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This study aims to explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the Muslim-friendly homestay business in Malaysia to help identify and recommend practical strategies to capitalize on the strengths and potentials while overcoming the current shortcomings and threats.

The Muslim-friendly business owner and operators in Sabah, Malaysia, were the subject of a series of focus groups and expert opinion interviews. The data was transcribed, and then the variables were categorized into the four SWOT categories using content and thematic analysis. Meanwhile, threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) analysis is used to identify the best strategy alternatives.

The SWOT analysis identifies several strengths (e.g. diverse and unique Islamic culture and heritage [S1], iconic Islamic landmarks [S2], rich natural beauty [S3], well-established halal tourism industry [S4]); weaknesses (e.g. limited awareness [W1], limited infrastructure and facilities [W2], limited human resources and trained personnel [W3], lack of Islamic tourism products and experiences [W4]); opportunities (e.g. growing demand for Islamic tourism [O1], increasing disposable income [O2], potential for collaborations [O3], potential for partnerships [O4], potential for expanding Sabah’s halal tourism offerings [O5]); and threats (e.g. competition [T1], political instability [T2], economic downturns [T3] and environmental and social challenges [T4]).

This paper could serve as a guideline and supplementary information for stakeholders in the homestay industry to grasp their business environment better.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its type to blend SWOT and TOWS analysis with the sector of Muslim-friendly homestays. Hence, the findings might expand understanding of the Muslim-friendly homestays industry and aid businesses in penetrating this growing market.

The Climbathon is an annual mountain running championship that takes place in Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Participants race to the peak (4,095.2 metres) and back, a distance of 21 kilometres of rainforest and mountain terrain, with a steep vertical gain of 2,300 metres. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the first 25 years of the Climbathon and to identify the key success factors behind the staging of this small-scale international sports event in Southeast Asia.

The research design for this study is interpretive, utilises a qualitative case study approach incorporating analysis of documents, oral history interviews, and personal observations gained through attendance and volunteering at the event which produced six insights, suggested as key success factors for the Climbathon. This study was guided by one key research question, to understand what has ensured the continuity of this small-scale international sports event known as the Climbathon.

Findings suggest the Climbathon has endured the test of time due to an innovative use of the summit trail, adherence to international sporting regulations, a pro sports tourism public policy led by the tourism ministry, membership to international sports organisations, corporate sponsorship, and a special sense of place towards Mount Kinabalu and the Climbathon for the event organisers, volunteers and officials.

This case study presents knowledge about the Climbathon but findings are not generalisable. Any application of the success factors would have to be as guidelines adapted for a specific sport event. The use of oral history as part of a case study is subjective and open to interpretation. Future work could incorporate interviews with participants, spectators, volunteers and the local sub-committees to gain alternative perspectives.

This study makes an original contribution to the events and tourism field by presenting a case study on the success factors of the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon. The study suggests a three pillar model of “Place-Plan-People” which may be used as a guiding philosophy for event development and delivery of small-scale international sports tourism events in Asia and elsewhere. The inclusion of oral history as part of a case study research design is novel and useful when knowledge is not available in any published form.

Biomass waste can be used as fuel in biomass power plants to generate electricity. It is a type of renewable energy widely available in Malaysia because 12 million tons of the biomass waste is produced every year. At present, only 5 per cent of the total biomass waste in Sabah, one of the states in Malaysia, is used to generate electricity for on-site consumption. The remaining 95 per cent of the biomass waste has not been utilized because the transportation cost for shifting the waste from the plantations to the power plants is substantial, hence making the cost of the biomass generated electricity to be high. Therefore, a methodology is developed and presented in this paper to determine the optimum geographic distribution and capacities of the biomass power plants around a region so that the cost of biomass generated electricity can be minimized. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The methodology is able to identify the potential locations of biomass power plants on any locations on a region taking into account the operation and capital costs of the power plants as well as the cost of connecting the power plants to the national grid. The methodology is programmed using Fortran.

This methodology is applied to Sabah using the real data. The results generated from the methodology show the best locations and capacities of biomass power plants in Sabah. There are 20 locations suitable for biomass power plants. The total capacity of these biomass power plants is 4,996 MW with an annual generation of 35,013 GWh. This is sufficient to meet all the electricity demand in Sabah up to 2030.

The methodology is an effective tool to determine the best geographic locations and sizes of the biomass power plants around a region.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key motivators triggering tour operators to practise responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park.

Inductive and phenomenological research data were collected via in-depth interviews with 25 tour operators guiding tours in Kinabalu Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The paper uses push and pull motivation theory to explain motivation in practising responsible tourism. The findings show that push factors are more significant to tour operators as compared to pull factors. The key motivation of tour operators to practise responsible tourism is organisational benefits and own initiative (intrinsic) and response demand and market trends (extrinsic). However, the findings show that although tour operators have a positive attitude towards responsible tourism, it does not show in their tour operations of Kinabalu Park. This is because the challenges like lack stakeholders participation and low responsible tourism awareness were negatively affecting to what tour operators would like to do and what actually gets done.

Identified motives, practices, issues and challenges are valuable information and to enhance the practices of responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park, Sabah.

The paper provides in-depth insight of the motivation to practise responsible tourism from tour operators’ perspectives in Kinabalu Park. The finding is benefiting the implementation of responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing Sabah’s indigenous food consumption, namely Kadazan-Dusun food, among tourists from China, Europe and Malaysia (non-Sabahans).

