Coping With COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam

sustainability
Article
Coping with COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of
Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam
Najib Noorashid 1 and Wei Lee Chin 2, *
1 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei;
[email protected]
2 Geography, Environment and Development Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei
* Correspondence: [email protected]
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel and tourism industry, economies,
livelihoods, public services, and opportunities globally. This is also observed in the small country
of Brunei. As one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19 transmissions,
Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through its community-based tourism (CBT). Fol-
lowing Sharma et al.’s resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19
established in 2021, this study incorporates responses from semi-structured interviews with 16 local
CBT owners on the challenges, the management, and the CBT initiatives during the height of the
pandemic until today. These initiatives include diversifying more tour packages and utilising local
resources and products. Despite the lockdown imposed by the government, which suspended
businesses and restricted all travelling, local CBT operations flourished, generated more income for

the owners, and created job opportunities for the community. Such efforts have caused the public to
Citation: Noorashid, N.; Chin, W.L.
appreciate local cultures, the environment, and ultimately increase CBT experiences in the country.
Coping with COVID-19: The While shedding light on Brunei’s unique management of its tourism industry during the pandemic,
Resilience and Transformation of this paper also demonstrates theoretical and conceptual contributions to the recent literature of
Community-Based Tourism in Brunei resilient and transformational tourism and provide suggestions on how to manage CBT operations
Darussalam. Sustainability 2021, 13, during these challenging times.
8618. https://doi.org/10.3390/
su13158618 Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; community-based tourism; resilience; transformation; hospitality;
technology; local communities; Brunei; Southeast Asia
Academic Editors: Luigi Mastronardi,
Aurora Cavallo and Luca Romagnoli
Received: 29 June 2021

1. Introduction
Accepted: 28 July 2021
Published: 2 August 2021
Since the first recorded case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei,
China in December 2019, the pandemic has impacted many aspects of global livelihood
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
and public health, with no reservation to the travel and tourism industry. Based on a
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
report by United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) [1], the global inbound
published maps and institutional affil- and outbound expenditure was forecasted to plummet by 60–80% due to travel restric-
iations. tions imposed by many countries, including those of key players in global tourism and
economies, and this has since affected other smaller countries that rely heavily on interna-
tional tourism [2–4].
As the pandemic continues to change how global citizens view many aspects of
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
lifestyle, resilience and the implementation of transformational efforts are necessary to
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
secure sustainability and continuity of operations in many areas [2,3,5–8]. In July 2021,
This article is an open access article
international communities are still struggling to cope with the ongoing effects of the
distributed under the terms and pandemic with more than 191 million confirmed recorded cases globally. Much research
conditions of the Creative Commons has been done to assess the current situation to prepare future guidelines and action plans
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// for global communities [2,4,9–13].
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ The effects of the global pandemic have also affected the tourism industry in the
4.0/). small Southeast Asian country of Brunei. Since the first reported case of COVID-19 in
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158618 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 2 of 28
the Sultanate on the 9th of March 2020, Brunei has promptly restricted inbound and
outbound travellers to prevent continued transmission within the country [14] where
the number of inbound travellers coming into Brunei had dropped by more than 70% in
2020 [15]. Today, as one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19
transmissions [16–18], Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through various
national and community approaches, particularly through the growth of its community-
based tourism (CBT) operations.
CBT is normally marked by certain criteria such as tourism involving community
members and their participation, community control and empowerment, conservation,
and its contribution to the well-being and the development of community [19]. Whilst
CBT is ‘a much-contested area of practice and research that is marked by differences in
opinion on definition, interests served and bases for assessment’ [20] (p. 178), in the
current study, we refer CBT as a form of tourism runs by local community members
that specifically focused on offering products and services in small-scale industry and
hospitality. In comparison to general tourism that is normally managed by large-scale
industry and companies, CBT is often operated by community members. Whilst the current
study observed that there are more than 30 CBT establishments operating as homestays,
lodges, and cultural centres across Brunei, this figure is not fixed due to the rapidly growing
CBT operations from the outbound travel restrictions imposed in the country. It has become
a necessity for countries to assess the effects of COVID-19 in various aspects of life for
future references, including its bearing to the decline of travel and tourism industry in
global contexts [11,13,21,22]. However, fewer studies have been undertaken in the context
of Brunei, particularly involving the small-scale industry such as CBT operations that
have contributed to the growth of the economy. This is amid international recognition of
Brunei being ‘exemplary’ and ‘a success story’ in mitigating COVID-19 issues [16–18,23–25].
Thus, this paper attempts to highlight research importance and potential contributions to
the contemporary literature of tourism and hospitality studies and COVID-19 in Brunei
and internationally. This paper also acknowledges the scarcity of research on CBT in
Brunei [26,27].
Using the case study approach involving a number of CBT owners in Brunei, this study
investigates the impact of COVID-19 on CBT owners’ perceptions, experiences, and manage-
ment during the pandemic. Surrounding these themes, and by utilizing Sharma et al.’s [7]
resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19, the aim of
this study is to address three research questions: (1) what are the main challenges faced
by CBT and how they are managed accordingly; (2) what are the contributing factors to
making the tourism industry sustainable through CBT operations; (3) how can the tourism
industry make use of this unprecedented crisis as an opportunity to ensure sustainability
in tourism.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Challenges, Resilience, and Transformation of Tourism Amid COVID-19
Since the COVID-19 outbreak towards the end of 2019, the disruption of global flows
and mobility has triggered economic loss to the tourism industry [4,28,29], affected human
freedom and travelling rights [21,30], while also challenging public services and hospital-
ity [31–33], job precariousness [34–37], and emotional health and wellbeing [28,38,39]. The
pandemic also impacted smaller establishments and businesses, including CBT opera-
tions [9,40–42].
COVID-19 has changed the way people think and evaluate tourism practices, as it
brought about ‘a critical reconsideration of the global volume growth model for tourism,
for interrelated reasons of risks incurred in global travel’ [31] (p. 13). For example, the pan-
demic has influenced consumer attitudes and behaviours forcing various stakeholders to
reassess management strategies and adapt to the new environment. Luo and Lam [39]
found the changes in psychological attitudes among Hong Kong travellers influencing
their mobility intentions and destinations, while Im et al. [43] detected sudden changes
in South Korean consumer behaviours resulting in risk aversion such as social distancing
during travelling. Meanwhile, Toubes et al. [44] found the changes in tourist behaviours
and consumption in Spain that have forced the hospitality and tourism sector to adapt
their promotional and marketing strategies to the ‘new normal’ standards, including incor-
porating online platforms and digitization to secure health and safety standards. Similar
accounts have been reported in various case studies published globally, further changing
the tourism paradigm on many levels [44–47].
The pandemic has also impacted job employment on a global scale. Chirumbolo et al.’s [34]
analysis on 830 Italian workers showed that job insecurity and life precarity have had
a detrimental impact of consumer behaviours, due to the decreasing level of economic
opportunities and livelihood. Other studies also report on the loss of employment caused by
ceased business operations, which further led to raising mental and health issues [33,37,42].
Moreover, Jiang and Wen [38] reported several intersections of raising health concerns
and the hospitality industry not only among business practitioners but also consumers
worldwide. The psychological effects of COVID-19 towards hospitality workers and
businesses operators have raised concerns and have called for innovations in the tourism
management and industry [28,32,33,48].
To date, continuous efforts have been undertaken to mitigate the impacts of the
pandemic to prepare for a more adaptive and resilient industry while paving the way
to transform in coping with the unprecedented global health crisis and potential post-
COVID-19 tourism [7,32,38,49]. Recent literature on COVID-19 has called for the efforts
to alleviate and avoid the negative impacts of the pandemic towards tourism and hos-
pitality sectors [2,11,22,29,45,50,51], job precarity and related mental health and anxi-
ety [33,34,38,47,52], and the small-scale industry [4,9,53–56], among others. Moreover,
in these challenging times, the ‘formulation of appropriate recovery and resilience strate-
gies is still critical not only to the survival of the sector in tourism-intensive small states
but also to maintain the vital socio-economic linkages the sector cultivates’ [4] (p. 6).
As an attempt to prepare the tourism and hospitality industry post-COVID-19, scholars
and relevant organisations have continued their approaches to understand the new envi-
ronment to sustain the capacity of tourism in various levels. For example, Abbas et al. [2]
and Persson-Fischer and Liu [29] found that the tourism hospitality sectors need to adhere
to transformations, such as boosting the domestic market. These studies also report the fea-
sibility of such a strategy by taking into account of cooperative resilience management and
increasing social values among tourism key players throughout the pandemic. Meanwhile,
Lew et al. [12] suggested that the resilience adaptive cycle in tourism can be reviewed
in four phases: (1) (re)organization involving innovation and creativity, (2) growth of
opportunities from Phase 1, (3) consolidation of fixed institutions and rules of Phase 2,
and (4) collapse where the failure of Phase 3 to adapt to changes can be returned to Phase 1
or dissolution. In their analysis, Lew et al. [12] believe that Phase 1 is crucial in securing
sustainable tourism.
In a comprehensive review of responses from tourism sectors globally, Cave and
Dredge [51] also call upon innovations in the hospitality sector, including diversifying
economic practices of enterprises, labours, and properties in order to raise regenerative
tourism. Meanwhile, Kampel [4] outlines several potential strategic actions to be imple-
mented by small countries mitigating the loss of economy and hospitality industries during
the pandemic. The study suggests initiatives including diversifying tourism products and
services while increasing collaborations between stakeholders. Reviewing salient features
on the effects of the pandemic and the ongoing mitigation efforts undertaken by tourism
stakeholders, Sharma et al. [7] produced a policy framework for market players and gov-
ernments worldwide to cope with the challenges emerging in the global tourism industry.
As global tourism and hospitality industries are still facing challenges from the un-
certainty of the pandemic, more literature on strategic management of resilience and
transformation are needed to revive tourism industries in preparation for post-COVID-
19 [6,11,21,56–62].
2.2. Community-Based Tourism Amid COVID-19

