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Farmer Community-Based River Ecotourism Model 

in Gowa Regency 

 
Muhammad Idrus Taba*, Dian AS Parawansa, Muhammad Ismail 

 

Fakultas Ekonomika dan Bisnis, Universitas Hasanuddin 

 
*Corresponding Author: emitaba71sa@gmail.com 

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24922/eot.v10i1.93183 
 
 

Article Info 

Submitted: 

October 25th 2022 

Accepted: 

March 20th 2023 

 Published: 

March 30th 2023 

Abstract 

Tourism is one of the leading business sectors that continues to develop 

in academic studies. This study aims to reveal a model of tourism activity 

development in supporting community business improvement in the 

Biroro Bontolerung River Area, Gowa Regency. The method applied is 

descriptive-qualitative with unit analysis of product resources and social 

resources at the research site. This research has identified the concept of 

tourism activities that are suitable to be developed in the Biroro 

Bontolerung River Area based on the concept of experiential tourism. 

Furthermore, this research has resulted in mapping the interests and in-

terests of relevant stakeholders, to be studied further in making develop-

ment decisions for the government and the community. 

Keywords: ecotourism; river tours; community base. 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

 

Background 

The COVID-19 pandemic that has 

occurred since 2019 has had a negative im-

pact on global tourism growth (Loannides 

& Gyimóthy, 2020), which was marked by 

a 65% decline in international tourist arri-

vals or the equivalent of 440 million visits 

in the first semester of 2020 (UNWTO, 

2020). The Asia-Pacific region recorded 

the largest negative growth in international 

tourist arrivals of -96% above the global 

average of -87% (UNWTO, 2021). Inter-

national, regional, and local travel re-

strictions have affected the tourism system, 

namely international travel, domestic tour-

ism, day visits and the air transport indus-

try, cruise ships, public transport, accom-

modation, restaurants, conventions, 

festivals, or sporting events (Gössling, 

Scott, & Hall, 2021). On the other hand, the 

pandemic has had a positive impact on re-

ducing over-tourism and providing oppor-

tunities for sub-urban areas to develop the 

concept of environmentally-based sustain-

able tourism (Koh, 2020) and smart tour-

ism (Susanto et al., 2020). This indicator 

shows the impact of the pandemic on 

changes in market preferences, percep-

tions, and behavior for travel (Peters et al., 

2020). Responding to this change, tourism 

policy makers need to follow up with prod-

uct development that is in line with these 

changes (Brouder et al., 2020). 

The South Sulawesi Government in 

the 2015-2030 Tourism Development 

Master Plan (RIPPARDA) has established 

7 Provincial Tourism Destinations (DPP) 

consisting of Provincial Tourism Strategic 

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Areas (KSPP) and Provincial Tourism Ar-

eas (South Sulawesi Provincial Govern-

ment, 2015). The DPP area consists of 

three Regional Tourism Destinations 

(DPD). First, the Southern Regional DPD, 

namely Makassar, Gowa and its surround-

ings, Bulukumba and its surroundings, the 

Selayar Islands and its surroundings. Sec-

ond, the Central Region DPD, covering 

Wajo and its surroundings, Pare-Pare and 

its surroundings. Third, the DPD for the 

North region, covering Palopo and its sur-

roundings. Toraja and its surroundings. 

Gowa Regency is one of the KSPPs with 

the theme of nature tourism with the iconic 

Malino City which is relevant to the issue 

of changing tourist behavior during the 

pandemic. Tourism development in this 

area has the theme of mountain nature tour-

ism and its inherent features including riv-

ers, valleys, hills, and villages along with 

environmental conservation efforts, espe-

cially Mount Bawakaraeng. 

In another policy document 

(Bappeda, South Sulawesi, 2017), Gowa 

Regency is designated as a Leading Tourist 

Area. This relates to the area's resources 

that are suitable for mountain, jungle, and 

river-based adventure activities. The deter-

mination of this area has an impact on the 

strategy of developing activities on a site 

scale that does not require massive physi-

cal development, but still meets the rules of 

tourism service standards. 

The development is intended to sup-

port quality-tourism experiences (Beards-

ley et al., 2018) and experiential tourism 

(Kozak & Kozak, 2018). Malino City, 

Tinggimoncong District, Gowa Regency is 

one of the areas designated as a tourism de-

velopment area. The city of Malino is lo-

cated in the mountains with a landscape of 

mountains, hills, valleys with several rivers 

and waterfalls as the main attraction. Land 

cover in the form of forests and tea planta-

tions (although no longer producing) com-

pletes the attractiveness of this area, rein-

forcing the theme of developing river-

based special interest tourism. One of the 

existing tourist attractions, namely the 

"Takapala" waterfall and the "Ketemu 

mate" waterfall, is located in Bontolerung 

Village. 

