ACCESS JUSTICE AND STRENGTHENING THE INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE OF MARINE ECOTOURISM MANAGEMENT IN RAJA AMPAT, INDONESIA

Abstract

Tourism is one of the main economic drivers in Raja Ampat which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Indonesia. However, Raja Ampat is identified as one of the underdeveloped regions of Indonesia. The research objectives analyze 1) levels of community access within the marine ecotourism management; 2) the strength of the institutional performance of marine ecotourism management; 3) and levels of sustainability in marine ecotourism in Raja Ampat. The method used within this research is a quantitative and qualitative approach which involves ninety respondents and twelve informants. The research outcome indicated that the majority of the community have low levels of access to tourism resources. However, the community’s contribution to the institutional performance of marine ecotourism management is judged to be robust and it has an impact on the sustainability of marine ecotourism in Raja Ampat. The research results show that aside from equal access, other aspects also influence the strength of the management’s institutional performance in achieving sustainability of the marine ecotourism. Based on the level of sustainability analysis, the ecological and social dimensions are stated to be appropriate. However, the economic dimension is declared to be inappropriate