, they would come to us requesting for various products and
activities with standardised rates. But for us, we have to engage the community
and our people, and there shouldn’t be fixed rates on these. It always varies and
depending on the activities that we offer. Then, who bears the losses? Us! We
can see this in a lot of other villages (Respondent G).
The term ‘over-tourism’ may be a new concept in the growing literature of tourism
during COVID-19. Instead, Koh [86] and Arora and Sharma [63] forecasted the pandemic
as a way of lessening over-tourism in highly visited countries and tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, studies including Gossling et al. [31] and Sharma et al. [7] also report that
the pandemic has diverted ‘over-tourism’ to ‘non-tourism’. However, the CBT owners
in the current study have insinuated the presence of over-tourism in Brunei since the
announcement of the de-escalation plan for businesses, which has had an impact on society
and the environment.
Over-tourism is usually defined as ‘an excessive growth of visitors leading to over-
crowding in areas where residents suffer the consequences of temporary and seasonal
tourism peaks, which have enforced permanent changes to their lifestyles, access to ameni-
ties and general well-being’ [87] (p. 254). The current study reports that the expansion
of ‘over-domestic tourism’ does not only involve the overflowing receiving of domestic
tourists, but also the overpromotion of products and services and the sudden mushrooming
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 11 of 28
of unmonitored and uncontrolled CBT operations to cater to the sudden upsurge in local
demands during the pandemic. Therefore, in this study, we define over-domestic tourism
as the sudden upsurge in local demands on tourism products and industry, which leads
to an uncontrollable market while impacting the environment, due to the perpetuation of
domestic tourism campaigns and COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Amidst scarcity of similar literature, Cahyadi and Newsome [70] have suggested
that ‘over-tourism scenarios’ may have occurred in countries that have slowly revamped
their tourism industry while focusing on domestic attractions. According to their studies,
the over-tourism in Indonesian geoparks has since raised concerns on ecological damage
and social impacts. Similarly, a few Bruneian CBT owners claimed that the ‘over-domestic
tourism’ may have led to overgrazing of natural resources, decreasing of quality control,
and overexposure to financial and opportunities loss to relevant stakeholders, thus prompt-
ing more research or intervention by responsible stakeholders.
As over-tourism scenarios usually call for new policy development [88], a few CBT
owners in the current study also suggested for the adoption of sustainable policy for CBT
operations in the country. They recalled that the pandemic has given the opportunity for
‘everybody [to] set up their own CBT, be creative, and many have done so’ (Respondent
E). Domestic tourism is expected to continue, and we can predict that it may flourish in
the post-COVID-19 era [4,11,29]. It is then vital to prepare measures to prevent prolonged
over-domestic tourism in Brunei.
The occurrence of this situation coincides with the United Nations’ [89] call to form a
new policy framework and constant monitoring on ‘the structure of tourism economies to
improve competitiveness and building resilience’ [89] (p. 22) on the business and tourism
industry affected by COVID-19. This is also to understand the full impact of the pandemic
towards tourism, while ensuring support and development towards local infrastructures
and facilitate micro, small, and medium enterprises in respective countries. In this case,
the challenges faced by the CBT operations discussed in this study may pave a path to
developing a policy framework on tourism management involving self-dependent business
such as CBT operations or other small-scale commercial industry affected by the pandemic.
Now we have two markets—before and after COVID-19 hit Brunei. Before
COVID-19 happened, we received many backpackers from all over the world.
After COVID-19, we focus on local market—the local people—who cannot travel
outside of Brunei. Also, we focus on the expatriates who are working in Brunei.
Now we have to diversify our services to both local and international market.
After COVID-19 hit us, we had to think about how to attract back our customers.
We had to understand local market and our competitors. I had to reconsider
our services, prices, and promotions to be competitive and to stay relevant
(Respondent B).
While I’m no longer opening my doors for homestay purposes, I’m offering
flexible tourism packages according to my customers and travel agents. This in-
cludes providing flexible services such as incorporating traditional games, food,
and related activities that adhere to customers’ wants and their time . . . Since
I try to attract local people after COVID-19 happen, I started offering specific
and unique experiences around this area, for example paddy planting, because
this area is popular for that particular activity. I’m not offering similar cultural
activities as other businesses offer (Respondent C).