In fact, this area has been visited by 

local tourists regularly. However, the de-

velopment of tourism activities in this area 

has not been carried out optimally. The 

varied potential of the area has not been 

able to be used to provide a visiting expe-

rience for tourists. This is related to the ab-

sence of directions for the development of 

river-based tourism activities and tourism 

management which still relies on govern-

ment initiatives. In fact, several studies 

have shown that the development of river 

tourism can have a positive impact on the 

regional economy (Ajake & Amalu, 2012; 

Budisetyorini et al., 2021; Putro et al., 

2021), environmental conservation 

(Mafruhah et al., 2020), and social change 

(Sheldon & Fesenmaier, 2017). 

The alternative for developing 

Bontolerung river tourism uses a combina-

tion of community-based tourism ap-

proaches (Khalid et al., 2019) and experi-

ential tourism (Meacci & Liberatore, 2018; 

Smith, 2006) in order to obtain a formula-

tion of a strategy for developing experi-

ence-based river tourism activities that uti-

lizes the potential of the community as ac-

tors. major tourism. Research on tourism 

development in the river area through the 

principles of experiential learning and 

community-based tourism still has the op-

portunity to be expanded. It is known that 

the concept of developing tourism areas 

has focused on the physical development 

of the area, or at least departed from the 

idea that mass-tourists are the best choice 

for tourism areas. 

This study tries to provide a differ-

ent perspective on how a river area is pack-

aged into a product that provides experi-

ences and reveals the interests and interests 

of the stakeholders in it. Considering these 

conditions, applied research was 

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conducted to explore data and information 

regarding river tourism product resources 

and social resources in Bontolerung Vil-

lage, Tinggimoncing District, Gowa Re-

gency. With this, it can be formulated a 

model for the development of river-based 

tourism activities on the Bontolerung 

River, Bontolerung Village, Tinggimon-

cong District, Gowa Regency. 

 

METHODS 

 

This study uses a descriptive-quali-

tative method to describe the potential of 

resources owned in a tourism object and its 

development model. The research location 

is the Bontolerung river area in 

Bontolerung Village, Tinggimoncing Dis-

trict, Gowa Regency. The research was 

conducted in July-August 2022. The 

method of data collection was through field 

observations and literature studies. Analy-

sis of river tourism development uses a 

community-based tourism approach (Kha-

lid et al., 2019) and experiential tourism 

(Meacci & Liberatore, 2018; Smith, 2006). 

An antithesis approach to the previous ap-

proach which exploited the physical devel-

opment of the area or mass-tourist as a 

measure of tourism performance. On the 

other hand, these two approaches will pro-

vide a different perspective, namely how 

an area is packaged into a product that pro-

vides experience and reveals the interests 

and interests of the stakeholders in it. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

 

General Description 

Gowa Regency is one of 24 Regen-

cies/Cities in South Sulawesi. This regency 

is 10 km from the center of Makassar City, 

its territory is flanked by a number of re-

gencies/cities. The northern part is with 

Makassar and Maros, the southern part is 

with Takalar and Jeneponto, the western 

part is with Makassar and Takalar, the 

eastern part is Sinjai, Bulukumba and Ban-

taeng. It has an area of 1,888.33 km2 

(3.01% of South Sulawesi's area), divided 

into 18 sub-districts with 167 villages/ke-

lurahan. The characteristics of the area can 

be divided into two, namely lowlands and 

highlands, each with 9 sub-districts. The 

city of Sungguminasa, the capital of the 

district, includes three sub-districts: Somba 

Opu in its entirety, Partially Pallangga and 

Partly Bontomarannu. There are three larg-

est sub-districts which are all located in the 

highlands, respectively: Biringbulu 

(11.26%), Kuncio Pao (251%) and Parang 

Loe (11.75%) of the area of Gowa Re-

gency. 

