Content area
Full Text
Abstract. The primary objectives of this study are evaluating the internal and external factors and determining the required sustainable ecotourism management strategies in Bontang marine waters (BMW), Indonesia. Comprehensive data for asnalysis, including secondary data and primary data, provided through focus group discussion and questionnaires for local people and visitors, were employed to identify the alternative strategies by using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and the quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) analysis. Results showed that the current management of ecotourism activities in the study area is not following sustainability requirements. BMW still has the opportunity to be part of a sustainable ecotourism management, if management maximizes its strengths and its opportunities by implementing diverse and aggressive strategies.
Key Words: ecotourism, small islands, SWOT, QSPM.
Introduction. Tourism grew into one of the primary sectors for many national economies at the end of the last century (Lopez Espinosa de los Monteros 2002). However, the growth of the economy because of the development of tourism is followed by the inevitable damage to the environment, wildlife and aesthetics in the areas where massive activities of tourism occur (Goodwin 1996; Weaver 2002). The environmental problems produced by tourism activities, like damage to the biodiversity, water pollution, coral reef destruction and wetland degradation resulted in the global government and NGOs considering ecotourism as one of the most significant threats to natural landscapes. Thus, tourism management should consider the principles of sustainable ecotourism that accommodates the socio-economic and ecological impacts of tourism (Das & Chatterjee 2015; Ghorbani et al 2015). The new approach to sustainable tourism, which supports the environmental protection and economic development, was broadly introduced in the early 1990s. Some terms such as 'sustainable tourism' and 'environmentally-sensitive tourism', including 'ecotourism', are used as concepts for preserving the values of natural resources and the benefits of the local economy in the tourism areas (Diamantis & Ladkin 1999; Honey 2008; Hill & Gale 2009).
Ecotourism is designated as environmentally responsible travel and visitation to natural areas supporting the protection of environmental and natural resources, as well as enhancing the welfare of local people (Jalani 2012). The implementation of ecotourism should deal with the ecotourism principles: reducing adverse environmental impacts; contributing to economic profits for conservation and for the...