The consequences of the pandemic have also been perceived as an opportunity to re-
evaluate tourism development strategies. It is forecasted that international tourism would
be suspended by mid-2020 and cause major losses to tourism stakeholders, but domestic
tourism and staycations will be expected to prevail [5]. Emerging studies reported that
domestic tourism will thrive during the pandemic, and this is expected to remain prevalent
even in post-COVID-19 era [4,11,29,63].
Recent literature on COVID-19 has suggested that promoting CBT is an alternative way
to boost the capacity and contribution of local economy in respective countries [9,40,41].
While Nyakiba et al. [64] claim that the growing CBT industry can be seen all over the world,
particularly in developing countries, current reports have now raised the definite value
of CBT as an alternative tourism during and post-COVID-19, which includes promoting
community-based products and services such as providing accommodation and utilising
local resources [53,65,66]. Furthermore, domestic tourism through community approaches
is reported to be significant in coping with the loss of mass tourism caused by COVID-
19 [4,55,67]. There are also reports on the resilience of small-scale industries in coping well
within the pandemic due to their high level of adaptability [8,68].
Nevertheless, growing literature on the impacts of COVID-19 towards CBT still
show that CBT-based establishments are struggling with various issues. Stone et al. [41]
found that the pandemic has increased the uncertainty in the future of Botswana nature-
based tourism sector, impacting MSMEs severely, causing a loss of jobs to the locals,
and affecting its resilience to bounce back to normal operations. As aforementioned,
COVID-19 has offered opportunities to rethink its conservation practices in rural opera-
tions. However, the pandemic still causes concerns to the revival of the tourism sector in
Namibia [40], even though CBT operations have been forced to refocus on boosting its
domestic market and catering to the locals as mitigating efforts sustaining business amid
the pandemic [49,67].
Continuous efforts have been made by various tourism stakeholders to ensure the
resilience and sustainability of CBT operations. For example, Polukhina et al. [6] claim that
a ‘unified approach’ from key players such as the government and local communities is
crucial to ensure the sustainability of community-based and rural tourism in Russia. In their
study, they also believe that proper crisis management ‘will promote the development
of domestic tourism and improve the quality of tourist services in rural destinations’ [6]
(p. 14). Similar responses were reported by Giampiccoli and Mtapuri [53] that raised the
importance of promoting MSMEs in Hanoi.
Meanwhile, 24 establishments involved in CBT tourism in Yucatan Peninsula in
Mexico have been forced to rethink their businesses and activities, including diversifying
potential products and services, while focusing more on natural resources, as those CBT
operations that offer ‘pluriactivity schemes are the ones best adapting to the pandemic’ [54]
(p. 13). Similarly, Kristiana et al. [69] also highlight the importance of cooperation between
tourism stakeholders in Indonesia to ‘develop the resilience of the tourism industry players
that generates community resilience and to revive tourism by implementing new normal
adaptations’ [69] (p. 220). However, the resilience strategy in reviving community-based
biodiversity tourism is not only urged to utilise natural resources but also to reconsider
the sustainability of the surrounding ecosystem and social structure amid the eagerness
to rebuild the economy post-COVID-19 [61,70,71]. Following studies involving small-
scale commercial industries including CBT, these reports have suggested that a number of
opportunities can be made possible, while mitigating the negative impacts of the pandemic
during these challenging times [13,31,65,72].
As a way of reviving tourism and community economy, tourism and hospitality
operations have to shift their focus to boosting the domestic market, while adapting
technological advancements as well as recalibrating the approach of diversifying local
products, services and resources. As more scholarly works suggest the importance of
small-scale industries and domestic tourism amid the pandemic, the majority of literature
As a way of reviving tourism and community economy, tourism and hospitality op-
erations have to shift their focus to boosting the domestic market, while adapting techno-
logical advancements as well as recalibrating the approach of diversifying local products,
services and resources. As more scholarly works suggest the importance of small-scale
industries and domestic tourism amid the pandemic, the majority of literature on COVID-
19 and tourism has also raised the importance of policymaking in efforts to secure sus-
tainability
on COVID-19 even andafter the COVID-19
tourism era. the importance of policymaking in efforts to
has also raised
secure sustainability even after the COVID-19 era.
3. Theoretical Framework
3. Theoretical Framework
Sharma et al. [7] developed the resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism
Sharma
industry et al. [7] developed
post-COVID-19 the resilience-based
(see Figure 1) based on a framework
systematic for reviving
review of 37the tourism
articles on in-
the
dustry
field ofpost-COVID-19 (see Figure
tourism, hospitality, 1) based onunder
and COVID-19 a systematic review
the themes of of 37 articles on
‘sustainable the field
tourism, cli-
ofmate
tourism, hospitality, and COVID-19 under the themes of ‘sustainable
action, transformation to the new global economic order, and resilience’ [7] (p. 4). tourism, climate
action,
Whilsttransformation
there is a growing to the new global
number economic
of works order,in
on tourism and resilience’ [7]era,
post-pandemic (p. 4).
thisWhilst
frame-
there
work has since made ‘significant theoretical and practical contribution to the field by has
is a growing number of works on tourism in post-pandemic era, this framework sug-
since made
gesting ‘significant
a coping-up theoreticalwhich
mechanism, and practical
revolvescontribution to the field bymarket
around resilience…from suggesting
players,a
coping-up mechanism, which revolves around resilience . . . from market
governments, non-government agencies, and all other stakeholders’ [7] (p. 4). In their players, govern-
ments, non-government
framework, Sharma et al. agencies, and allfour
[7] identified othermain
stakeholders’ [7] (p. 4).
factors involved in In
thetheir framework,
process of resili-
Sharma et al. [7]
ence making identified
that contribute four
to main factors involved
the transformation in the process
in tourism of resilience
to secure making
sustainability dur-
that
ing contribute
and after the to the transformation
COVID-19 in tourism
era. These factors to
weresecure sustainability
identified based on during
salientand after
features
the COVID-19 era. These factors were identified based on salient features related to the
related to the significant strategic planning and tourism management towards the pan-
significant strategic planning and tourism management towards the pandemic found across
demic found across the selected literature.
the selected literature.
Figure1.1.Resilience-based
Figure Resilience-basedframework
framework for
for reviving
reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19
post-COVID-19 [7]
[7] (p.
(p.8).
8).
source: Elsevier.
source: Elsevier.
This
Thisstudy
studyutilised
utilisedSharma
Sharmaetetal.’s
al.’s[7]
[7]framework
frameworktotosubstantiate
substantiatethe theunderstanding
understanding
ofofthe current
the current CBT management during the pandemic by formulating
management during the pandemic by formulating research research ideas,
ideas, ad-
administering interviewquestions
ministering interview questionsand and guidance
guidance for discussion.
discussion. Beside
Beside itsitscurrent
currentrelevance
relevance
and
andinfluence
influenceinincontemporary
contemporarystudies
studieson onthe
theeffects
effectsofofCOVID-19
COVID-19towards
towardstourism
tourismand and
hospitality
hospitalitysectors
sectorsglobally,
globally,the flexible
the nature
flexible nature of of
thethe
framework
framework in evaluating
in evaluatingthe the
potential
poten-
factors of resilience
tial factors and and
of resilience transformation
transformation through multi-faceted
through multi-facetedlevels andand
levels perspectives
perspectivesis
deemed highly adaptive with the current explorative study’s research
is deemed highly adaptive with the current explorative study’s research aims and ques- aims and questions.
Even though the framework has detailed four specific subdivisional factors in each of
tions.
the two overarching
Even though the themes of resilience
framework and transformation,
has detailed this study added
four specific subdivisional twoinmore
factors each
transformational factors of (1) the innovation of roles and practices and
of the two overarching themes of resilience and transformation, this study added two (2) the appreciation
towards local products and
more transformational services.
factors of (1)By
thetaking accountofprevious
innovation roles and literature
practicesin and
tourism amid
(2) the ap-
COVID-19 and our early observation on CBT industry in Brunei, we
preciation towards local products and services. By taking account previous literature in believe that these
two added
tourism factors
amid are expected
COVID-19 to remain
and our significant on
early observation post-COVID-19.
CBT industry This newlywe
in Brunei, adapted
believe
framework will be used in this current study to further discuss the situation in Brunei as a
case study (see Figure 2).
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 of 29
that these two added factors are expected to remain significant post-COVID-19. This