. . . when they started de-escalation, that’s where the staycation packages came
about. It’s been very successful. I think that was something that we had never
thought [about before COVID-19]. Why would any local Bruneian want to stay
at our homestay? But we had locals staying here, we had expatriates staying in
because they are doing our [diving/snorkelling] activity (Respondent F).
The resistance towards COVID-19 can also be observed in the decision made by some
CBT owners to expand their businesses by utilising local products and resources and,
in return, promoting locality and boosting domestic tourism. These efforts were reportedly
unprecedented, but considering the need to diversify their products and services, some of
these owners have taken charge in developing potential product/site to support their busi-
nesses as a way to keep resilient during the challenging times and further test and promote
the potential of these products and services for international communities during the post-
COVID-19 era. For example, one CBT owner has expanded their homestay programme by
incorporating activities at one of the ASEAN heritage sites in Brunei, while others prepared
new activities to meet the demands of domestic tourism. These initiatives have further
realised the national mission in tourism in ‘strengthening the attractiveness and diversity
of tourism products and improving the quality of tourism services’ in securing tourism
sustainability in the country [90]. As part of the strategic approach in staying resilient in the
market, these CBT owners—who predominantly operate in the hospitality sector—have
also contributed to domestic tourism through ‘staycation’ amid COVID-19 [91].
There wasn’t much happening from March until June, then the Government
started to boost domestic tourism. We were part of it. Later, we didn’t expect
that our local people show lots of interest in our homestay, and it even has
overwhelmed returns that we got from previous years. Many locals, because they
couldn’t go travelling. Furthermore, we had started launching our hill, located
just behind our homestay. Now we incorporate activities that we do at the hill in
our packages, such as hiking. So we have best of both world. The locals can go
hiking at the hill, and then stop by here for coffee on the water [the homestay is
located at Kampong Ayer/Water Village]. They can do camping overnight and
many other interesting things (Respondent G).
. . . one of our products that we’re going to be launching is with Tasek Merimbun
[Lake Merimbun]. You could say it’s part of the homestay. It’s an additional
service that we offer for the guests. I think we want to do definitely more when
the borders open. We hope to have more tourists coming in and we can show and
host them here and do more activities like in Tasek Merimbun, do more hikes
and stuff like that (Respondent F).
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 13 of 28
opportunity and the financial stability of every business here in Brunei especially
with tourism. I believe it will also help us venturing in CBT (Respondent N).
The resilience of CBT operations in Temburong was further strengthened by the sud-
den initiative by the Brunei Government to promote domestic tourism in Temburong due
to COVID-19 [83,93,94], including the decision to launch the opening of the bridge that
was aimed to eliminate communication barriers between the mainland and Temburong
during the needy time [95]. It has been a national aspiration to elevate Temburong as a new
holiday destination bolstering local ecotourism for domestic and foreign travellers [96,97],
and the pandemic has given the opportunity for the government and the community to
realise it while benefitting CBT and local businesses in the district. This is further confirmed
by the recent announcement of planning for various developments of infrastructure and
establishment reported in the 17th National Legislative Council Meeting, focusing on the
community engagement, specifically on the Mukim and Village Consultative Councils’
One Village One Product (1K1P), which predominantly engages CBT operations in the
country [98]. In this case, government intervention alongside the resilience of CBT opera-
tions contributed to the sustainability of CBT operations and may further secure the future
of domestic tourism.
Hall et al. [21], Higgins-Desbiolles [99], and Sharma et al. [7] claim the significant
role of government responses, intervention, and support such as government stimulus
packages particularly for those businesses operating at lower capacity during the pandemic.
In Brunei, the government also provided aid and support including a fees waiver for trade
and payment and a 50% tax discount on corporate income tax for businesses in the tourism
and hospitality industry, which came into effect on the 1 April 2020 until the 30 September
2020 [95]. The government through its Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) also
provided financial support of BND 250 million for all business sectors and individuals
under the Economic Relief Package [100].
A few registered CBT establishments acknowledged the government support during
the pandemic, but these local owners felt more could be channelled through formal insti-
tutional support, such as in their way of promoting and operating their businesses and
accessibility to greater funding.
