Disaster Management for Geopark-Based Tourism in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Yogyakarta in Indonesia is on the south flank of the Merapi Volcano and is bordered by the Southern Mountain, West Progo Mountain, and the Indian Ocean. Many geological and archaeological phenomena are found here, making geological and cultural diversity part of the wealth of Yogyakarta. One of these was Hindu-Buddhis temples developed during the 8th-10th century that were buried by volcanic materials dated between 1910 y BP and 2010 AD and resulted in cracks, wavy paleosols, liquefactions, and bumpy buildings. The catastrophe eruption of 4 VEI in October 2010 and the earthquake with 6,2R on May 27th, 2006, took thousands of lives. Apart from the disastrous effects, the natural disasters built unique geodiversity with education and utilization potentials. Using the values of education, conservation, early warning, utilization, uniqueness, and the improvements of the economic community developments, 15 geoheritages have been appointed, to be an Aspiring Jogja Geopark. This paper aimed to assess qualitatively and quantitatively whether the geological, biological, and cultural diversities can be prepared. The method used was questionnaires filled by visitors, local people, academicians, local tourist managers, small and medium enterprises (UMK), and micro small and medium enterprises (UMKM). The data was processed using RapidMiner software for clustering. The results discovered that people around the 15 destinations did not know about the Aspiring Jogja Geopark, but the academicians, local governments, POKDARWIS (local tourist managers), and the UMK and UMKM knew. Because of their limited knowledge, the local people were unaware of the park. However, they were surprised and enthusiastic about the geopark. Visitors very happy and proud of it. The community had been waiting for a geopark. It is a symbol of the unity of Yogyakarta’s people and the ruler, an embodiment of the slogan of “life in harmony with disasters”, and the optimisation of the geoheritage’s utilization to improve the local economy.
 Keywords: disaster management, geopark tourism, Yogyakarta