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 newly adapted framework will be used in this current study to further discuss the situa-
6 of 28
tion in Brunei as a case study (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Resilience and transformation-based framework during and after COVID-19 (adapted from
Figure 2. Resilience and transformation-based framework during and after COVID-19 (adapted
Sharma et al. [7] edited by authors).
from Sharma et al. [7] edited by authors).
As Southeast Asian countries are underrepresented in the development of Sharma et al.’s [7]
As Southeast Asian countries are underrepresented in the development of Sharma et
theoretical framework, we believe our newly adapted framework offers a more well-
al.’s [7] theoretical
rounded perspective framework,
on strategic we planning
believe ourfor newly adapted
resilience framework offers
and transformation amidaCOVID-
more
well-rounded perspective on strategic planning for resilience and
19 that can be utilised by other Southeast Asian contexts and beyond, particularly involving transformation amid
COVID-19
small-scale thatcommercial
can be utilised by other Southeast
establishments Asian contexts
and domestic tourism. and Asbeyond,
there isparticularly
a myriad of
involving small-scale commercial establishments and domestic
literature on COVID-19 and tourism, this study further takes this opportunity tourism. As there is a myr-
to incorporate
iad of literature on COVID-19 and tourism, this study further
the perspective from Brunei, whose tourism industry has prospered in recent years and takes this opportunity to
incorporate the perspective from Brunei, whose
how its new CBT operations are mushrooming during the pandemic. tourism industry has prospered in recent
years andWhilsthowSharma
its newetCBT operations
al. [7] reviewedare mushrooming
responses during
of various the pandemic.
stakeholders predominantly
Whilst
in mass Sharmaindustry
tourism et al. [7]during
reviewed responses
COVID-19, thisofstudy
various stakeholders
expands predominantly
its potential to focus on
inthe
mass tourism industry during COVID-19, this study expands
community tourism by investigating CBT owners’ perceptions and their management its potential to focus on
the community tourism by investigating CBT owners’ perceptions
during the challenging times. CBT has been claimed to generate national economy vis-à-vis and their management
during the challenging
mass tourism industrytimes.
in theCBTglobalhascontext
been claimed
[73,74], to
as generate
it supports national economythe
and empowers vis-à-
com-
vismunity
mass tourism industry in the global context [73,74], as it supports
on many levels [19,75] including the context of Brunei [26,27]; thus, the framework and empowers the
community
is essentialon to many levels the
understand [19,75] including of
management theCBTcontext of Brunei
operations [26,27];
during the thus,
height the
offrame-
the pan-
work
demic is essential
and today, to and
understand the management
in its correlation of CBT operations
to appropriating resilience and during the height offor
transformation
the pandemictourism
sustainable and today, and in itsFurthermore,
and economy. correlation tothereappropriating
is ‘a need for resilience and transfor-
a “community-centered
mation
tourism forframework”
sustainable tourism and economy.
with responsible Furthermore,
approaches to reset,there is ‘a need
redescribe, and for a “com-
refamiliarize
munity-centered tourism framework” with responsible approaches
the tourism industry in the interest of local communities’ [7] (p. 7), which is the focus of to reset, redescribe,
and
therefamiliarize
current study. theIntourism
this case, industry in the interest
the formation of local communities’
of a community-managed [7] (p.
tourism 7),
frame-
which
workisisthe focus of to
imperative theunderstanding
current study.the In ongoing
this case,issues
the formation of a community-man-
faced by local communities amid
aged
the tourism
pandemic. framework
As CBTiscan imperative
stronglyto understanding
impact a country’s theeconomy
ongoing issues faced by
even during thelocal
pan-
demic [4,55,66,73,74],
communities this study attempts
amid the pandemic. As CBT can to raise theoretical
strongly impactand conceptual
a country’s contributions
economy even
to the the
during recent literature
pandemic of resilient andthis
[4,55,66,73,74], transformational
study attemptstourism to raiseand further provide
theoretical sugges-
and concep-
tions on how to manage CBT operations during these challenging
tual contributions to the recent literature of resilient and transformational tourism and times. This is expected
to generate
further provide further discussion
suggestions on the
on how tointerests,
manage CBT the effects,
operations and the contributions
during of CBT on
these challenging
a larger
times. Thisscale of mass to
is expected tourism.
generate further discussion on the interests, the effects, and the
contributions of CBT on a larger scale of mass tourism.
4. Methods
This study is qualitative in nature. Using purposive sampling, 16 owners of CBT
operations running the same line of work in Brunei were approached and interviewed (see
Table 1 for respondents’ background). A few CBT operations were approached through
the list of CBT operators gathered from the official webpage of the Tourism Department,
Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism in Brunei [76], while others were selected
due to their success and active role in running CBT operations in Brunei. The interviews
were conducted in March and April 2021 at the respondents’ CBT establishments when the
country had implemented the de-escalation plan, and businesses operated normally.
Table 1. Respondents’ demographic background and CBT line of work.
CBT
Respondent Age Gender District Year Established
Line of Work
A 54 Female Lodge Brunei Muara 2015
B 52 Female Homestay Brunei Muara 2018
C 50 Male Homestay Brunei Muara 2009
D 36 Female Travel service provider Brunei Muara and Tutong 2018
E 46 Male Lodge Brunei Muara 2015
F 40 Female Homestay Brunei Muara 2012
G 52 Male Homestay/cultural village Brunei Muara 2015
H 26 Female Cultural centre Tutong 2012
I 64 Male Homestay/cultural centre Tutong 2017
J 40 Female Homestay Temburong 2011
K 67 Female Guesthouse Temburong 2006
L 59 Male Guesthouse Temburong 2014
M 69 Female Guesthouse Temburong 2001
N 25 Male Lodge Temburong 2020
O 56 Female Homestay Tutong 2010
P 76 Female Homestay Temburong 2007
This study utilised semi-structured interviews enquiring the CBT owners’ knowledge
on COVID-19 and its effects to tourism and hospitality industry in Brunei and internation-
ally, their perceptions and experiences during the height of COVID-19 and today, and their
personal and collective approaches (with the community) to mitigate the effects of the
pandemic to their businesses (see Appendix A for the list of interview questions). In this
study, a semi-structured interview was used to acquire more in-depth information in order
to understand the current situation of small-scale tourism industry in Brunei from the
perspective of the key player (CBT owners), while identifying the reasons behind the
sudden upsurge in CBT operations during the pandemic. As this study is explorative
amid scarcity of similar studies in Brunei, the combination of using a semi-structured
interview involving purposive samples had provided opportunities to explore the relevant
participants’ thoughts, beliefs, and expectations, while delving further into their personal
and professional perspectives in managing CBT operations during COVID-19, ultimately
showcasing new findings.
Theoretically grounded by Sharma et al.’s [7] framework, content analysis was used
to create relevant themes based on salient features and discussion surrounding the CBT
owners’ responses to being resilient and transformed to secure sustainability in operation
amid COVID-19. Content analysis is used as it is a reliable yet flexible approach in
determining relevant themes in contexts and times (which in this case is on CBT during
and after COVID-19) that are replicable and can be reproduced in different contexts and
settings by other researchers [77–79].
Brunei (see Figure 3 for map of Brunei Darussalam) was chosen as a case study due to
its effective responses to COVID-19 and has since garnered international attention. As of
mid-July 2021, the country had detected a total of 291 cases with only three deaths [80].
The last local case reported was on the 6th of May 2020, which marks more than 400 days
without local transmissions. Whilst Brunei has been successful in flattening the curve
and has been able to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the country [16,18,25] through
prompt actions from the government and mutual adherence by the people, there are still
concerns among the people on a possible emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 in
the country [81]. As with other countries worldwide, Brunei’s tourism has been severely
affected by the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Brunei enjoyed an upsurge in incoming
tourists, but this plunged by 81.3% year-on-year since the border closure in 2020 [82,83].
without local transmissions. Whilst Brunei has been successful in flattening the curve and
has been able to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the country [16,18,25] through
prompt actions from the government and mutual adherence by the people, there are still
concerns among the people on a possible emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 in the
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618 country [81]. As with other countries worldwide, Brunei’s tourism has been severely 8 ofaf-
28
fected by the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Brunei enjoyed an upsurge in incoming
tourists, but this plunged by 81.3% year-on-year since the border closure in 2020 [82,83].
Figure 3. Map of Brunei Darussalam (source: authors’ copyright).

