Marine ecotourism development in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Ecotourism is a fast-growing tourism industry. Ecotourism is superior to other tourism because it can give economic benefits and preserve natural resources. The potential of Indonesian ecotourism, especially South Sulawesi has not been optimally utilized; therefore, it is necessary to study its development potential. This study aims to analyze the potential and problems in marine ecotourism development in South Sulawesi. The study was done at Selayar Regency, Takalar Regency, Makassar City, and Pangkep Regency. The area of mangrove, coral reefs and sea grass ecosystem was estimated by using Landsat 7 Image and ArcView program. Other data were collected by using survey, census, interviews, and questionnaire. The parameters observed were coastal ecosystem resources; socio-economic; infrastructure; policy; and micro, small, medium business and co-operative. SWOT analysis was used to analyze the strategic condition; and Analysis Hierarchy Process was used to analyze the interaction between the priorities level. The study revealed that marine ecotourism development problems were low-capacity resources management, low local community participation, limited infrastructure availability, weak capacity of local community institutions, and insufficient local community support or contribution. Marine ecotourism development in South Sulawesi should be focused on tools improvement of sustainable use, infrastructure development, socio-economic strengthening, and consistent policy implementation.