In relation to our upcoming report on CBT operations in Brunei [101] and insinuated
in previous studies in tourism research in Brunei [102–104], we assume the lack of effective
communication and coordination between the government representatives and tourism
stakeholders may have contributed to the lack of understanding on tourism operations
involving these CBT operations during the pandemic. For instance, this can be detected by
the inconsistency of claims made by the CBT owners about receiving the relief package and
being part of community discussion that may have helped to further support their business
during COVID-19. Only four out of 16 CBT owners explicitly claimed to have direct
support and engaged with responsible tourism stakeholders. This is perhaps due to the
relief package announced available for small-scale businesses with no specific designation
for tourism-based business owners. In this case, the government support is seen as indirect
and ‘invisible’ by the CBT owners, insinuating that the communication issues between
tourism stakeholders should be addressed in order to maximise the sustainability of
tourism during the post-COVID-19 era in the country.
As the pandemic has boosted technological innovation in daily lives today, the global
commercial and tourism industry has followed the same pursuit as a method of resistance
to secure sustainability in their operations [7,10,13,105,106]. Today, technological advance-
ment is ‘the core of solutions for combating the COVID-19 and re-opening tourism and the
economy [where] COVID-19 has further enhanced the role of technologies in the recovery
and reimagination of tourism, while it reinforces existing paradigms in the e-tourism
evolution’ [13] (p. 314).
The same case was analysed involving two CBT operations owned by a much younger
CBT owner (Respondent H) and a highly experienced lodge owner (Respondent A),
where both view the pandemic as an opportunity to incorporate technology in their re-
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 15 of 28
spective businesses. Respondent H used a more structured virtual engagement for her
cultural village while still adhering to the health and safety measures imposed by the MOH,
and Respondent A used an online tourism convention as a way to promote local food, cul-
ture, and the surroundings of her cultural lodge. Even though Sharma et al. [7] found that
most technological incorporation during COVID-19 have focused on the ‘massive aid from
technology experts’ [7] (p. 5), these two operations showcased otherwise, as there were no
formal institutional efforts but the owner and their surrounding community, presumably
because CBT operations in Brunei are predominantly involved as a community-centred
business [26,27].
The element of virtual performance was inspired due to the limitations of capacity
allowed by the MOH. During that time, the maximum capacity allowed was 30%
and we were only able to have less than 20 individuals at one place. This inspires
us to innovate the concept to include the performance as part of the package.
The package is named ‘[the name of the establishment]’s Glam Gurindam Jiwa’.
The concept offered an experience of indulging modernized traditional dishes
while being entertained with a virtual performance by Kulimpapa [a local cultural
band]. The virtual performance was included via a live video which was two
ways interaction where the guests are able to communicate directly to request for
songs for the band to play and viewed the surrounding (Respondent H).
. . . during COVID, I said let’s make Kueh Moor [a type of snacks], and I was on
Zoom [participating an online international tourism convention]. Hei, hello every-
one, I’m making Kueh Moor here. You get what I mean? The culture has changed
because now we have Zoom. And we can talk about food culture and the pro-
motion. You know where is my Zoom [backdrop]? Outside, so they can see
Omar Ali Saiffuddien Mosque. I want to show my country. I walk around and
sit down there. So, this is where you see the outside of my lodge. You can show
and talk about culture. When you walk, you can see houses [in Kampong Ayer],
and you can see the different structure of the house, the windows, the wood,
the architecture of the house is part of our culture (Respondent A).
As an effort to stay resilient in the industry during COVID-19, the use of technology
has multiplied and is now deemed a necessity to the everchanging paradigm of sustain-
able travelling and tourism sector [7,10,13,107]. For example, Lau [108] found multiple
technological innovations used by hotels in China implementing live promotion through
active social media and interconnectivity engagement during the pandemic. Meanwhile,
other studies also see the upsurge in technological advances in various forms of global
tourism and hospitality industry, which are implemented to stay relevant and maintain
sustainability in the hospitality sector [2,50,105].
The pandemic forced the tourism industry to adapt to the situation where technology
has become a major force in creating flexibility [10,21,50]. Furthermore, as one of the ‘six
transformative e-tourism research pillars’ for short and longer term in hospitality indus-
try [10], both CBT owners in our study also believed that ‘experimentation’ with technology
may assist in better CBT experiences, promotion, and further secure the sustainability of
their businesses. This seems highly possible for Brunei as it has the highest consumption
of internet connectivity and social media in Southeast Asia [109], where the majority of our
CBT owners also claim that the ‘word-of-mouth’ promotional review through social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube is an effective way to promote their
CBT businesses to locals and tourists. Respondent A claims that the effort incorporating
virtual technology can secure their existence today and in the post-COVID-19 era to inter-
national communities, while Respondent H also aspires to implement virtual tourism with
more collaboration and better coordination.
