| dc.description.abstract | Raja Ampat is one of the mainstay tourist destinations in Indonesia which is pinned as the last paradise on earth due to its location in the heart of the coral triangle. The potential of its natural beauty resources and the increasing number of tourists visiting Raja Ampat become opportunities to escalate the economy based on sustainable community development. Accelerated growth of the Raja Ampat tourism sector is certainly well utilized by the indigenous people of Raja Ampat, who initially worked as fishermen to transform into homestay administrators. This potential requires community development efforts through community strengthening to accelerate empowerment in managing the tourism sector in Raja Ampat. The main objective of this study is to formulate a strengthening strategy for homestay business and sustainable tourism based on community development in Raja Ampat.
This study used a qualitative approach with the case study method. The locations of this research were in Kampung Yenbuba and Kampung Arborek, Raja Ampat, West Papua. The locations were chosen intentionally by the researcher due to their accordance with the topic of this study. The study was conducted from July to August 2020. The method of determining the informant was executed in purposive, and the data used in this study were primary and secondary. The primary data were collected through participant observations, interviews with the informants, and focus group discussions (FGD). The secondary data was gathered from documents sources from the relevant agencies.
The result of this study indicates that implementing community-based development in the tourism sector should involve external parties like the government, NGOs, local communities, and private sectors. The stakeholder intervention plays a huge role in homestay development and tourism businesses in Kampung Yenbuba and Kampung Arborek. The role of government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the private sectors, dan the surrounding community affect the social dynamics and impact on the access to finance of the Raja Ampat homestay community. In this study, it was found that stakeholders in community development were more oriented towards ecological goals, but still lack in economic and social aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to have reinforcement business and establishment appropriate economic institutions to strengthen the Raja Ampat homestay community, so it can balance the aspects of social, economics, and ecology.
The results of the strategic analysis represent that the strengths of the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) The capacity of the homestay owners in HR/employee management; 2) The ability in operational management; 3) the competence in marketing and the use of social media; 4) the community’s ability to manage finances. While the drawbacks are: 1) the business management capacity is still limited/simple; 2) limited access to financial institutions; 3) status of jointly owned land (with family); 4) SOP and price-determined rent are not appropriate; 5) financial management is still convenient. From the external aspects, the opportunities for the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) potential for foreign and domestic tourists; 2) synergistic partnership with government, private sector, NGOs, and the surrounding community, and; 3) the development of digital technology. Meanwhile, the threats to the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) entry of foreign investors; 2) the existence of Liveaboard boats; 3) potential conflicts due to the absence of synergy with people around the tourism business.
The result of the SWOT analysis emphasizes the position of the Raja Ampat homestay community is in quadrant IV. This position portrays that the Raja Ampat homestay community is weak but has good opportunities. The recommended strategy is using a corrective strategy, which means that the Raja Ampat homestay community needs to change from the previous strategy. The corrective strategy means that the Raja Ampat homestay community needs to strengthen the role of community development to make an impact on social and economic aspects, so the economy, social, and ecology aspects can be balanced to create homestay business and sustainable tourism.
The business development strategies of Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) capacity reinforcement of human resources in a participatory way; 2) establishment of cooperatives or participating in cooperative memberships for the capital cooperation enhancement; 3) collaborative development between homestay communities, tourism management, and non-tourism management society; 4) enhancement of government advocacy in the regulation of destination routes and provision various tour packages based on local tourists; 5) development of business network based on community and digital technology; 6) development of fintech (financial technology) model based on community. | id |
