Empirical investigation on quality of life among residents in a community: A case study in Malaysian National Park

Tourism is an industry with enormous impacts. With the growth of tourism, impacts of tourism development have become more visible in society. It is an industry with the whole arrays of impacts and do not stop at economic impacts alone. It is also an industry that has many environmental and social and cultural consequences. The objectives of the study are to identify the levels of the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of tourism on the life of residents as perceived by the residents of Malaysian National Park, Taman Negara. In addition, the study aimed to identify the level of quality of life of residents in the area. Respondents of the study consisted of residents that reside within the area of National Park. Questionnaires were personally distributed to a total of 300 residents around the National Park area. From this, a total of 230 questionnaires were collected and were used in the final analysis. The result of the study indicate moderate mean values for the all the components of economic impact, Social impacts components have from low to moderate mean values. Cultural impact components also have from low to moderate mean values. Environmental impact components also have from low to moderate mean values. In addition, the finding of the study indicates that the respondents perceive their quality of life (QOL) to be on moderate level.