Figure 3. Map of Brunei Darussalam (source: authors’ copyright).
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5. Findings and Discussion

5.1. Challenges Faced by CBT during COVID-19
Based on our findings, the suspension of business operations during the early months
of the detection of COVID-19 cases in Brunei was a tremendous challenge for most of the
CBT owners, leading to economic instability and financial loss, amid apprehension towards
the pandemic. Moreover, the emergence of over-domestic tourism may also become
problematic for Brunei’s CBT despite its flourishing domestic tourism in the country.
All 16 CBT owners have reported their struggles during the abrupt restriction of
movement—domestically and internationally—since March 2020. This partial lockdown
was enforced in the country where businesses were allowed to operate unless there were
directly involved with community infections [16]. Whilst there was no specific restriction
imposed to businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector in the country, these CBT
owners recalled the fear and apprehension from the customers and themselves in engaging
any social activities. Local businesses were disrupted, and the CBT owners had to cease
operations for the following three to four months. The owners also claimed that the
pandemic was the most unprecedented challenge that they had ever faced in years of
operating their businesses, as it also affected the economy of most of these CBT operations.
We couldn’t receive any customers for a while, especially in the very beginning
[of the first COVID-19 case recorded]. It continued for months. We were afraid.
Customers wanted to check in to our homestay, but we couldn’t accept due to
the risk [of transmission]. Once the virus transmission was contained, then we
could slowly accept customers but in a small number. Yes, we couldn’t accept
a lot. At the end, we didn’t make any profits. Yet again, we were apprehensive
that the virus may spread again (Respondent K).
Yes, it has affected my business due to no incoming tourists [considering her
homestay caters mostly for foreigners]. Foreigners can no longer coming to
Brunei, and Bruneians can’t travel outside of country. If there were, now I only
receive expatriates who are working in Brunei. They only stay for a day or two.
I used to cater large numbers from abroad, corporate people, or even from foreign
students from many international universities (Respondent M).
The fear of receiving customers and engaging in socialisation in the hospitality in-
dustry is expected during the height of the pandemic. For example, Jiang and Wen [38]
found several intersections of raising health concerns and hospitality industry across the
globe since the emergence of COVID-19. Luo and Lam [39] further found changes in
psychological attitudes among Hong Kong travellers influencing their mobility intentions
and destinations, while Im et al. [43] detected sudden changes in South Korean consumer
behaviours resorting for risk aversion such as social distancing affecting tourism sector.
Other studies reported on the psychological effects of COVID-19 towards hospitality work-
ers and businesses owners that have caused innovations in tourism management and
industry [28,32,33,48]. This is also observed in the responses from the CBT owners in the
current study. In our study, the apprehension from both the owner and customer had
caused cancellation and suspension of CBT operations causing great financial loss to the
business owners.
COVID-19 further exacerbated financial difficulties faced by CBT owners whose
businesses were self-funded and relied heavily on the tourism sector where most of these
CBT businesses had only started operating since early 2000. Moreover, the pandemic
was deemed ‘the greatest challenge’ to their businesses, as Brunei had never been largely
affected by other major international outbreaks such as severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS-Cov-1), Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS), EBOLA,
or ZIKA disease.
For me it [COVID-19] was a great challenge, especially on my earnings. The econ-
omy, not just my homestay but also other travel agencies and commercial ac-
tivities related to tourism. It was a difficult time. We just hope everything will
be back to normal. Because of COVID-19, I no longer receive tourists from
Malaysia, my greatest source of travellers. I haven’t been able to receive anyone
[considering his homestay only caters to foreign visitors] (Respondent C).
As the country managed to contain the number of local transmissions, the government
slowly eased restrictions on movement. On the 27th of July 2020, the government allowed
businesses to continue operations while abiding to health and safety precautions. Today,
all businesses have operated at full capacity with less restrictions imposed on movement
and social engagement. As part of the state intervention, the government through its
Ministry of Health also introduced the BruHealth application (a self-contact tracing and an
application to be scanned in any premises, which also updates on COVID-19 development
and related policy measures, as it helps monitor health conditions of residents of Brunei) as
part of the de-escalation plan, where the information on the use and its benefits are made
available for the public [85]. This is also an effort to regain the trust and confidence of the
people (both consumers and service providers), which has been deemed significant in past
literature on resilience and transformation amid COVID-19 [7]. Today, all CBT owners
run operations normally with continued practice of health and safety measures including
incorporating the BruHealth QR code and scanning at their premises, as also observed by
the researchers.
As local businesses have operated at full capacity at a much more rapid rate than
any other countries [24], a few CBT owners recalled another challenge in meeting the
demands of consumers in the thriving industry of domestic tourism. In the interviews
with our respondents, we found that the scenario of ‘over-domestic tourism’ is one of the
challenges faced by CBT operations affecting other tourism stakeholders and environment.
The CBT owners stated that the sudden upsurge in consumers has made their businesses
‘uncontrollable’, whereas some of them also feel that ‘the market was not managed prop-
erly’. For example, Respondent D who is managing a travel service provider company
reported on the possibility of declining quality of local products and services in order to
meet the demands of the local market. They also claimed more travel agencies are eager
to overpromote domestic products that are albeit not ‘properly implemented’. A similar
sentiment was raised by Respondent G, who collaborated with local tour agencies and
recalled the constant disagreement and inconsistencies of tourism offerings between travel
agencies and hospitality establishments. Whilst the sudden upsurge in local demands
were expected to benefit local entrepreneurs, CBT owners described such situations as
a loss of opportunity and finance. This is because they believe that the inconsistency
of standardising the prices of tourism packages and scenarios of uncontrollable market
and overgrazing natural resources will potentially cause more harm to their businesses
and environment.
And then there was a new challenge—consistency. Suppliers—nobody wanted to
say no. Too many bookings, too many people. Quality—consistency has become
a problem. In December, people had gone a bit mad. Everybody is just looking
for something to do. It’s not only locals who are looking for something to do,
but also expatriates. They put massive pressure on the resources [referring to
overgrazing of natural resources such as local produce of honey, etc.]. I won’t
say greedy is the right word, but they were just overcommitted to themselves
(Respondent D).
There is one complication when dealing with travel agencies. These travel agen-
cies cater to the customers. They come up with their own packages with fixed
rates and time. Then, they would come to us requesting for various products and
activities with standardised rates. But for us, we have to engage the community
and our people, and there shouldn’t be fixed rates on these. It always varies and
depending on the activities that we offer. Then, who bears the losses? Us! We
can see this in a lot of other villages (Respondent G).
The term ‘over-tourism’ may be a new concept in the growing literature of tourism
during COVID-19. Instead, Koh [86] and Arora and Sharma [63] forecasted the pandemic
as a way of lessening over-tourism in highly visited countries and tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, studies including Gossling et al. [31] and Sharma et al. [7] also report that
the pandemic has diverted ‘over-tourism’ to ‘non-tourism’. However, the CBT owners
in the current study have insinuated the presence of over-tourism in Brunei since the
announcement of the de-escalation plan for businesses, which has had an impact on society
and the environment.
Over-tourism is usually defined as ‘an excessive growth of visitors leading to over-
crowding in areas where residents suffer the consequences of temporary and seasonal
tourism peaks, which have enforced permanent changes to their lifestyles, access to ameni-
ties and general well-being’ [87] (p. 254). The current study reports that the expansion
of ‘over-domestic tourism’ does not only involve the overflowing receiving of domestic
tourists, but also the overpromotion of products and services and the sudden mushrooming
of unmonitored and uncontrolled CBT operations to cater to the sudden upsurge in local
demands during the pandemic. Therefore, in this study, we define over-domestic tourism
as the sudden upsurge in local demands on tourism products and industry, which leads
to an uncontrollable market while impacting the environment, due to the perpetuation of
domestic tourism campaigns and COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Amidst scarcity of similar literature, Cahyadi and Newsome [70] have suggested
that ‘over-tourism scenarios’ may have occurred in countries that have slowly revamped
their tourism industry while focusing on domestic attractions. According to their studies,
the over-tourism in Indonesian geoparks has since raised concerns on ecological damage
and social impacts. Similarly, a few Bruneian CBT owners claimed that the ‘over-domestic
tourism’ may have led to overgrazing of natural resources, decreasing of quality control,
and overexposure to financial and opportunities loss to relevant stakeholders, thus prompt-
ing more research or intervention by responsible stakeholders.
As over-tourism scenarios usually call for new policy development [88], a few CBT
owners in the current study also suggested for the adoption of sustainable policy for CBT
operations in the country. They recalled that the pandemic has given the opportunity for
‘everybody [to] set up their own CBT, be creative, and many have done so’ (Respondent
E). Domestic tourism is expected to continue, and we can predict that it may flourish in
the post-COVID-19 era [4,11,29]. It is then vital to prepare measures to prevent prolonged
over-domestic tourism in Brunei.
The occurrence of this situation coincides with the United Nations’ [89] call to form a
new policy framework and constant monitoring on ‘the structure of tourism economies to
improve competitiveness and building resilience’ [89] (p. 22) on the business and tourism
industry affected by COVID-19. This is also to understand the full impact of the pandemic
towards tourism, while ensuring support and development towards local infrastructures
and facilitate micro, small, and medium enterprises in respective countries. In this case,
the challenges faced by the CBT operations discussed in this study may pave a path to
developing a policy framework on tourism management involving self-dependent business
such as CBT operations or other small-scale commercial industry affected by the pandemic.
5.2. The Resistance and Resilience of CBT Amid COVID-19

