EVALUATION OF NATURE TOURISM SUPPORTING FACILITIES BASED ON CARRYING CAPACITY, EFFECTIVENESS AND LAND CHANGE ASPECTS (CASE OF LOH BUAYA AREA, RINCA ISLAND, KOMODO NATIONAL PARK)

• Main Author: Kane, Jose
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/80276
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Komodo National Park is a national park which was inaugurated on March 6 1980 with the main focus on protecting the most important species, namely the giant lizard / Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and also tourism. One of the three large islands in KNP is Rinca Island with a tourist area called Loh Buaya which was closed from 25 October 2020 and only opened on 1 October 2022 due to renovation of facilities. Therefore, research is needed to ensure the development regarding the new facilities, namely the carrying capacity and tourist capacity so that the facilities can provide a tourist experience without damaging the environment, evaluations from visitors and guides which can influence ERB (Environmentally Responsible Behavior), and calculation of the area before and after development to see the impact of the treatment on the natural ecosystem. From the calculation results it was found that the physical carrying capacity (PCC) was 42,481 people per day, the real carrying capacity (RCC) was 633 per day, and the effective carrying capacity / Effective Carrying Capacity (ECC) of 525 people per day or 191,625 people / year. So the current quota policy is in accordance with the calculation of carrying capacity because of the policy of dividing 2(two) visiting sessions (600 and 400 people). The visitor evaluation results showed that the demographics were 35% Indonesian tourists and 65% foreign tourists, 54% male and 46% female, in the majority age range 25-44 years old and first time visitors. The evaluations given by visitors were all satisfied with all facilities and total satisfaction. The category that most influences total satisfaction is environmentally friendly facilities. This is in accordance with nature-based tourism destinations and can be a basis for assessing tourists' environmental habits. The linear equation for satisfaction with facilities is Y=0.440+0.879X with tourist facilities influencing visit satisfaction by 22%. The evaluation results from the guides showed that the demographics were 65% aged 25-34, 78% were married, and had worked for more than 4(four) years. The results of the motivation and work facilities survey are quite good but several components can still be improved, especially in salary and bonuses because they are factors that can really encourage work motivation. An additional suggestion is to increase medical knowledge, both science and practice, through training in order to improve tourist services and influence other environmental habits. The category that most influences job satisfaction is intrapersonal & self. The linear equation for satisfaction and facilities and work motivation is Y=3.2+0.34X with facilities & motivation influencing job satisfaction by 18%. Although the proportion of water land increased in OBIA (53%) and NDVI (23%), this is an unfavorable change because it could indicate a reduction in mangrove land, but this could also be due to little rainfall in 2019. However, forest land increased significantly in OBIA (63 %) and also NDVI (87%) which indicates that the authority's conservation objectives in the strategic plan have been successfully implemented and tourism development does not disturb the forest ecosystem. Based on accuracy, it can be concluded that mapping between open land and bushes/shrubs is better carried out by OBIA because the vegetation around the area does not include bushes.