CULTURAL FESTIVALS AND THEIR ROLE IN TOURISM IN SABAH

Cultural festivals have become crucial elements for tourism development because they deliver real cultural experiences which attract tourists and help maintain local cultural heritage. The multicultural identity of Sabah Malaysia together with its indigenous cultural heritage forms the basis of its major cultural festivals which include the Kaamatan Harvest Festival and Regatta Lepa to enhance both tourist attraction and community growth. The research assessed how cultural festivals throughout Sabah developed tourist traffic through their impact on making destinations more appealing and generating economic gains and fostering community involvement and maintaining environmental balance. The researchers used the PRISMA framework to carry out a systematic literature review. The researchers discovered relevant research studies through five major academic databases which included Scopus Web of Science Google Scholar ScienceDirect and Emerald Insight. The researchers analyzed 34 studies from an initial set of 430 records after applying the inclusion criteria. The research results demonstrate that cultural festivals in Sabah increase the region's tourist appeal through their display of indigenous cultural heritage which provides local communities with job opportunities and educational resources. The findings show that businesses face three main challenges which include excessive commercialization problems with their infrastructure and dangers to their cultural identity and these issues need to be handled through environmental preservation methods. The study contributes to academic literature by merging cultural heritage and sustainable tourism research to study festival tourism in Sabah. The study offers practical guidelines for policymakers and tourism planners through its focus on community-based planning and capacity building and sustainable festival management methods which help maintain cultural heritage during tourism expansion.