A Sustainable Development Approach to Women’s Empowerment for Increased Household Economic Independence: Pro-Poor Tourism Concept in an Archipelago Area

Abstract

Community-Based Tourism (CBT) in East Sumba highlights its unique natural features through its archipelagic potential, which is synergistically integrated with rich traditional cultural experiences. Island-based CBT faces strategic management challenges, especially in empowering human resources—notably women—amid the inherently vulnerable and fragile nature of island tourism assets. Women’s empowerment, a key element of pro-poor tourism, significantly influences poverty reduction and helps address the high rates of stunting in East Sumba. This research aims to examine women’s empowerment within archipelago-based CBT management frameworks that impact household economic independence. The study adopts a sustainable tourism approach that involves two systems—the human system and the ecosystem—broken down into four dimensions and 32 indicators to assess the sustainability potential of each. Data analysis uses scoring methods to produce BTS and ATSI diagrams. Findings indicate that CBT in East Sumba falls within the potentially sustainable quadrant on the BTS diagram, with coordinates (6.88, 6.49). The average scores are 7.0 for the human system and 6.44 for the ecosystem, supported by the AMOEBA diagram, which shows broad tendencies. The most critical and vulnerable sustainability indicators include ecosystem integrity—particularly access to clean water—and effective mitigation strategies. Conversely, the indicators with the highest robustness include active women’s participation in Family Empowerment and Welfare Organizations and tourism diversification, which is enhanced by East Sumba’s strategic location within Indonesia’s eastern tourism corridor. Stakeholders can leverage these findings by promoting women’s empowerment through integrated tourism package innovations, thereby creating more entrepreneurial opportunities and improving household economic conditions. This research contributes to understanding women’s empowerment through sustainable tourism methods, emphasizing its role as a foundation for pro-poor tourism within island-based CBT frameworks.