Rural Recreation and Tourism Development in Indonesia

This paper discusses rural tourism development in Indonesia and its impact on rural communities. The impact on rural communities is discussed, and the importance of rural tourism in providing new employment opportunities and markets for rural people.

Introduction

Indonesia is a great and beautiful country; it is the largest archipelago in the world, consisting of some 17.508 islands with 210 million of populations and 500 races. The result of mighty volcanic eruptions, Indonesia is blessed with fertile soils, which produce incredibly lush tropical landscapes. The terrain of the land ranges from lush tropical rain forests to snow covered mountain, pristine beaches and shrub land. This country offers such variety of culture, people, and landscape. The country has followers of every major world religion, ranging from Islam in Sumatra and Java, Catholic and protestant in some part of Moluccas, Papua and Celebes, to the ancient Hindu beliefs of Balinese.

Tourism has become one of the leading sectors in Indonesia non-oil export for many years. Besides, the sector has also contributed to the local economy in many regions through the expenditure of its national domestic tourists. Tourism is seen as a vehicle for national and regional development as well as improvement of the well being of the locals, not an end or for its own sake of tourism development. In 1997, more than six million tourists visited Indonesia. Unfortunately the unstable political situation in Indonesia, since 1998, had a greater impact to number of tourists visit. Government Data showed the number of tourist visit Indonesia in 1998 is only 4.4 million and number stabile in 1999, but in the year 2000 until October 2000, Indonesia only can reach 3.1 million tourists. It is expect to the recovery since political situation more conducive in the countryside recently.

In terms of new destinations, Indonesia will go beyond Bali, which has been known as tourism region. It is expected that Bali can become a means for promoting other destinations, and that tourism will help in developing unique and beautiful places with fewer resources for industries other than tourism. Tourism development in general and rural tourism as well as ecotourism in particular is expected to become a model for small and medium scale business enhancement and a model for sustainable development in that area.
Rural and Eco-tourism in Indonesia

Agriculture sector, which especially located in rural area, it plays an important role in providing a food supply for Indonesia's massive population and raw materials for the industrial sector. Increasingly, it is also becoming a potential source of foreign exchange from the Rural Recreation and Tourism Development. Rural tourism can be expected to play an important role in the growth of both agriculture and tourism simultaneously.
Currently, most rural tourism projects are found in the plantation areas of Java and Sumatra.　Existing rural tourism projects (called OWA or "Obyek Wisata Agro" in Indonesia), have been mainly developed by state enterprises, but some of private sector also developed rural tourism area which especially located in Java and Bali. Some examples are the rural tourism projects in Gunung Mas, Malabar, Wonosari and Kedaung.

One location with an excellent view is called "Margo Utomo". It is located in Kalibaru village in East Java, and was established in 1976. It lies 480 m above sea level, in an area with an average annual rainfall of 1,550 mm. It can be reached either by train or by public bus. Of the tourists who visit this area, around one third (30%) are Indonesian and the rest are from overseas (mainly from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Australia, America and Canada). In 1990, there were 6,495 overnight stays in the village. This number rose steadily to reach 16,587 in 1997. Rural tourism in Kalibaru employs about 100 people, most of them local villagers. Rural tourism thus provides a good opportunity to create new jobs and increase rural incomes. Margo Utomo has two hotels, one with 52 rooms, the other providing cottages with a total of 30 rooms. Both types of accommodation have warm water, fans, and access to a swimming pool and a dining hall. Among the activities offered are:

1. Visiting plantations to see the production and processing of coffee, rubber or cocoa, or seeing tobacco fields and cigar production based on a traditional or modern system.
2. Jungle tours through the mountains, involving a three-hour trek round a mountain, including a visit to a volcanic crater.
3. Visits to a nature reserve and National Park with beautiful flora and fauna. Visitors can see various kinds of birds and animals in the wild, including wild buffalo and monkeys.
4. Visits to an ocean beach where sea turtles lay their eggs at night.
5. Trips around the village and adjacent farms in a horse-drawn carriage, to see farmers planting or harvesting rice, or giving a dramatic display of old-time piracy. They can also watch the manufacture of bricks, tiles and aluminum, all of which are traditional home industries.
6. Floating in a rubber raft 13 km down the Kalibaru River.
7. A modified lorry coordinates with train arrivals to take tourists (domestic or foreign) on a trip through two tunnels to enjoy scenic views from nearby Gumitir mountain.
8. The village has an 8-ha garden in which many different spices and fruits are grown. Tourists can see coffee, coconut, banana, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla growing, and also visit the dairy where cattle are milked and fed.
   

Ecotourism in Indonesia is in development stage. The idea behind ecotourism concept is bringing direct economic benefits to local people and contributing to the conservation of nature. Ecotourism is seen as a model for the integration of tourism and conservation purposes. A model for cost efficient development during this period "difficult time", a model for public as well as tourist educational means for being responsible to the environment and cultural heritage, a model for community empowerment, which all are indicators for sustainable development.
Destination like the Togeans in Central Celebes is among one of the best, in terms of the process of development where local people was directly involved from the very first beginning when the development consultant start with planning. The communities were empowered and involved and international tourists were coming in, even that the number is not many. A popular and prestigious destination like Bali was also developing ecotourism product to cater the changing demand of mainly international tourist.

Potential for ecotourism development in Indonesia mainly lies in its resources. Indonesia is known as country with mega-diversity. Besides its mega-diversity in biological resources, Indonesia also offers a diverse geography and geology to be explored. The caves are among another potential for ecotourism, not only as natural wonders but also of its historical remains inside. Diversity of culture, which includes ethnicity, religion, tradition and all other dimensions of culture are spices to the richness of natural resources.



Impact on Rural Economic Growth and The Constraint

Generally, Rural tourism can help to develop the rural economy, which will have a multiplier effect on rural society and improve rural incomes by:

1. Providing employment for people in a village;
2. Providing a new market for foods such eggs,　meat, fruit, vegetables and rice, all of which can be produced by local farmers, and
3. Supporting small businesses such as restaurants and art shops.
   

Not only will the economy of the village grow, but also the government will be able to collect many kinds of taxes. Farmers are most likely to benefit from tourism if they can directly provide tourists with services and products, whether these are accommodation, food, local specialties or a combination of the three. If tourists in rural areas stay in large resorts built by outside capital, with little interaction with local people, eating food imported from outside areas, the benefits they bring the local economy will be minimal. While the economic impact of rural tourism is not simple to evaluate, its development is most likely to benefit farmers if it is small-scale, dispersed, and supplier oriented rather than demand oriented.

Rural tourism cannot succeed without the participation of rural society. The aim should be to promote the rural tourism. Some problems facing in development of rural tourism especially in Indonesia are:

1. Lack of management skills, lack of skills is also a problem among the local government staff responsible for planning and regulation of tourism. Most have little knowledge or experience of tourism development.
2. Marketing, most rural tourism facilities tend to be small and widely scattered. This makes it difficult to market them to potential visitors, and makes it almost impossible for them to cater for the mass tourist industry.
3. Infrastructure, ｍany rural areas of outstanding natural beauty have a poor road or rail network, and are difficult to reach.
4. Limited tourism season, Even more than cities, rural areas receive most of their tourists during the height of the season. This limits the number of days in which tourist accommodation and other facilities are used, and reduces the return on investment.
5. Poor return on investment, Returns on capital invested in rural tourism tend to be fairly low. They are nearly always lower than the returns from other kinds of commercial enterprises.
6. Farmers lack information about what visitors want, Farmers who provide accommodation for tourists, are dealing with people who have a different life style from their own, and an unfamiliar set of preferences and values.