Ecotourism in Indonesia: Local Community Involvement and The Affecting Factors

Abstract

Travel and tourism have become a fast-growing industry and a major source of income for many developing countries (Wood, 2002), including Indonesia. Approximately 35% of major nature tourism product portfolio is ecotourism (Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif, 2019). Ecotourism development is based on the awareness of understanding in every environment condition which oriented in conservation and concern of the local culture as well as local civilization. Hence, the existence of community interaction is a guarantee to the sustainability of ecotourism development (Damanik, 2013; Wood, 2002). Many benefits offered by the concept of ecotourism, does not keep this concept away from several critics, related to the low of local community involvement in ecotourism management. This study aims to analyze the local community involvement as well as the affecting factors in managing the ecotourism in Indonesia by systematically reviewing 29 articles published in Sinta Ristekdikti’s accredited journals with the qualifications of Sinta 1 and Sinta 2. The discussion about local community involvement will be reviewed from the ecotourism planning level, participation in ecotourism development implementation and participation in its use (Lukman, 2017). Meanwhile, the affecting factors will be analyzed from the operational, structural and cultural perspective. The results show that the involvement of local communities in ecotourism management in Indonesia is still limited to the level of utilization. From the operational perspective, limits to local community involvement are come from limited information availability about ecotourism to local communities, centralized tourism management and the lack of coordination among stakeholders. Limited number of trained human resources, legal system that does not support the participatory practices, the uncooperative attitude of professionals and the dominance of local elite are still become the limitations to local community involvement from a structural perspective. Meanwhile, cultural barriers include apathy and a low level of public awareness of the potential benefit of ecotourism in their area. We can conclude that the empowerment efforts to local community in ecotourism destinations must be further improved. Educating the local community to understand their rights, informing them about the ecotourism management in their area would be the right first step to execute, because due to the lack of knowledge and information they have, frequently triggers disturbances from the local community which actually will thwart the ecotourism purposes.

Policy Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mangrove Ecotourism in Siak Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia

“…This strategy can be applied by 1) First, opening up opportunities for investors to develop ecotourism by investing the necessary funds. This strategy is expected for ecotourism products to be more attractive for visitors [32,33]. Investors come from foreign, domestic, and individual companies [34][35][36].…”

“…The development of mangrove ecotourism can create new jobs to improve the economy, especially for local communities [32,40]. The local people are involved in the mangrove ecotourism business are expected to advance their experience in the innovation of ecotourism services and build community participation.…”

Penilaian Kelayakan Pengembangan Ekowisata Pemandian Alam Gunung Pandan Di Kecamatan Tenggulun Kabupaten Aceh Tamiang

“…Hal ini ini terjadi karena terbatasnya ketersediaan informasi tentang ekowisata kepada masyarakat lokal, pengelolaan pariwisata terpusat dan kurangnya koordinasi antar pemangku kepentingan. Selain itu, minimnya sumberdaya manusia lokal yang terlatih juga dapat menghambat pengembangan ekowisata (Zakia, 2021).…”

Analysis of Growth and Tourism Clusters in Madura

“…Because limited funds still constrain the local government in Madura, increasing the development of tourism facilities and infrastructure availability is still not optimal. On the other hand, there is still a lack of public awareness in supporting its participation in tourism development (Kia, 2021;Chan et al 2021).…”