. . . certain things that we gained from the virtual performance to name some are
such as new collaborations with new individuals, financial benefits, new concept
of package offered by [the name of the establishment] and innovating the concept
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 16 of 28
of tourism in Brunei. Yes. Yes, we would implement it again with better and im-
proved settings considering how the responses were remarkable (Respondent H).
The pandemic is seen as an opportunity for small countries to reset their tourism
activity and perspective by utilising local biodiversity and natural resources to secure
sustainability and boost diversification and resilience in post-COVID-19 tourism [4,13,71].
In the current study, the pandemic has indeed given more opportunities for the CBT owners
to re-evaluate potential alternative attractions for domestic tourism through alternative
promotion of products by offering more local-oriented products/services.
To date, the sense of resilience in these CBT operations are owed to their adapt-
ability in understanding the ‘new’ market and the unprecedented situation forced by
COVID-19. It was also accomplished through self-observation and further promoting
self-independence to their businesses. Sharma et al. [7] detailed the process of resilience in
tourism predominantly relied on implementing strategic actions amid COVID-19 while
adapting to the new environment. This study found that the resilient efforts of CBT op-
erators in Brunei also engaged in incorporating creative initiatives to boost their tourism
products and services to locals and Brunei residents during the pandemic, but they are also
expected to be available for the international communities in the post-COVID-19 era when
the borders open.
Since now we’re only offering a gallery, in the future we can add on more facilities
such as homestay. Rather than just half a day or a day at [the name of the
establishment], they get to experience of overnight stay here (Respondent H).
When COVID-19 struck, representatives from the MPRT came and asked how
much I charge for entrance. I said it was free. They advised me to make profit
out of my CBT operations. Used to be free, now I started charging my customers,
like business activity, either for a visit or just to dine in. So COVID-19 does help
our local businesses too (Respondent I).
It is also observed that the transformation of roles and practices does not only affect
their own business operations, but also the community. Three out of 16 interviewed CBT
owners ran their operations while also being engaged in charitable activities to empower
the community. Whilst a few CBT owners stated that community intervention is needed
to help locals in need during the pandemic, others have also started offering spaces for
charity and become business service providers to the locals.
Our inspiration of continuing the business was due to my late father’s last wish.
So it’s for his charity too. We don’t think much about budget, as long as we can
maintain the homestay, that’s fine. Thus, we recently made a collaboration with
the Charity Department at the Baitulmal [government sector]. We charge less for
the people in need of place to stay, especially the elderly during these difficult
times (Respondent J).
So, basically [the name of the establishment] is a family-run lodge. It’s charity-
based actually. We started off as a family foundation and our goal and vision is to
help the needy families in Brunei. Our most recent charity program was I think
it was last week. Around last week and we would handout basic necessities to
around 100 needy families to prepare them for Ramadan . . . We would want
them to understand that we are actually doing this to help the community, we’re
not all profit-based business (Respondent N).
My biggest attraction [at my homestay] now is the business space which is
operating under my homestay. It used to be parking lots. The big space is for
those [food vendors] who wish to run business but have trouble finding a place
to do so, especially younger people who wish to kick start business. It will help
them as much as it will help my business. More people will come and stay at my
homestay, and it will help these aspiring small businesses too (Respondent J).
Growing literature has suggested that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
are prone to collapse during economic crises [110,111], which have negative implications to
the quality of life [112,113], but constant innovation of roles and practices in entrepreneurial
endeavours may be able to sustain MSMEs in dire situations [114,115]. Freeman [116]
claims that effective implementation of creativity and innovation can contribute to positive
outcomes in businesses, while Adam and Alarifi [9] found that the innovation of roles and
practices and external support from the government is crucial to secure the sustainability
of MSMEs during COVID-19. As claimed by our respondents, strategic innovation of roles
and practices raised from their creativity has helped supported not only their own CBT
operations but also the surrounding community, even though they only received minimal
external support from the government and other agencies. Other studies have seen a
change in mindful attitudes of cooperation in the tourism industry, taking into account of
relevant hospitality stakeholders and the community in the diversification of their roles
and practices in the industry [22,28,29,57]. Similar to these international case studies,
these initiatives implemented by our respondents are expected to potentially promote
their CBT operations, simultaneously fostering a greater relationship with the surrounding
community and relevant stakeholders.
