Folklore for Cultural Tourism: The Malaysian Experience

The value of heritage sites and cultural activities/performances to tourism have long been discovered. However, the value of folk narrative or the intangible/oral heritages, such as local folk tales, legends and myths, which are very much a part of the local culture, have not been fully realized. This chapter is to explore their values in two aspects: attracting tourists (promotion) and improving tourists’ experiences, using Malaysian sites and tales as examples. Both the potential problems and solutions in making use of folklore as attractions for tourism are fully discussed in detail. This is mainly to verbalize or to visualize the intangible folklore, thus forming part of the travel experience.