PROMOTING MALAYSIAN ETHNIC RESTAURANTS: EXPLORING THE STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES OF TOURISM AGENCIES IN MALAYSIA

Ethnic restaurants, which reflect Malaysia’s culinary diversity, are significant in attracting tourists and contributing to the country’s economy. Despite their value in enriching the cultural tourism landscape, these establishments often receive limited visibility within national tourism strategies. Despite the cultural significance of ethnic restaurants, limited research explores how tourism agencies strategically promote them, creating a gap in understanding their role in culinary tourism. Additionally, financial constraints limit the promotional activities by restaurant businesses. Limited marketing resources for advertising and inadequate support by the tourism agencies also cause the restaurants to face difficulties in promoting themselves effectively. Thus, this research aims to investigate the tourism agencies’ strategies in promoting Malaysian ethnic restaurants, and to explore the challenges faced by them in these efforts. This study adopted a qualitative research approach, in which 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with purposive sampling technique of tourism agencies in Malaysia, allowing a comprehensive understanding of their strategies and challenges in promoting Malaysian ethnic restaurants. These interviews were guided by a semi-structured interview protocol to facilitate in-depth exploration of the research topic. Data were analyzed thematically where codes, categories and themes were formed. The findings of this research suggested that the strategies to promote Malaysian ethnic restaurants are the strategic selection of restaurants, collaboration with different stakeholders, effective marketing, preservation of heritage and culture, enhancing tourist experiences, and data and feedback management. Furthermore, the challenges found include the limitations of restaurants, complication of restaurant owners, collaboration issues, unclear restaurant locations, resource limitations, and difficulties in preservation. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in culinary tourism by specifically focusing on tourism agencies and offers practical recommendations by assisting them in developing appropriate solutions to navigate the challenges faced, contributing to the success of Malaysian ethnic restaurants, making them an outstanding tourism destination in Malaysia.