We assume the ‘creative initiatives’ implemented by CBT owners (which have been
proven successful in sustaining their operations during the challenging times and today)
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 18 of 28
emerged due to less bureaucratic involvement from the government sector. Aside from
receiving the relief fund package for MSMEs granted by the government during the height
of the pandemic, the respondents recall managing their CBT operations independently.
Most CBT owners acknowledged that their operations had yet to be officially registered
with the local Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), albeit some are operat-
ing under the Business License 16–17 and are supported by their respective district offices.
Although our previous study [26] has exhibited findings that unregistered CBT estab-
lishments in Brunei are subject to restrictions in terms of financial accessibility and market
promotions—which have been reiterated by CBT owners in the current study—the situation
seems to be beneficial for the sustainability of CBT operations during the pandemic. This is
due to the power of ownership and quick decision making of the CBT owners. As CBT
mainly engages with MSMEs, the CBT operations in this study have been able to innovate
their practices conveniently and sustain in the crisis [9,116]. For example, Respondent N
claims that ‘the reason why we could sustain in the business because it’s a family-run,
just imagine it’s around four months after we launched. If you heard about the [another
big and popular resort], they cease operation’ (Respondent N). This response is reiterated
by other CBT owners.
A number of reports have supported that the success and sustainability of CBT are
due to the community empowerment through independent control and decision mak-
ing [20,74,117,118]. This has been proven in the case of CBT operations during the height
of the pandemic in Brunei. The considerable amount of government interventions in
CBT operations during the pandemic—that focused on alleviating charges and providing
funding—have allowed these business owners to manoeuvre control, become creative,
and make decisions benefitting their businesses. This can be observed by the inconsis-
tency of actions/initiatives raised among these CBT owners, while making use of local
products/resources in the process. Whilst it is crucial to standardise CBT operations to
avoid negative impacts to the environment and the society [19,74,117], this does not mean
that these CBT owners have implemented ‘random actions’, considering many have also
claimed to have constantly consulted responsible stakeholders including their Head Vil-
lagers/Penghulus, respective Majlis Perundingan Kampung (Village Consultative Council
is a local community association that manage the well-being and the development of a
village, under supervision of the government), the Tourism Development Department and
MPRT, while running operations based on community ethics and adherence to the local
principal of Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Islamic monarchy is the national philosophy that
has become the national ethics to the people).
Furthermore, in our forthcoming study [101], we have found that CBT practices are
not static and standardised but are still developing in Brunei. This is due to the constant
‘improvisation’ of business practices and ideas implemented by CBT owners and operators.
In this study, we found that the situation is further reinforced by the need of being resilient
and to transform in coping with COVID-19. Sustaining competitiveness is essential in
any case to stay afloat in such a situation [119]. Nevertheless, we must also acknowledge
the necessity of further examination on the ‘over-domestic tourism’ mentioned by the
CBT owners.
Whilst Sharma et al.’s [7] framework does not explicitly discuss the bearing of empow-
ering local resources and services in part of the transformational mechanisms of reviving
post-COVID-19 tourism, we find that the resilience efforts of CBT owners diversifying
their products/services utilising local resources (discussed in the previous section) have
contributed to a greater appreciation to local culture, artefacts, and places among the locals,
prompting a need for further discussion. This is amid the importance of boosting the
cultural sector as part of the tourism industry, which was negatively impacted by the
pandemic [120].
In the current study, the CBT owners acknowledge that COVID-19 has changed the
local people’s belief and perceptions and has been focusing more on domestic tourism,
while showing interest to local products and services. This also means that consumer
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 19 of 28
consumption and expenditure have been redirected to empowering local culture and
services and in return boosting CBT opportunities. The CBT owners also recalled the
situation as reviving the national motto of ‘Kenali Negara Kita’ (knowing your own country)
that has been imposed by domestic tourism in the country.
