Suitability and development strategy for Turtle Ecotourism in Kapoposang Islands Marine Tourism Park, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Turtles are a tourist attraction that can be developed using an ecotourism approach. This approach is expected to provide economic benefits without neglecting the conservation aspects of protected marine life, including turtles in the Kapoposang Islands Marine Tourism Park (TWP), Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. This study aimed to assess the suitability of turtle ecotourism and determine a strategy for developing turtle ecotourism in Kapoposang Island. This research was conducted in February and March 2020. The data collected during this study were divided into 3 groups of data with the aspects studied including; biophysics (beach slope, coastal vegetation, beach width, light intensity, distance from settlement and tides), biological (secondary data), and social community. The analysis performed were a tourism suitability index analysis, SWOT analysis, and descriptive analysis. The results indicate that the suitability of four stations in the Kapoposang Island for turtle nesting tourism ranges from "appropriate" to "unsuitable" categories. The suitability analysis results for station I (57.58%), station II (57.58%), and station IV (63.64%) were in the appropriate category while Station III (46.97%) was in the unsuitable category. The incubation process of newly hatched eggs and hatchlings carried out by the “Bahari Lestari” community group was no longer operating. The recommended development strategy directions based on the SWOT analysis are: (1) capacity building training and assistance to organize community groups in an integrated manner, (2) repairs, maintenance, and additional supporting facilities for tourism with a scenario to guide organized turtle tourism activities, (3) conduct study tours to areas that are considered successful in optimizing the potential of ecotourism.