Social Capital and Social Media Antecedents’ Influence on Sustainable Indigenous Tourism of the Mah Meri, in Carey Island, Malaysia

Abstract

This paper presents the significant role of social capital and social media on sustainable indigenous tourism of the Mah Meri, in Carey Island, Malaysia. This study employs a quantitative approach that forms the use of social media in indigenous tourism development. This study also integrates social capital theory, especially bridging, bonding, and linking. The gap in Social Capital Theory is addressed in relation to social media utilization towards sustainable tourism. The quantitative approach is used in this study to gather and analyze data towards a regression model development. The result of the study gave significant contribution from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The antecedents of bridging, linking, and bonding, adaptation, participation, and sharing are found to be significant in predicting the sustainable indigenous tourism. It is hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to the existing literature on how social capital and social media can contribute towards sustainable practice of tourism by the indigenous communities.