Benefit from COVID-19 is probably the rise in domestic tourism. Before COVID-
19, most local people would go travelling abroad, especially to our neighbour-
ing countries. But now, because of COVID-19, they are here visiting their own
country—KNK—Kenali Negara Kitani (knowing your own country) (Respondent C).
International schools can’t get any of international trips. So then, we’ve done
activities with younger students at ISB [International School of Brunei]. We did a
very successful trip with JIS [Jerudong International School] for two days. We did
everything. Even for the 180 kids go all the way just to hold the metal and
get the hammer right? [referring to sword-making course]. They tried Gasing
[local traditional game]. They had Kelupis [local traditional food] challenge.
They made their own Candas [traditional utensil]. They got to go on the nature
trail (Respondent D).
Since COVID-19, our society has opened its eyes, their perceptions changed
too. They prefer to visit interesting places in our country, including mine.
I don’t receive any foreign visits these days, but I have many local customers
(Respondent I).
We’ve got a lot of different packages that we offer to the guests. So they can sort of
get to know Kenali Negara Kitani—KNK. So, it’s a much more holistic experience.
Not just you staying in a homestay, we try to get them involved. We’ve got
bicycles for them [customers] to Serasa Beach. They go to Jong Batu, and then
we also offer like Kayaks for free . . . we wanted to make more of local culture
like making sambal or Ketupat-making [local delicacy] or something. So that kind
of community activity would probably promote the community-based tourism
further (Respondent F).
Mulder [49], Hussain and Fuste-Forne [67], and Woyo [42] reported on the upsurge in
interests towards domestic tourism amid COVID-19, whereas other studies including Ab-
bas et al. [2] and Polukhina et al. [66] have showcased the gaining proclivity and demands
towards local services and products. We believe that the transformational mechanism of
greater appreciation towards local products and services and their impact on tourism in the
new environment are crucial to be scrutinised as ‘many intangible cultural practices have
been disrupted, which not only has an impact on the culture life of communities but also
has consequences for those working in performing arts and traditional crafts who operate
largely in informal sector’ [120], simultaneously exhibiting the bearing of this factor to a
larger context that is post-COVID-19 tourism.
Whilst growing literature on recent tourism studies has suggested major concerns
on the loss of jobs and increase in mental health issues in the hospitality industry due to
the risk of closure of small-scale establishments [2,33,34], the current study has shown an
unfamiliar narrative. The transformation in CBT amid COVID-19 has boosted the local
economy, provided job opportunities for the locals while securing the well-being of the
society [83,91].
Similar to other studies in the international contexts [34,36,37], employment precarity
was also a main concern during the early detection of COVID-19 cases in Brunei [25,121].
The situation had exacerbated the already alarming rise in employment among locals in
the country [122]. In the past, Yap and Kamaludin [123] and Teo [124] have reported on
the attitudes and preferences of many local employers in hiring foreign workers for their
reliability and commitment to work. However, COVID-19 has changed the job scene in
Brunei. A recent report released by the Annual Census of Enterprises and the Brunei’s
Ministry of Finance and Economy showed that Bruneians have outnumbered foreign
workers with 50.2% in the private sector, where there is also a sudden upsurge in MSMEs
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 20 of 28
by 97.3% [125]. In the international context, Mulder [49] found an increase in the MSMEs
industry in domestic tourism, and this has prompted the significance of reviewing the
aspects of job opportunities during COVID-19; moreover, domestic tourism is expected to
flourish even after the pandemic phase is over [4,9,67].
Whilst further studies should be undertaken to find the correlation between the
impact of COVID-19 to the current stimulating job environment involving the locals in
Brunei, this study has exhibited that the sudden surge in local employments was due to
the demands of local market and establishments. Our findings also show that the CBT
owners have taken the opportunity of the ‘national lockdown’ as a way to divert their
beliefs and attention to hiring more locals as part of their operations. Some CBT owners
claimed to have hired locals to assist their operations, while others stated that it was to
optimise economic opportunities between parties during the challenging times. These are
achieved through collaboration between the CBT owners and the local community.
The boat operators are the most grateful [considering the CBT operations is
located in the water village]. They can transport hundreds of customers in a
day. They earn a lot. Also, the new food vendors around here. Our guides too.
Ever since the opening of the new hill for hiking, we have hired about 10 guides
among the locals living around here. They earn a lot as many people come by to
do hiking there (Respondent G).
