Establishing Experience-Based Tourism for Inclusive Lombok

Abstraksi

Tourism is a growing sector that is favored by countries including Indonesia that was ranked 22nd for direct tourism contribution to GDP and ranked 4th for direct tourism contribution to employment by the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) 2018. However, only 1.9% of Indonesia's total GDP and 3.7% of Indonesia's total employment came directly from tourism in 2017. The numbers are still lower than in neighboring countries in the same year where Malaysia reached 4.8 % of total GDP and 4.6% of total employment and Thailand accounted for 9.4% of total GDP and 6.2% of total employment from direct tourism contributions. The data shows us that the tourism sector in Indonesia has not yet contributed satisfactorily to the economy and employment. This can be further optimized, especially in proportion to the national economy and employment, by giving more focus on tourism as a source of economic growth that is not only focused on quantity but more importantly on quality. This should be aimed at inclusive growth that benefits the local community in tourism areas. Creating strategies to achieve tourism growth in Indonesia requires a holistic approach. A package of policies and institutions has already been enacted. The pillars of sustainable development in social, environmental and economic development have also become a shared awareness. Yet the ever-growing global tourism needs innovation and authenticity. Is there any approach that can be utilized to combine innovation and inclusiveness of tourism yet still maintaining local authenticity? How can we actually imagine it happening in one tourism region in Indonesia? By examining related theories and policies, also focusing on relevant experience in Indonesia and in other countries, this paper will try to elaborate the questions and imagine approaches that focus on local knowledge from local people for the development of inclusive tourism in Indonesia. As the improvement of technology and transportation creates opportunities and challenges in tourism, Indonesia can gain its competitive and comparative advantage by optimizing its resources. What makes Indonesian tourism different from other countries is not primarily on the natural asset, but the authenticity of the complete package of the richness of vista-place-custom-people of the country. Relying on the conservation of natural assets is important, yet improving experience-based tourism will make it impeccable for today’s generation of travelers. Experience-based tourism will benefit local communities as the center of the approach. The communities have tremendous knowledge and custom about the tourism area, as their place of living for generations. The knowledge and custom should be seen as market capital for knowledge assets in tourism development. These assets which belong to communities are the main focus to be developed comprehensively, both through inputs to formal Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) policy and improvement on informal facilitated local training. This paper will focus on the application in the tourism areas of Lombok Island as a naturally and culturally rich region in Indonesia. Imagine the natural scenery of Indonesia and the inclusiveness of work, imagine both of them go together with the realization of the development of local communities through experience-based tourism.