Potential of Avitourism in Tanjung Laboh, Johor

Avitourism or birdwatching tourism is currently an emerging sub-sector in nature-based tourism industry. Although birdwatching is well established in Johor, however, the focus only concentrated on the famous birdwatching hotspot areas such as Panti Bird Sanctuary, Endau-Rompin National Park and many more. Other areas in Johor was remained understudied and the potential as Avitourism/birdwatching spot was remained undiscovered. Hence, this study aims to fill in this loophole by providing the checklist of the bird species and investigating the potential of Avitourism in Tanjung Laboh, Johor. The method used was a direct observation by using a binocular (10 x 50 magnifications) and a video recorder. For the evaluation of Avitourism, a set of questionnaire was distributed among Tanjung Laboh villagers consisting of fifteen respondents. Determination of flagship species was done based on the criteria of good nature tourism products modified from WTO/UNDP. A total of 21 bird species were recorded in Tanjung Laboh. From this, 18 bird species are resident, and three bird species are migrant. In terms of conservation status, 18 species are listed as Least Concern (LC) and three species are Vulnerable (VU). Five species were chosen as flagship species due to their high potential to be developed as a product for Avitourism. The species are Red-wattled Lapwing ( Vanellus indicus ), White Breasted Waterhen ( Amaururnis phoenicurus ), Greater Flameback ( Chrysocolaptes lucidus ), White-bellied Sea-eagle ( Haliaeetus leucogaster ) and Lesser Adjutants ( Leptoptilos javanicus ) because of its higher score as a product in Avitourism which includes the criteria such as safety, reliability of a sighting, morphological attractiveness, behavioral enticement, rarity, endemism, and cultural linkages. Therefore, it can be concluded that Tanjung Laboh has a high potential to be develop as one of the birdwatching and Avitourism spot in Johor.