Resilience in tourism involves managing crises using strategic approaches for ‘business
stability and adaptability to all types of risks’ and being responsive towards new emergen-
cies and environment through effective mitigations involving responsible stakeholders [7]
(p. 4). Our study analysed the responsiveness and adaptability of CBT operations as
they raised various opportunities in testing and promoting their products and expanded
their market and network to secure business stability amid COVID-19. CBT operations
implemented four main strategic actions: (1) quick recovery response and understanding
new market; (2) diversifying products/services in domestic market; (3) government inter-
vention supports confidence and accessibility; (4) incorporating technological advancement
in operations.
The success of mitigating COVID-19 transmissions in Brunei is owed to the quick
response of the government, and this includes mutual cooperation and agreement between
the government and the people [16,18,25]. This is also reflected within the CBT operations.
The resilience of this small-scale industry was due to the swift restart of their businesses as
soon as the government lifted its restriction. This has been reported by all the CBT owners.
Upon restarting, the CBT owners revived their business operations by understanding their
‘new situation’, while exploring and shifting to the potential local market and, in return,
boosting domestic tourism. These CBT owners also reported recalibrating their tourism
products to be suited to the interests of the local people and expatriates living in Brunei
in times of the travel restriction. Meanwhile, others recalled reviving other aspects such
as offering new tourism packages and prices to stay competitive and relevant during the
challenging times.
Now we have two markets—before and after COVID-19 hit Brunei. Before
COVID-19 happened, we received many backpackers from all over the world.
After COVID-19, we focus on local market—the local people—who cannot travel
outside of Brunei. Also, we focus on the expatriates who are working in Brunei.
Now we have to diversify our services to both local and international market.
After COVID-19 hit us, we had to think about how to attract back our customers.
We had to understand local market and our competitors. I had to reconsider
our services, prices, and promotions to be competitive and to stay relevant
(Respondent B).
While I’m no longer opening my doors for homestay purposes, I’m offering
flexible tourism packages according to my customers and travel agents. This in-
cludes providing flexible services such as incorporating traditional games, food,
and related activities that adhere to customers’ wants and their time . . . Since
I try to attract local people after COVID-19 happen, I started offering specific
and unique experiences around this area, for example paddy planting, because
this area is popular for that particular activity. I’m not offering similar cultural
activities as other businesses offer (Respondent C).
. . . when they started de-escalation, that’s where the staycation packages came
about. It’s been very successful. I think that was something that we had never
thought [about before COVID-19]. Why would any local Bruneian want to stay
at our homestay? But we had locals staying here, we had expatriates staying in
because they are doing our [diving/snorkelling] activity (Respondent F).
The resistance towards COVID-19 can also be observed in the decision made by some
CBT owners to expand their businesses by utilising local products and resources and,
in return, promoting locality and boosting domestic tourism. These efforts were reportedly
unprecedented, but considering the need to diversify their products and services, some of
these owners have taken charge in developing potential product/site to support their busi-
nesses as a way to keep resilient during the challenging times and further test and promote
the potential of these products and services for international communities during the post-
COVID-19 era. For example, one CBT owner has expanded their homestay programme by
incorporating activities at one of the ASEAN heritage sites in Brunei, while others prepared
new activities to meet the demands of domestic tourism. These initiatives have further
realised the national mission in tourism in ‘strengthening the attractiveness and diversity
of tourism products and improving the quality of tourism services’ in securing tourism
sustainability in the country [90]. As part of the strategic approach in staying resilient in the
market, these CBT owners—who predominantly operate in the hospitality sector—have
also contributed to domestic tourism through ‘staycation’ amid COVID-19 [91].
There wasn’t much happening from March until June, then the Government
started to boost domestic tourism. We were part of it. Later, we didn’t expect
that our local people show lots of interest in our homestay, and it even has
overwhelmed returns that we got from previous years. Many locals, because they
couldn’t go travelling. Furthermore, we had started launching our hill, located
just behind our homestay. Now we incorporate activities that we do at the hill in
our packages, such as hiking. So we have best of both world. The locals can go
hiking at the hill, and then stop by here for coffee on the water [the homestay is
located at Kampong Ayer/Water Village]. They can do camping overnight and
many other interesting things (Respondent G).
. . . one of our products that we’re going to be launching is with Tasek Merimbun
[Lake Merimbun]. You could say it’s part of the homestay. It’s an additional
service that we offer for the guests. I think we want to do definitely more when
the borders open. We hope to have more tourists coming in and we can show and
host them here and do more activities like in Tasek Merimbun, do more hikes
and stuff like that (Respondent F).
I wouldn’t say we were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 throughout.

It opened more opportunities for us instead because people are forced to stay
in Brunei and find new places to visit and new things to do. So it kind of gives
us the opportunity to boost our name in local community and especially among
the local Bruneians and expatriates. We received financial support for our jetty.
It is funded by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism and it’s going to
start its construction soon. More ideas and planning have been put out for these
surrounding areas (Respondent H).
In the international contexts, previous studies have suggested the significance of
diversifying products and services and utilising the ecosystem and natural resources as a
way of coping with losses from the pandemic and remain sustainable in post-COVID-19
tourism [4,53,54,66,68,69]. The CBT owners in the current study have proven to be such a
success from their strategic action in diversifying niche products and services offered to
the domestic market. This is amid a similar strategy that has also been used successful in
sustaining the agritourism sector amid the pandemic in Brunei [92].
The expansion of CBT operations by incorporating more local products and resources
have slowly contributed to the sense of local belonging among the people of Brunei.
Haywood [11] and Persson-Fischer and Liu [29] claim that the pandemic will change the
global pattern of travelling with domestic tourism is expected to dominate the industry.
Meanwhile, Sharma et al. [7] (p. 5) believe the ‘feeling of belongingness among locals will
dictate terms for the revival of the tourism industry’. These expectations may apply to the
current situation of domestic in tourism in Brunei. Some CBT owners have claimed that the
pandemic has made Bruneians appreciate the local culture, while assisting the domestic
tourism sector to realise and lift the national aspiration of ‘Kenali Negara Kitani’ (to know
our country) through its CBT. As part of the current resilient strategic actions with CBT,
it may also secure the sustainability of domestic tourism in the country (see the next section
for further discussion)
Five CBT owners (J, K, L, M, and N) who run establishments in the eastern most dis-
trict of Temburong (see Figure 3 for the location of Temburong) claimed to have maintained
and flourished their business stability in terms of domestic tourism and generating the
economy. Known for its nature, forest reserves, and eco-tourism industry, Temburong
district is separated from the rest of Brunei by Malaysia and Brunei Bay and is conveniently
accessible from the mainland via the Temburong bridge (also known as Sultan Haji Omar
Ali Saifuddien Bridge), which was officially opened on the 17 March 2020. These CBT own-
ers acknowledged that the convenient accessibility of the bridge has become a contributing
factor for more incoming locals and expatriates from mainland Brunei and securing the
stability and sustainability of their operations.
[Our customers are] increasing. Yes, because normally people would go to Kota
Kinabalu or Miri. As soon as the bridge was opened, we were surprised by the
overwhelming incoming of people. We were hectic. We used to receive customers
during school holidays only, but now we receive customers everyday. It used to
seasonal. After COVID-19 hit us, and the bridge was opened, we receive people
every week, until at times we are fully booked (Respondent J)!
For my own business, yes I earn more these days. There are more opportunities
today. One, because our locals can’t go travelling abroad. For those from the
mainland, they can come to us in Temburong easily these days. Since COVID-19
has hit us for almost a year now, my business is flourishing. I used to accept
customers for Corporate Days, but now I receive big families for their vacations
and weekly trips. The COVID-19 didn’t really affect my business so much to be
honest (Respondent L).
I believe the newly opened bridge gives an opportunity for the people not just for
the people in Bandar to go here but the people in Temburong to go there as well.
So yes, basically I believe the bridge is definitely going to help them boost the
opportunity and the financial stability of every business here in Brunei especially
with tourism. I believe it will also help us venturing in CBT (Respondent N).
The resilience of CBT operations in Temburong was further strengthened by the sud-
den initiative by the Brunei Government to promote domestic tourism in Temburong due
to COVID-19 [83,93,94], including the decision to launch the opening of the bridge that
was aimed to eliminate communication barriers between the mainland and Temburong
during the needy time [95]. It has been a national aspiration to elevate Temburong as a new
holiday destination bolstering local ecotourism for domestic and foreign travellers [96,97],
and the pandemic has given the opportunity for the government and the community to
realise it while benefitting CBT and local businesses in the district. This is further confirmed
by the recent announcement of planning for various developments of infrastructure and
establishment reported in the 17th National Legislative Council Meeting, focusing on the
community engagement, specifically on the Mukim and Village Consultative Councils’
One Village One Product (1K1P), which predominantly engages CBT operations in the
country [98]. In this case, government intervention alongside the resilience of CBT opera-
tions contributed to the sustainability of CBT operations and may further secure the future
of domestic tourism.
Hall et al. [21], Higgins-Desbiolles [99], and Sharma et al. [7] claim the significant
role of government responses, intervention, and support such as government stimulus
packages particularly for those businesses operating at lower capacity during the pandemic.
In Brunei, the government also provided aid and support including a fees waiver for trade
and payment and a 50% tax discount on corporate income tax for businesses in the tourism
and hospitality industry, which came into effect on the 1 April 2020 until the 30 September
2020 [95]. The government through its Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) also
provided financial support of BND 250 million for all business sectors and individuals
under the Economic Relief Package [100].
A few registered CBT establishments acknowledged the government support during
the pandemic, but these local owners felt more could be channelled through formal insti-
tutional support, such as in their way of promoting and operating their businesses and
accessibility to greater funding.
In relation to our upcoming report on CBT operations in Brunei [101] and insinuated
in previous studies in tourism research in Brunei [102–104], we assume the lack of effective
communication and coordination between the government representatives and tourism
stakeholders may have contributed to the lack of understanding on tourism operations
involving these CBT operations during the pandemic. For instance, this can be detected by
the inconsistency of claims made by the CBT owners about receiving the relief package and
being part of community discussion that may have helped to further support their business
during COVID-19. Only four out of 16 CBT owners explicitly claimed to have direct
support and engaged with responsible tourism stakeholders. This is perhaps due to the
relief package announced available for small-scale businesses with no specific designation
for tourism-based business owners. In this case, the government support is seen as indirect
and ‘invisible’ by the CBT owners, insinuating that the communication issues between
tourism stakeholders should be addressed in order to maximise the sustainability of
tourism during the post-COVID-19 era in the country.
As the pandemic has boosted technological innovation in daily lives today, the global
commercial and tourism industry has followed the same pursuit as a method of resistance
to secure sustainability in their operations [7,10,13,105,106]. Today, technological advance-
ment is ‘the core of solutions for combating the COVID-19 and re-opening tourism and the
economy [where] COVID-19 has further enhanced the role of technologies in the recovery
and reimagination of tourism, while it reinforces existing paradigms in the e-tourism
evolution’ [13] (p. 314).
The same case was analysed involving two CBT operations owned by a much younger
CBT owner (Respondent H) and a highly experienced lodge owner (Respondent A),
where both view the pandemic as an opportunity to incorporate technology in their re-
spective businesses. Respondent H used a more structured virtual engagement for her
cultural village while still adhering to the health and safety measures imposed by the MOH,
and Respondent A used an online tourism convention as a way to promote local food, cul-
ture, and the surroundings of her cultural lodge. Even though Sharma et al. [7] found that
most technological incorporation during COVID-19 have focused on the ‘massive aid from
technology experts’ [7] (p. 5), these two operations showcased otherwise, as there were no
formal institutional efforts but the owner and their surrounding community, presumably
because CBT operations in Brunei are predominantly involved as a community-centred
business [26,27].
The element of virtual performance was inspired due to the limitations of capacity
allowed by the MOH. During that time, the maximum capacity allowed was 30%
and we were only able to have less than 20 individuals at one place. This inspires
us to innovate the concept to include the performance as part of the package.
The package is named ‘[the name of the establishment]’s Glam Gurindam Jiwa’.
The concept offered an experience of indulging modernized traditional dishes
while being entertained with a virtual performance by Kulimpapa [a local cultural
band]. The virtual performance was included via a live video which was two
ways interaction where the guests are able to communicate directly to request for
songs for the band to play and viewed the surrounding (Respondent H).
. . . during COVID, I said let’s make Kueh Moor [a type of snacks], and I was on
Zoom [participating an online international tourism convention]. Hei, hello every-
one, I’m making Kueh Moor here. You get what I mean? The culture has changed
because now we have Zoom. And we can talk about food culture and the pro-
motion. You know where is my Zoom [backdrop]? Outside, so they can see
Omar Ali Saiffuddien Mosque. I want to show my country. I walk around and
sit down there. So, this is where you see the outside of my lodge. You can show
and talk about culture. When you walk, you can see houses [in Kampong Ayer],
and you can see the different structure of the house, the windows, the wood,
the architecture of the house is part of our culture (Respondent A).
As an effort to stay resilient in the industry during COVID-19, the use of technology
has multiplied and is now deemed a necessity to the everchanging paradigm of sustain-
able travelling and tourism sector [7,10,13,107]. For example, Lau [108] found multiple
technological innovations used by hotels in China implementing live promotion through
active social media and interconnectivity engagement during the pandemic. Meanwhile,
other studies also see the upsurge in technological advances in various forms of global
tourism and hospitality industry, which are implemented to stay relevant and maintain
sustainability in the hospitality sector [2,50,105].
The pandemic forced the tourism industry to adapt to the situation where technology
has become a major force in creating flexibility [10,21,50]. Furthermore, as one of the ‘six
transformative e-tourism research pillars’ for short and longer term in hospitality indus-
try [10], both CBT owners in our study also believed that ‘experimentation’ with technology
may assist in better CBT experiences, promotion, and further secure the sustainability of
their businesses. This seems highly possible for Brunei as it has the highest consumption
of internet connectivity and social media in Southeast Asia [109], where the majority of our
CBT owners also claim that the ‘word-of-mouth’ promotional review through social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube is an effective way to promote their
CBT businesses to locals and tourists. Respondent A claims that the effort incorporating
virtual technology can secure their existence today and in the post-COVID-19 era to inter-
national communities, while Respondent H also aspires to implement virtual tourism with
more collaboration and better coordination.
. . . certain things that we gained from the virtual performance to name some are
such as new collaborations with new individuals, financial benefits, new concept
of package offered by [the name of the establishment] and innovating the concept
of tourism in Brunei. Yes. Yes, we would implement it again with better and im-
proved settings considering how the responses were remarkable (Respondent H).
The pandemic is seen as an opportunity for small countries to reset their tourism
activity and perspective by utilising local biodiversity and natural resources to secure
sustainability and boost diversification and resilience in post-COVID-19 tourism [4,13,71].
In the current study, the pandemic has indeed given more opportunities for the CBT owners
to re-evaluate potential alternative attractions for domestic tourism through alternative
promotion of products by offering more local-oriented products/services.
To date, the sense of resilience in these CBT operations are owed to their adapt-
ability in understanding the ‘new’ market and the unprecedented situation forced by
COVID-19. It was also accomplished through self-observation and further promoting
self-independence to their businesses. Sharma et al. [7] detailed the process of resilience in
tourism predominantly relied on implementing strategic actions amid COVID-19 while
adapting to the new environment. This study found that the resilient efforts of CBT op-
erators in Brunei also engaged in incorporating creative initiatives to boost their tourism
products and services to locals and Brunei residents during the pandemic, but they are also
expected to be available for the international communities in the post-COVID-19 era when
the borders open.
5.3. Transformation Sustaining CBT Amid COVID-19

