Tourism and community empowerment at Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia

Abstract

In a tourism context, scholars have noted that sustainable tourism can be achieved if local communities are empowered, thus having some level of control over the development process and if they share equitably in the tourism benefits. However, research about community empowerment in the tourism context, particularly in developing countries, indicates that, in general, the benefits are not shared equally within communities for many reasons. This study aims to explore to what degree tourism is empowering two rural communities in Indonesia. The method used in answering the question is a case study and a mix-methods approach. The case studies chosen were two villages that have different approaches in the planning process (top-down and bottom-up). The qualitative approach used is a participatory observation to explore the community’s context. The quantitative approach (a household survey) assessed the extent to which residents of these rural villages experience empowerment at an individual and community level, and the factors influencing empowerment outcomes. The survey results show that the different planning processes in these villages have not resulted in significant differences in empowerment on most measures. At Namo Sialang village, with a bottom-up approach to tourism planning, where the community has significant control over tourism development in their village, the surveys showed some evidence of greater empowerment across all dimensions (economic, psychological, social, and political). However, these differences were not as substantial as might be expected. In essence, this study suggests that expecting community empowerment in and through tourism development may not be entirely appropriate in this context. This may be because the concept does not take enough account of cultural factors and issues arising from political and geographical peripherality in the delivery of empowerment outcomes through tourism.