Culture, Community and Policy as Contextual Enablers of Sustainable Tourism Technology: The Case of a Malaysian Heritage Waterfront

Research on sustainable tourism technology focuses mostly on whether tourists accept it. This study asks a different question: what in the destination's culture, community, and policy settings enables or blocks the spread of such technology? It examines the solar-powered river taxi (ePenambang) on the Kuala Terengganu heritage waterfront in Malaysia. A qualitative single case study combining document analysis of national and state policies, media reports from 2017 to 2026, and published studies of the case. Evidence was coded using Scott's three institutional pillars (regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive) and interpreted through the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions. Culture is the strongest enabler: the bot penambang has run since the 1930s and remains a valued heritage attraction, giving a solar retrofit a legitimacy-ready platform. Community is fragile: the operator base has shrunk to about ten active boats run by an aging workforce on low incomes. Policy is fragmented: national green mobility policies focus on road transport and do not address waterborne tourism transport, while state support has been episodic. Tourists' willingness to use the boat is therefore not the binding constraint. Supply-side capacity is. The study shifts attention from tourist acceptance to the institutional conditions for diffusion and proposes a contextual enablers framework for green retrofits of heritage transport.

heritage tourism; sustainable tourism technology; solar boat; institutional theory; multi-level perspective; community participation; tourism policy; Malaysia

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