Judul: The Development Strategy of Tourism Business Based on Homestay Community in Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua Province
Abstrak: Raja Ampat is one of the mainstay tourist destinations in Indonesia which is pinned as the last paradise on earth due to its location in the heart of the coral triangle. The potential of its natural beauty resources and the increasing number of tourists visiting Raja Ampat become opportunities to escalate the economy based on sustainable community development. Accelerated growth of the Raja Ampat tourism sector is certainly well utilized by the indigenous people of Raja Ampat, who initially worked as fishermen to transform into homestay administrators. This potential requires community development efforts through community strengthening to accelerate empowerment in managing the tourism sector in Raja Ampat. The main objective of this study is to formulate a strengthening strategy for homestay business and sustainable tourism based on community development in Raja Ampat. This study used a qualitative approach with the case study method. The locations of this research were in Kampung Yenbuba and Kampung Arborek, Raja Ampat, West Papua. The locations were chosen intentionally by the researcher due to their accordance with the topic of this study. The study was conducted from July to August 2020. The method of determining the informant was executed in purposive, and the data used in this study were primary and secondary. The primary data were collected through participant observations, interviews with the informants, and focus group discussions (FGD). The secondary data was gathered from documents sources from the relevant agencies. The result of this study indicates that implementing community-based development in the tourism sector should involve external parties like the government, NGOs, local communities, and private sectors. The stakeholder intervention plays a huge role in homestay development and tourism businesses in Kampung Yenbuba and Kampung Arborek. The role of government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the private sectors, dan the surrounding community affect the social dynamics and impact on the access to finance of the Raja Ampat homestay community. In this study, it was found that stakeholders in community development were more oriented towards ecological goals, but still lack in economic and social aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to have reinforcement business and establishment appropriate economic institutions to strengthen the Raja Ampat homestay community, so it can balance the aspects of social, economics, and ecology. The results of the strategic analysis represent that the strengths of the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) The capacity of the homestay owners in HR/employee management; 2) The ability in operational management; 3) the competence in marketing and the use of social media; 4) the community’s ability to manage finances. While the drawbacks are: 1) the business management capacity is still limited/simple; 2) limited access to financial institutions; 3) status of jointly owned land (with family); 4) SOP and price-determined rent are not appropriate; 5) financial management is still convenient. From the external aspects, the opportunities for the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) potential for foreign and domestic tourists; 2) synergistic partnership with government, private sector, NGOs, and the surrounding community, and; 3) the development of digital technology. Meanwhile, the threats to the Raja Ampat homestay community are: 1) entry of
Keyword: homestay, Raja Ampat, Strategi Pengembangan Usaha Wisata, Pembiayaan