**5. Conclusion**

In the case of Langkawi Island, there is an increased movement towards community devel‐ opment by local government, entrepreneurs, and practitioners as the various parties begin to understand the importance of community capacity building in tourism planning and devel‐ opment. Local government agencies such as LADA have been working with related stake‐ holders encompassing community leaders, NGOs and private companies to implement community development strategies such as partnerships, education, and training programmes as capacity building tools, to implement the Langkawi Tourism Blueprint 2011–2015, to promote SMEs projects to spur entrepreneurism and also to introduce environmental conser‐ vation activities towards sustainable tourism. Based on the findings as provided by respond‐ ents, the strategies constitute the facilitating mechanisms to improve the living standards of the local communities. However, the findings also revealed that although the tools and strategies were implemented, not all were effective as both public and private institutions relied on the traditional 'top-down' approach. The findings further indicate that community development projects need continuous dialogue between government officials and local residents as a strategy to strengthen capacity building among local residents, and that all levels of stakeholders' involvement would invariably increase the effectiveness of community capacity building approaches. Undoubtedly, the Langkawi tourism environment requires more professionals and skilful workers who are equipped with managerial and entrepreneu‐ rial skills to reduce the over-reliance on foreign workers as well as to increase productivity in tourism product development. Local communities that are equipped with sufficient knowl‐ edge will tend to be more supportive and cooperative of capacity building strategies imple‐ mented by public and private institutions and all levels of organisations. Collaborative endeavours between all stakeholders in tourism planning process will be instrumental in producing a comprehensive development plan as the foundation of sustainable tourism.