Job opportunities yes, because there are four permanent employees with two are
actually local people from Temburong. The others are from Bandar. Yes, it would
be best to offer job opportunities to the people in Temburong, because we want
to help the community here in some ways (Respondent N).
It has slowly become the livelihood for the community now. We help single
mothers who are not employed by promoting and selling their traditional crafts
or food on their behalf. Also, for those who help in running activities. They can
get commission from just assisting these CBT activities (Respondent C).
. . . we know the connections and the people, there’s a lot of small entrepreneurs
around here. They sell doughnuts, Nasi Katok [local delicacy] and stuff, and there’s
quite a few small restaurants as well. If there were guests coming in and they
would want to eat, we would offer them to all these places, and we would give
them all their numbers and locations (Respondent N).
Overall, COVID-19 has not only given the opportunities for the locals to re-evaluate
confidence towards the ability of local people and community in commercial industry,
but also elevate the sense of belongingness in the process. Through CBT operations,
the owners have fully utilised the local communities as a conduit of transformation, se-
cured sustainability in terms of hospitality industry and well-being of the society, and con-
tributed to community empowerment. As an expansion to Sharma et al.’s [7] frame-
work, which predominantly reviews the mitigating responses from more bureaucratic
and structured stakeholders in mass tourism, the current study has provided theoretical
and practical implications on the significance of evaluating a smaller-scale industry and
the ever-changing community involvement that may have generated unique, impactful
perspectives of the mass tourism industry. Although there are reports on job instability and
loss, which have been the main concern in the global economy in various sectors [35,37],
this current study has exhibited the potential of reviewing the creation of job opportunities
in the small-scale industry as an effort to revise and prepare the tourism industry for a
post-pandemic situation.
Based on the main strategies and major transformational mechanisms in preparing
for sustainable tourism in the post-COVID-19 era, summarised in Table 2, the current in-
vestigation involving CBT operations showcased a more comprehensive understanding of
hospitality management at the community level amid the pandemic. As Sharma et al.’s [7]
framework calls upon the development of the ‘community-centered tourism framework’
(p. 7), this study, which engaged responses from CBT owners, has exhibited strategic
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 21 of 28
actions, management, and transformational results that are not emphasized in larger and
more bureaucratic organisations. The flexibility and creativities that emerged from these
community approaches—in an aspiration to stay resilient as they are also expected to
transform their businesses and the industry as a whole—are beneficial to business owners
and the surrounding community as they are contributing to the national economy during
these challenging times.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, W.L.C.; Data curation, N.N. & W.L.C.; Funding acqui-
sition, W.L.C.; Methodology, N.N.; Project administration, W.L.C.; Resources, N.N.; Visualization,
W.L.C.; Writing—original draft, N.N.; Writing—review & editing, W.L.C. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported by the Universiti Brunei Darussalam [Grant number UBD/RSCH/
URC/NIG/4.0/2020/003].
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
university, and approved by University Research Ethics Committee of Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Acknowledgments: Wei Lee Chin would like to express her sincere gratitude for the funding
awarded by Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Appendix A
List of interview questions:
(1) Are you aware of the impacts of COVID-19 in the global scale and to our tourism
industry in Brunei?
(2) As COVID-19 has impacted tourism flows worldwide, how does this situation affect
your CBT operation?
(3) Have you encountered any challenges in practising CBT during the height of COVID-
19? If you do, could you describe some of these main challenges/barriers?
(4) In what ways do you think that your business has overcome these challenges/barriers?
(5) How do the Brunei government and the community assist in maintaining your
business resilience during the pandemic?
(6) Do you think the local cultures/services have been affected by COVID-19? Are these
positive or negative impacts?
(7) In your opinion, to what extent/in what way has your business contributed to the sus-
tainable development of tourism during the pandemic and perhaps post-COVID-19?
(8) How did your CBT operation stay resilient during the height of the pandemic
and today?
(9) Other than economic benefits, what and how does your CBT operation provide
advantages or create opportunities for your business and community?
(10) Additionally, due to the pandemic, what other opportunities can be accessed through CBT?
(11) What were the new changes and developments in your CBT operations after COVID-
19 struck? How did these changes help your business?
(12) How do you think your CBT operation has transformed contributing to the sustain-
ability of tourism in Brunei and perhaps beyond?
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