Séminaire croisé ESTHUA – Axe 5 SFR Confluences "Desa Wisata (Tourist Village) as a Vector of Sustainable Tourism. Case of Arborek, Sauwandarek and Sawinggrai, Raja Ampat, South West Papua, Indonesia"

In Indonesia, tourism is an important asset that contributes significantly to the revenue and the development of the local economy. In order to broadly adopt sustainable tourism, syncretic models that are tailored to the sociocultural aspects of local communities must be developed. It is considered as a new issue on how to implement the Desa Wisata policy. Desa Wisata is a touristic integrated village created in 1992 by the Indonesian government. This model continues to develop until today. By 2023, 4.674 touristic villages across Indonesia hold the label. The method and application of this policy would be altered based on the region itself. Island of Bali and Java applied the policy vastly, since they are one of the most visited places in Indonesia. However, in the eastern part of Indonesia, such as Raja Ampat in South West Papua, there is a great hope to develop tourism in the area.
The initiation of tourism in Raja Ampat commenced with the arrival of a Dutch diver and entrepreneur in 1993, Max Ammer, who built a homestay to accommodate tourists and practiced diving as a business. Then, the policy of Desa Wisata was created by local government in 2008. A prototype of homestay was built in Arborek island as a donation by government to initiate tourism. The application of Desa Wisata’s policy in Raja Ampat showed a different acceptance by the local people.
In this research seminar, we will first define the Desa Wisata concept in an off-centered society through a literature review and empirical data. We will take the example of Raja Ampat, especially in Arborek, Sauwandarek and Sawinggrai, which constitute the basic principle of Desa Wisata practice and its value for the local community. By analyzing the contribution of Desa Wisata to economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability, we will examine in detail the empirical results in Raja Ampat, in order to understand how this policy can be a vector for sustainable tourism that respects the identity of each village.