Survey forms were distributed to tourists from China, Europe and Malaysia using purposive sampling at tourist spots in Sabah, Malaysia. In total, 254 responses were collected, and the data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The findings demonstrate that tourists from China and Europe possess some similarities in consuming indigenous food in Sabah. They enjoy trying indigenous food even they are not familiar with the food. Additionally, our findings also show that tourists from China regard sensory appeal as an important aspect of food choice. Meanwhile, it is found that convenience and mood influence Malaysian’s choice of indigenous food.

This study provides insights regarding Sabah’s Kadazan-Dusun food consumption from foreign and domestic tourists’ perspectives. As such, it also provides direction to the local eateries and relevant tourism authorities to better promote indigenous food to foreign and domestic tourists.

The study aims to address the educations needs of Indonesian children living in plantations in Sabah and provide recommendations to the relevant stakeholders. Data was collected between January and March 2023 to identify and address the issues in relation to providing education for children living on plantations in Sabah. Specifically, children of Indonesian migrant workers.

The research was both a doctrinal and qualitative study that encompassed in-depth interviews with migrant workers of Indonesian nationality who have children living with them in palm oil plantations in Sabah and local managers of the plantations. Data was collected from the commissioning plantation, where the children have yet to go to school and two other plantations with school-going children. The doctrinal component involved the analysis on international and domestic laws.

Through the research, ways of enrolling migrant children in schools were determined including within neighbouring plantations, impacting the lives of children residing in the commissioning estate.

The research was fraught with difficulties. Gaining the trust of palm oil plantation owners was key and this took some time. Time in essence was a limitation as time taken for interviews is time taken away from the migrant workers employment.

The commissioning estate has already secured the provision of education for the children of the estate. The research is impactful as it has facilitated this development.

The hope is that more estates will allow for academic researchers to come in and provide systematic and constructive feedback on how things could be improved for children living in plantations.

Gaining trust and garnering data not only from migrant workers but also the managers provide novelty in the research. The views of the management side of things have not always been successfully acquired in the past.

In Sabah, Malaysia, illegal hunting has increased in recent years putting considerable pressure on large mammal populations. The causes for this phenomenon lie in increasing rural poverty, ineffective policies to regulate hunting, as well as a ready market for many wildlife products in the Chinese medicine markets. This paper examines how Community-Based Ecotourism has some potential to be used as a tool to reducing poaching using the Tidong community in Sabah as a case study. The key finding is that successful conservation outcomes for Community-Based Ecotourism projects are only sustainable over the long run if projects are structured to ensure that the local community is able to continue effective management once sponsoring organizations hand over control and that revenue from tourism does not decline. If tourist revenue declines communities may be forced to revert to previous practices reversing any initial conservation gains.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the millennials’ intention to choose tawarruq home financing in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.

The primary data were gathered via the questionnaire survey administered among Islamic banking customers in Sandakan, Sabah. Data obtained were analysed via multiple regression analysis using the software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

This study found that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, religiosity and knowledge in muamalat had a positive significant relationship towards millennials’ intention to choose tawarruq home financing in Sandakan, Sabah.

This study used the sample size by inviting over 150 participants who filled the questionnaires and the area of coverage for the current study was limited to Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Besides, the contributions of this study were confined to those factors examined in the research’s conceptual framework.

The results obtained through this study can help muamalat practitioners in providing the best practice of tawarruq home financing in the locality at best. In addition, this study also helps to guide managers of Islamic banks to plan better offers of the facility among local folks.

This study integrated religiosity and knowledge in muamalat in explaining millennials’ acceptance of tawarruq home financing in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.

This study aims to investigate mustahiq business success using a newly developed index called asnaf muslimpreneur success index (AMSi).

Following Abu Zaharah theory of al-Maqasid al-Shariah, the authors developed the AMSi through literature analyses and expert judges involving three Shariah scholars for improved extensions and applications. Subsequently, the authors conducted the actual survey, which included 17 mustahiq who had been assisted by the zakat institution in running their small and halal businesses in Sabah, Malaysia.

Using the AMSi, the success of asnaf businesses was in the moderate index, implying the success meets the index score of more than 50%. All indexes capturing asnafs’ business experience, asnafs’ business justice, asnafs’ well-being and asnafs’ financial wisdom were greater than the threshold value of 0.5 or 50%, implying that the interaction of the battery items involved in those variables resulted in satisfactory results, indicating that they are relevant and essential in gauging the asnafs’ success level in the development business programme.

The results obtained were at the exploratory level, and for that, more studies related are expected to be conducted in the future, where the coverage of the respondents used is larger to extend the findings, at least.

The results obtained can become a yardstick to gauge the success of asnaf muslimpreneurs in Sabah, East Malaysia.

This study introduces new measures of asnaf muslimpreneur success model, where mustahiq business is brought into play.

The impact of conflict and violence is not only limited to the conflict region itself, but it usually extends to neighboring countries and regions. The Syrian conflict is an example of border-sharing countries hosting a million refugees and re-adapting to the new situation. This case highlights the corporate social responsibility initiative of a Lebanese businessman and business owner in 2019. It explains how this businessman and his company reacted to the waves of Syrian refugees moving to his city in Lebanon. More particularly, it describes the pro-active reaction of the company during the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon and how this reaction has transformed from a donation-based to business-based solution and rearranged its priority to help Syrian refugees. The philanthropic experience of the company before the refugee crisis was donation-dominated. The case also outlines the forms the company and its owner have designed to provide traditional aids (shelters, food, and clothes) and creating jobs for refugees. It shows the need to change the managerial behavior and perspectives due to the unusual situation of conflict. This situation has created a unique experience of corporate social responsibility in Lebanon as an example of a refugee-hosting country.