Conserving the Paradise: Toward Sustainable Touristic Development in the Westmanggarai, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia has a large variety of socio-spatial patterns that have developed over centuries. These settlement patterns correspond to the social, economic and landscape conditions and are part of the deeply rooted cultural heritage of Indonesia. The cultural heritage but also outstanding natural sites are base for an increasing popularity in tourism all over the Indonesian Archipelago. One of it is the island of Flores including the Komodo National Park that has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The town Labuan Bajo as the entry point to the national park is facing a rapid growth number of visitors after being declared as one of the focal points in of tourist development by the Indonesian government in 2016. With the Sepuluh Bali Baru (10 New Bali) concept the ministry of tourism launched a plan that aims to replicate the economic effects of tourism in Bali nationally. This development brought a number of challenges to the region especially concerning planning matters. One of the plans to deal with the different issues is to create an independent, international and interdisciplinary research center to support the local government, stakeholders and the population of Flores. This paper will describe first studies for a project launched in cooperation of the TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), Universitas Gadjah Mada, National University of Singapore and the University of Sydney to develop a label for a sustainable tourism for the island if Flores starting with investigations in Labuan Bajo.