APPLICATION OF GIS IN IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL SITE FOR RIVER TOURISM ACTIVITIES ALONG THE PETAGAS RIVER

Abstract

The usage of river for tourism purpose becomes increasingly demanding. River has the potential for tourist attraction as it can showcase the scenery of the places and promote local culture. Petagas river which located in the Putatan district of Sabah, has the potential to become a tourist attraction because of its long river and situated near to some villages. With natural scenery, cultural activities and some fishing site, this place is suitable to operate river cruise tour to bring the tourists view the attraction along the river. However, the uneven surface of the river side makes it hard to build the jetty and place for the local to promote their culture and products. This problem however can be rectify using geographic information system (GIS). GIS has the capability to do slope analysis which can calculate the slope percentage of the area. Based on a digital elevation map (DEM), a slope map can be produced for
the whole area of Putatan snd specifically near the Petagas river. The color-coded slope map makes it easier for the user to identify the location for tourist site. Therefore, this will help the people to find places to build jetty, kiosk for the locals to sell local delicacies and traditional products. This study shows that the GIS capable to assist the local tourism by producing the slope index map which can be conducted easily with less cost, time saving and with few manpower.