Transformations in tourism usually refer to the efforts of restarting, recalibrating,
and readapting to the latest standards and new environment in the ever-changing tourism
industry [2,7,12]. COVID-19 impacted the tourism industry in various ways, and this
has forced the hospitality sector to rethink and readapt in order to remain sustainable,
which is expected to be prolonged even after the post-COVID-19 era when the revival of
global tourism takes place. Sustainability in tourism is achieved from a continuous process
involving changes in beliefs, skills, and public knowledge to gain positive results [60].
Sharma et al. [7] outline four major transformational factors in reviving tourism post-
COVID-19: (a) sustainable tourism, (b) well-being of the society, (c) climate change, and
(d) local communities as the centre of transformation. As the results from coping with the
challenges and maintaining resiliency during the pandemic, our data show three major
transformational factors, which are: (1) innovation of roles and practices, (2) appreciation
towards local culture and products, and (3) creation of job opportunities. Whilst our
findings showcase that Factor (3) has overlapping sentiments with Sharma et al.’s [7] factors
(a), (b), and (d), as this factor focuses on sustaining tourism and creating a positive impact
towards the community, we believe Factor (1) and (2) play a pivotal role in sustaining
tourism in our study, and they should be added as additional mechanisms due to the less
emphasis on them in Sharma et al.’s [7] framework.
In the current study, COVID-19 has been observed to change the beliefs and practices
of some of these CBT operations. In order to stay resilient in the CBT market within domes-
tic tourism, the owners have quickly adapted their roles and practices initiating creativities
that are expected to sustain even in the post-COVID-19 era. Some establishments that run
homestays are now functioning as service provider and mediator in collaboration with
travel agencies, while others are intending to expand their operation to other ventures
considering the flourishing of domestic tourism that will guarantee their business sustain-
ability. For example, Respondent I who used to operate their CBT business for free has
started making profits out of the business.
Now I provide a day-trip package. I haven’t opened my door for homestay. So,
[the name of the establishment] was used to be a homestay. After COVID-19, it’s
more like a cultural village. I provide and promote more cultural services. It de-
pends on the requests of the domestic tourists. If they request paddy harvesting
activities, then I’ll focus on those activities (Respondent C).
Since now we’re only offering a gallery, in the future we can add on more facilities
such as homestay. Rather than just half a day or a day at [the name of the
establishment], they get to experience of overnight stay here (Respondent H).
When COVID-19 struck, representatives from the MPRT came and asked how
much I charge for entrance. I said it was free. They advised me to make profit
out of my CBT operations. Used to be free, now I started charging my customers,
like business activity, either for a visit or just to dine in. So COVID-19 does help
our local businesses too (Respondent I).
It is also observed that the transformation of roles and practices does not only affect
their own business operations, but also the community. Three out of 16 interviewed CBT
owners ran their operations while also being engaged in charitable activities to empower
the community. Whilst a few CBT owners stated that community intervention is needed
to help locals in need during the pandemic, others have also started offering spaces for
charity and become business service providers to the locals.
Our inspiration of continuing the business was due to my late father’s last wish.
So it’s for his charity too. We don’t think much about budget, as long as we can
maintain the homestay, that’s fine. Thus, we recently made a collaboration with
the Charity Department at the Baitulmal [government sector]. We charge less for
the people in need of place to stay, especially the elderly during these difficult
times (Respondent J).
So, basically [the name of the establishment] is a family-run lodge. It’s charity-
based actually. We started off as a family foundation and our goal and vision is to
help the needy families in Brunei. Our most recent charity program was I think
it was last week. Around last week and we would handout basic necessities to
around 100 needy families to prepare them for Ramadan . . . We would want
them to understand that we are actually doing this to help the community, we’re
not all profit-based business (Respondent N).
My biggest attraction [at my homestay] now is the business space which is
operating under my homestay. It used to be parking lots. The big space is for
those [food vendors] who wish to run business but have trouble finding a place
to do so, especially younger people who wish to kick start business. It will help
them as much as it will help my business. More people will come and stay at my
homestay, and it will help these aspiring small businesses too (Respondent J).
Growing literature has suggested that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
are prone to collapse during economic crises [110,111], which have negative implications to
the quality of life [112,113], but constant innovation of roles and practices in entrepreneurial
endeavours may be able to sustain MSMEs in dire situations [114,115]. Freeman [116]
claims that effective implementation of creativity and innovation can contribute to positive
outcomes in businesses, while Adam and Alarifi [9] found that the innovation of roles and
practices and external support from the government is crucial to secure the sustainability
of MSMEs during COVID-19. As claimed by our respondents, strategic innovation of roles
and practices raised from their creativity has helped supported not only their own CBT
operations but also the surrounding community, even though they only received minimal
external support from the government and other agencies. Other studies have seen a
change in mindful attitudes of cooperation in the tourism industry, taking into account of
relevant hospitality stakeholders and the community in the diversification of their roles
and practices in the industry [22,28,29,57]. Similar to these international case studies,
these initiatives implemented by our respondents are expected to potentially promote
their CBT operations, simultaneously fostering a greater relationship with the surrounding
community and relevant stakeholders.
We assume the ‘creative initiatives’ implemented by CBT owners (which have been
proven successful in sustaining their operations during the challenging times and today)
emerged due to less bureaucratic involvement from the government sector. Aside from
receiving the relief fund package for MSMEs granted by the government during the height
of the pandemic, the respondents recall managing their CBT operations independently.
Most CBT owners acknowledged that their operations had yet to be officially registered
with the local Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), albeit some are operat-
ing under the Business License 16–17 and are supported by their respective district offices.
Although our previous study [26] has exhibited findings that unregistered CBT estab-
lishments in Brunei are subject to restrictions in terms of financial accessibility and market
promotions—which have been reiterated by CBT owners in the current study—the situation
seems to be beneficial for the sustainability of CBT operations during the pandemic. This is
due to the power of ownership and quick decision making of the CBT owners. As CBT
mainly engages with MSMEs, the CBT operations in this study have been able to innovate
their practices conveniently and sustain in the crisis [9,116]. For example, Respondent N
claims that ‘the reason why we could sustain in the business because it’s a family-run,
just imagine it’s around four months after we launched. If you heard about the [another
big and popular resort], they cease operation’ (Respondent N). This response is reiterated
by other CBT owners.
A number of reports have supported that the success and sustainability of CBT are
due to the community empowerment through independent control and decision mak-
ing [20,74,117,118]. This has been proven in the case of CBT operations during the height
of the pandemic in Brunei. The considerable amount of government interventions in
CBT operations during the pandemic—that focused on alleviating charges and providing
funding—have allowed these business owners to manoeuvre control, become creative,
and make decisions benefitting their businesses. This can be observed by the inconsis-
tency of actions/initiatives raised among these CBT owners, while making use of local
products/resources in the process. Whilst it is crucial to standardise CBT operations to
avoid negative impacts to the environment and the society [19,74,117], this does not mean
that these CBT owners have implemented ‘random actions’, considering many have also
claimed to have constantly consulted responsible stakeholders including their Head Vil-
lagers/Penghulus, respective Majlis Perundingan Kampung (Village Consultative Council
is a local community association that manage the well-being and the development of a
village, under supervision of the government), the Tourism Development Department and
MPRT, while running operations based on community ethics and adherence to the local
principal of Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Islamic monarchy is the national philosophy that
has become the national ethics to the people).
Furthermore, in our forthcoming study [101], we have found that CBT practices are
not static and standardised but are still developing in Brunei. This is due to the constant
‘improvisation’ of business practices and ideas implemented by CBT owners and operators.
In this study, we found that the situation is further reinforced by the need of being resilient
and to transform in coping with COVID-19. Sustaining competitiveness is essential in
any case to stay afloat in such a situation [119]. Nevertheless, we must also acknowledge
the necessity of further examination on the ‘over-domestic tourism’ mentioned by the
CBT owners.
Whilst Sharma et al.’s [7] framework does not explicitly discuss the bearing of empow-
ering local resources and services in part of the transformational mechanisms of reviving
post-COVID-19 tourism, we find that the resilience efforts of CBT owners diversifying
their products/services utilising local resources (discussed in the previous section) have
contributed to a greater appreciation to local culture, artefacts, and places among the locals,
prompting a need for further discussion. This is amid the importance of boosting the
cultural sector as part of the tourism industry, which was negatively impacted by the
pandemic [120].
In the current study, the CBT owners acknowledge that COVID-19 has changed the
local people’s belief and perceptions and has been focusing more on domestic tourism,
while showing interest to local products and services. This also means that consumer
consumption and expenditure have been redirected to empowering local culture and
services and in return boosting CBT opportunities. The CBT owners also recalled the
situation as reviving the national motto of ‘Kenali Negara Kita’ (knowing your own country)
that has been imposed by domestic tourism in the country.
Benefit from COVID-19 is probably the rise in domestic tourism. Before COVID-
19, most local people would go travelling abroad, especially to our neighbour-
ing countries. But now, because of COVID-19, they are here visiting their own
country—KNK—Kenali Negara Kitani (knowing your own country) (Respondent C).
International schools can’t get any of international trips. So then, we’ve done
activities with younger students at ISB [International School of Brunei]. We did a
very successful trip with JIS [Jerudong International School] for two days. We did
everything. Even for the 180 kids go all the way just to hold the metal and
get the hammer right? [referring to sword-making course]. They tried Gasing
[local traditional game]. They had Kelupis [local traditional food] challenge.
They made their own Candas [traditional utensil]. They got to go on the nature
trail (Respondent D).
Since COVID-19, our society has opened its eyes, their perceptions changed
too. They prefer to visit interesting places in our country, including mine.
I don’t receive any foreign visits these days, but I have many local customers
(Respondent I).
We’ve got a lot of different packages that we offer to the guests. So they can sort of
get to know Kenali Negara Kitani—KNK. So, it’s a much more holistic experience.
Not just you staying in a homestay, we try to get them involved. We’ve got
bicycles for them [customers] to Serasa Beach. They go to Jong Batu, and then
we also offer like Kayaks for free . . . we wanted to make more of local culture
like making sambal or Ketupat-making [local delicacy] or something. So that kind
of community activity would probably promote the community-based tourism
further (Respondent F).
Mulder [49], Hussain and Fuste-Forne [67], and Woyo [42] reported on the upsurge in
interests towards domestic tourism amid COVID-19, whereas other studies including Ab-
bas et al. [2] and Polukhina et al. [66] have showcased the gaining proclivity and demands
towards local services and products. We believe that the transformational mechanism of
greater appreciation towards local products and services and their impact on tourism in the
new environment are crucial to be scrutinised as ‘many intangible cultural practices have
been disrupted, which not only has an impact on the culture life of communities but also
has consequences for those working in performing arts and traditional crafts who operate
largely in informal sector’ [120], simultaneously exhibiting the bearing of this factor to a
larger context that is post-COVID-19 tourism.
Whilst growing literature on recent tourism studies has suggested major concerns
on the loss of jobs and increase in mental health issues in the hospitality industry due to
the risk of closure of small-scale establishments [2,33,34], the current study has shown an
unfamiliar narrative. The transformation in CBT amid COVID-19 has boosted the local
economy, provided job opportunities for the locals while securing the well-being of the
society [83,91].
Similar to other studies in the international contexts [34,36,37], employment precarity
was also a main concern during the early detection of COVID-19 cases in Brunei [25,121].
The situation had exacerbated the already alarming rise in employment among locals in
the country [122]. In the past, Yap and Kamaludin [123] and Teo [124] have reported on
the attitudes and preferences of many local employers in hiring foreign workers for their
reliability and commitment to work. However, COVID-19 has changed the job scene in
Brunei. A recent report released by the Annual Census of Enterprises and the Brunei’s
Ministry of Finance and Economy showed that Bruneians have outnumbered foreign
workers with 50.2% in the private sector, where there is also a sudden upsurge in MSMEs
by 97.3% [125]. In the international context, Mulder [49] found an increase in the MSMEs
industry in domestic tourism, and this has prompted the significance of reviewing the
aspects of job opportunities during COVID-19; moreover, domestic tourism is expected to
flourish even after the pandemic phase is over [4,9,67].
Whilst further studies should be undertaken to find the correlation between the
impact of COVID-19 to the current stimulating job environment involving the locals in
Brunei, this study has exhibited that the sudden surge in local employments was due to
the demands of local market and establishments. Our findings also show that the CBT
owners have taken the opportunity of the ‘national lockdown’ as a way to divert their
beliefs and attention to hiring more locals as part of their operations. Some CBT owners
claimed to have hired locals to assist their operations, while others stated that it was to
optimise economic opportunities between parties during the challenging times. These are
achieved through collaboration between the CBT owners and the local community.
The boat operators are the most grateful [considering the CBT operations is
located in the water village]. They can transport hundreds of customers in a
day. They earn a lot. Also, the new food vendors around here. Our guides too.
Ever since the opening of the new hill for hiking, we have hired about 10 guides
among the locals living around here. They earn a lot as many people come by to
do hiking there (Respondent G).
Job opportunities yes, because there are four permanent employees with two are
actually local people from Temburong. The others are from Bandar. Yes, it would
be best to offer job opportunities to the people in Temburong, because we want
to help the community here in some ways (Respondent N).
It has slowly become the livelihood for the community now. We help single
mothers who are not employed by promoting and selling their traditional crafts
or food on their behalf. Also, for those who help in running activities. They can
get commission from just assisting these CBT activities (Respondent C).
. . . we know the connections and the people, there’s a lot of small entrepreneurs
around here. They sell doughnuts, Nasi Katok [local delicacy] and stuff, and there’s
quite a few small restaurants as well. If there were guests coming in and they
would want to eat, we would offer them to all these places, and we would give
them all their numbers and locations (Respondent N).
Overall, COVID-19 has not only given the opportunities for the locals to re-evaluate
confidence towards the ability of local people and community in commercial industry,
but also elevate the sense of belongingness in the process. Through CBT operations,
the owners have fully utilised the local communities as a conduit of transformation, se-
cured sustainability in terms of hospitality industry and well-being of the society, and con-
tributed to community empowerment. As an expansion to Sharma et al.’s [7] frame-
work, which predominantly reviews the mitigating responses from more bureaucratic
and structured stakeholders in mass tourism, the current study has provided theoretical
and practical implications on the significance of evaluating a smaller-scale industry and
the ever-changing community involvement that may have generated unique, impactful
perspectives of the mass tourism industry. Although there are reports on job instability and
loss, which have been the main concern in the global economy in various sectors [35,37],
this current study has exhibited the potential of reviewing the creation of job opportunities
in the small-scale industry as an effort to revise and prepare the tourism industry for a
post-pandemic situation.
Based on the main strategies and major transformational mechanisms in preparing
for sustainable tourism in the post-COVID-19 era, summarised in Table 2, the current in-
vestigation involving CBT operations showcased a more comprehensive understanding of
hospitality management at the community level amid the pandemic. As Sharma et al.’s [7]
framework calls upon the development of the ‘community-centered tourism framework’
(p. 7), this study, which engaged responses from CBT owners, has exhibited strategic
actions, management, and transformational results that are not emphasized in larger and
more bureaucratic organisations. The flexibility and creativities that emerged from these
community approaches—in an aspiration to stay resilient as they are also expected to
transform their businesses and the industry as a whole—are beneficial to business owners
and the surrounding community as they are contributing to the national economy during
these challenging times.
Table 2. Summary of resilience and transformation of CBT in Brunei.
(1) Quick recovery response and understanding new market:

