The Journey of sustainable tourism in Indonesia

Starting with the WISATA-1 Project implemented on the island of Flores (2010 - 2014) which aimed to improve the competitiveness of Flores' tourist destinations. The project was implemented through the Flores Destination Management Organisation (DMO) approach, in response to a request for support from the Government of Indonesia which was strengthening the governance of Indonesia's tourism destinations.

The WISATA I Project, which developed tourism destinations holistically, was considered a success and became the reason to continue it through the WISATA-2 Project. The project ran from 2014 to 2018 with a focus on strengthening the achievements of the WISATA I project in Flores and geographically disseminating the same programme to three other tourism destinations namely Toraja, Tanjung Punting, and Wakatobi.

In August 2018, with the support and understanding between SECO and the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Swisscontact continued its tourism destination development. In this phase, a project called Sustainable Tourism Destination Development or SUSTOUR was set up. The SUSTOUR project is part of the programmatic approach of a combination of three interrelated projects called Sustainable Tourism Destination in Indonesia (STDI). The STDI programme contributes to the development of sustainable tourism through competitive destinations and a skilled tourism workforce. The approach includes a series of interventions along the three pillars, in each project, and incorporates different levels and modalities.

The SUSTOUR project implements Pillar-3 of STDI which supports the development of competitive, sustainable, and inclusive destinations. This pillar is implemented in Labuan Bajo/Flores and Wakatobi and is concerned with inclusive and sustainable tourism development, building on the vision and ownership in the Integrated Tourism Master Plan (ITMP), developed by the World Bank in Pillar-1. The SUSTOUR project emphasises effective management in Labuan Bajo/Flores and Wakatobi, ensuring backward linkages and local participation.

The core of the SUSTOUR project is direct interaction with tourism sector stakeholders at the destination level, such as local governments, local communities, the private sector such as hotels, restaurants, service providers and tourism industry suppliers, generally through their associations, and other tourism organisations such as destination management organisations. The activities under the SUSTOUR Project are efforts to build awareness of sustainable tourism development and increase the involvement of local communities and actors, and strengthen these actors to contribute to the Integrated Tourism Master Plan (ITMP) developed by Pillar-1.