Instagrammable tourism: local government policies in sustainable environmental management

Abstract

Tourism development using social media or policy-makers favor Instagrammable Tourism due to its assumed effects on destination image, social and infrastructure developments, and economic benefits. However, the dynamics of making a tourism destination instagrammable sometimes bring up conditions that ignore the aspects of sustainable environmental management. Tourism business actors who process natural lands into artificial instagrammable tourist attractions and consumer behavior that damages the aesthetic value of tourist destinations are few operational examples of outcomes caused by local policies related to instagrammable tourism. This paper aims to present the description and implementation of local government policies in instagrammable tourism management from two different areas of Kaliurang in Sleman regency and Tawangmangu in Karanganyar Regency. Data in local tourism development policy, spatial plans, and land use in tourist destinations were analyzed using descriptive qualitative, descriptive statistics, and policy analysis methods. The analysis results show that the two tourist areas have been regulated and managed based on local regulations. The local regulation interpretations can be seen in the different directions of the two tourism area developments. The different emphasis on the orientations of tourism area managements bear implications on implementing a sustainable environmental management concept.