• CBTs resume operation as soon as the government eases movement restrictions;
• CBTs understand ‘new market’ situation and revives businesses to domestic interests;
• CBTs explore and shift to potential domestic tourism;
• CBTs revise competitive financial charges of tourism products/services;
• Small-scale industry of CBT (vis à vis bigger hospitality industry) assists the resilience of
business practices.
(2) Diversify products/services in domestic market:
• CBTs rebrand current tourism products/services for domestic tourists;
• CBTs introduce new tourism packages for domestic tourists;
• CBTs expand businesses by fully utilising local resources (e.g., launches new sites for
recreational activities, promotes more local and niche cultural products/services, expands
business offerings such as staycation).
(3) Government intervention supports confidence and accessibility:
Resilience • The government provided aid including fees waiver for trade and payment and 50% tax
strategies discount on corporate income tax in tourism and hospitality industry during the height of
pandemic;
• The government provided financial support of BND250 million for all business sectors and
individuals under the Economic Relief Package;
• The launch of connecting bridge between mainland and enclave district increases accessibility
for domestic movement;
• The nation-wide promotion of domestic tourism boosts CBT businesses;
• The announcement of development and planning of tourism infrastructures and establishments
support CBT businesses.
(4) Incorporate technological advancement in operations:
COVID-19 and • CBTs bolster online promotions through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram,
CBT operations and YouTube;
• CBTs engage online virtual performance to enhance experience amid restrictions of movement
and capacity;
• CBTs introduce their business through online tourism convention.
(1) Innovation of roles and practices:
• CBTs operate as a service provider and mediator in collaboration with local travel agencies (e.g.,
homestay establishment turns to becoming cultural service provider/mediator);
• CBTs expand operation to other ventures (e.g., cultural village establishment turns to boosting
traditional food-making and offering homestay)
• Previously non-profit CBTs change practices for economic gain;
• CBTs offer charitable activities such as accommodation and business space for community.
(2) Appreciation towards local culture and products:
• The use of local resources (products and services) increases the sense of belongingness for CBT
owners and community;
Transformation
• The local people’s belief and perceptions and has changes and has been focusing more on
domestic tourism;
• The boosting of domestic tourism assists in realising the country’s aspiration in tourism of
Kenali Negara Kitani (knowing your own country);
• Tourism interests shift to local cultures and niche products and are expected to remain relevant
post-COVID-19.
(3) Creation of job opportunities:
• The increase in MSMEs and domestic tourism provides job creations for the locals;
• The custom attitudes and preferences of local employers in employing foreign workers have
transformed to hiring the locals;
• Creation of jobs for the locals (through direct and indirect approaches) empowers the locals and
surrounding communities.
6. Conclusions and Recommendation

Using the case of CBT operations in Brunei, this study has detailed experiences of
community-based commercial operations from the perspectives of the owners during the
height of the pandemic and today, while in preparation for post-COVID-19.
Being in the small-scale industry, CBT operations in Brunei have been able to remain
profitable due to their quick response in understanding new markets and diversifying local
products and demands with considerable intervention by the local government. The re-
sistance and resilience of these operations are also owed to their continued innovations
in managing various roles and practices benefitting their businesses, which cannot be
easily manoeuvred by larger scale or mass industry in the hospitality or tourism sectors.
Their strategic management also empowers CBT operations as well as the local community
and resources. Thus, this situation should be explored further by various stakeholders in
tourism as well as researchers as a way forward for the tourism industry in Brunei and
other Southeast Asian contexts and internationally. This is amid continuous claims that
small-scale industry such as CBT can become an alternative tourism that positively impacts
the national economy even during the pandemic [4,19,53,55,65–67,73–75].
From our findings, we added two major transformational factors: (1) innovation
of roles and practices and (2) appreciation of local culture and products related to Shar-
ma et al.’s [7] resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-
19. We believe these factors are significant as they impacted the domestic tourism in our
case study and, thus, should be explored further in other Southeast Asian and European
contexts. This is expected to offer new perspectives in efforts for securing sustainable
tourism in the global context.
Whilst there is limited resources on CBT operations during COVID-19, the current
case study has offered new perspectives in reviewing community-based industry in a more
holistic approach, including highlighting on the community-based management as well
as the utilisation of local culture and resources that are expected to remain relevant in
the post-COVID-19 era. Our report also discussed the issues of ‘over-domestic tourism’
and ineffective communication between relevant tourism stakeholders where we assume
the latter must have also contributed to the fall of MSMEs in tourism industry in broader
contexts. Thus, we recommend further research to find solutions on these aspects.
This study has also provided some evidence on the importance of roles, practices,
and contribution of small-scaled CBT operations to domestic tourism during the height of
the pandemic and its potential in securing the sustainability of mass tourism in post-COVID-
19, and simultaneously contribute to the growing literature of COVID-19 and tourism.
We acknowledge some limitations in this study. For instance, the small number
of participants selected through purposive sampling may not represent the whole CBT
situation and management affected during the pandemic. Nevertheless, this study has
raised the potential for further study by incorporating larger sampling of CBT owners
where quantitative approaches may be applicable to show some trends on the ongoing
issues faced by CBT operations. A larger sample would also allow a future study to review
and evaluate the successful characteristics of CBT owners in managing CBT operations
during these challenging times that can be a useful guidance for business owners.
Besides, as our explorative study has generated some unexpected issues such as charity
that intertwined with the aspect of religion that may have contributed to the resilience
of CBT operation through community empowerment in Brunei, this study can become
guidance for future research in exploring similar issues while juxtaposing the discussion
with other Southeast Asian or Western contexts. Further study also should include the
possibility of incorporating responses from other CBT key players, such as the government
and private companies, which might have played significant role in the success of CBT
management amid the pandemic. These recommendations for future research are expected
to generate a more comprehensive discussion about the resilience and transformation of
CBT industry during the challenging times that are expected to further contribute to the
growing literature on tourism amid COVID-19.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, W.L.C.; Data curation, N.N. & W.L.C.; Funding acqui-
sition, W.L.C.; Methodology, N.N.; Project administration, W.L.C.; Resources, N.N.; Visualization,
W.L.C.; Writing—original draft, N.N.; Writing—review & editing, W.L.C. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported by the Universiti Brunei Darussalam [Grant number UBD/RSCH/
URC/NIG/4.0/2020/003].
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
university, and approved by University Research Ethics Committee of Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Acknowledgments: Wei Lee Chin would like to express her sincere gratitude for the funding
awarded by Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Appendix A
List of interview questions:
(1) Are you aware of the impacts of COVID-19 in the global scale and to our tourism
industry in Brunei?
(2) As COVID-19 has impacted tourism flows worldwide, how does this situation affect
your CBT operation?
(3) Have you encountered any challenges in practising CBT during the height of COVID-
19? If you do, could you describe some of these main challenges/barriers?
(4) In what ways do you think that your business has overcome these challenges/barriers?
(5) How do the Brunei government and the community assist in maintaining your
business resilience during the pandemic?
(6) Do you think the local cultures/services have been affected by COVID-19? Are these
positive or negative impacts?
(7) In your opinion, to what extent/in what way has your business contributed to the sus-
tainable development of tourism during the pandemic and perhaps post-COVID-19?
(8) How did your CBT operation stay resilient during the height of the pandemic
and today?
(9) Other than economic benefits, what and how does your CBT operation provide
advantages or create opportunities for your business and community?
(10) Additionally, due to the pandemic, what other opportunities can be accessed through CBT?
(11) What were the new changes and developments in your CBT operations after COVID-
19 struck? How did these changes help your business?
(12) How do you think your CBT operation has transformed contributing to the sustain-
ability of tourism in Brunei and perhaps beyond?
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Coping With COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam

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sustainability

Received: 29 June 2021

Sustainability 2021, 13, 8618. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158618 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

2.2. Community-Based Tourism Amid COVID-19

Table 1. Respondents’ demographic background and CBT line of work.

Figure 3. Map of Brunei Darussalam (source: authors’ copyright).

5. Findings and Discussion

5.2. The Resistance and Resilience of CBT Amid COVID-19

I wouldn’t say we were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 throughout.

5.3. Transformation Sustaining CBT Amid COVID-19

Table 2. Summary of resilience and transformation of CBT in Brunei.

(1) Quick recovery response and understanding new market:

6. Conclusions and Recommendation

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