In terms of population, Gowa Re-

gency is the third area after Makassar City 

and Bone Regency which has the largest 

population of 659,513 (2011). The main 

occupation of the community is still domi-

nated by the agricultural sector (46.98%), 

followed by trade (17.74%), services 

(11.90%), and industry (10.74%). With 

this pattern and structure of work, the 

Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) 

per capita in 2020, based on constant 2010 

prices, is 27.45 million with an average 

economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. This 

is quite interesting. Because even though it 

is in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, 

the growth trend remains positive at 1.76 

percent, while South Sulawesi experienced 

a contraction of 0.70 percent. In addition, 

this area was previously the epicenter of 

the transmission, in addition to Makassar 

City and Maros Regency. However, this 

achievement does not mean that it has been 

able to overcome a number of problems in 

this area. Some of the development prob-

lems in this region are as follows: 

1. The quality of life of the community is 

not yet optimal. Although in the last 10 

years, the Human Development Index 

has increased, this area is still in the 

middle caste of the 24 regencies/cities 

in South Sulawesi. The problem of the 

poverty rate, although it has decreased 

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from 7.53 percent (2019) to 7.38 per-

cent (2020), however, the quality of 

poverty has not changed. Efforts to re-

duce poverty, create job opportunities, 

and improve the quality of human re-

sources. This includes issues of access 

and service quality as well as pro-peo-

ple, pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-poor, 

and pro-environment programs. 

2. The regional economy is not yet opti-

mal. Although a number of macroeco-

nomic indicators have increased, such 

as; economic growth, increase in 

GRDP, income per capita, the amount 

of public saving, investment, but it does 

not guarantee the creation of a propor-

tional distribution of income. Most of 

the people still have low to middle in-

come. High-income groups are still en-

joyed by a small part of the population. 

Therefore, high economic growth on 

the one hand needs to be accompanied 

by the movement of the real sector, es-

pecially sectors that absorb a lot of la-

bor, such as agriculture, mining and the 

manufacturing industry. 

3. The availability of adequate infrastruc-

ture is still limited. Infrastructure in 

Gowa Regency is still limited. Alt-

hough the budget for the allocation is 

quite large, the coverage area of this 

area is very wide, plus nine of its areas 

are located in highlands full of ravines 

and cliffs. As a result, the existing in-

frastructure is not evenly distributed be-

tween regions, so there is a gap between 

the highlands and lowlands as well as 

urban and rural areas. 

4. The development of sub-district, vil-

lage and sub-district areas is not yet op-

timal. Because the regional develop-

ment has not been evenly distributed, it 

also affects the service quality that is 

not yet excellent. The span of control 

that is too wide and high makes services 

to the community inefficient and inef-

fective. The types of public services 

that can be delegated to lower 

authorities should only be carried out, 

namely from the district to the sub-dis-

trict to the sub-district or village. Espe-

cially the strengthening of village insti-

tutions, as stated in Law Number 6 of 

2014. Where, villages that manage 

large enough funds need to be sup-

ported by the readiness of the super-

structure to be encouraged to become 

independent villages. The extent to 

which these funds are effective has an 

impact on improving the performance 

of the agricultural sector which in turn 

is able to improve the welfare of rural 

communities. In addition, how to mini-

mize irregularities in the use of village 

finances due to limited capacity, quality 

and accountability of human resources, 

especially in rural areas. 

5. The implementation of good govern-

ance is not yet optimal. The quality of 

public services still requires improve-

ment, especially in the integrated ser-

vice system for licensing and invest-

ment. Bureaucratic capacity is still rel-

atively low, especially with regard to 

institutional and management issues, 

utilization of information technology, 

information systems and e-government 

which are not yet integrated and com-

prehensive. 

 

Topography and Climate as Basis for 

River Tourism 

The topography of Gowa Regency is 

mostly hilly highlands, which is about 

72.26% covering 9 sub-districts, namely 

Parangloe, Manuju, Tinggimoncong, Kun-

cio Pao, Parigi, Bungaya, Bontolempan-

gan, Tompobulu and Biringbulu sub-dis-

tricts. The remaining 27.74% are lowlands 

with flat topography covering 9 sub-dis-

tricts, namely Somba Opu, Bontomarannu, 

Pattallassang, Pallangga, Barombong, Ba-

jeng, West Bajeng, Bontonompo and South 

Bontonompo sub-districts. 

 

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Of the total area of Gowa Regency, 

35.30% has a land slope above 40 degrees, 

namely in the Parangloe, Tinggimoncong, 

Bungaya, Bontolempangan and Tompo-

bulu sub-districts. With the shape of the to-

pography of the area which is mostly high-

lands, the Gowa Regency area is traversed 

by 15 large and small rivers which have 

great potential as a source of electricity, ir-

rigation and river tourism objects. One of 

the largest rivers in South Sulawesi is the 

Jeneberang river with an area of 881 Km2 

and a length of 90 Km. Above the Jeneber-

ang river flow by the Gowa Regency Gov-

ernment in collaboration with the Govern-

ment of Japan, has built the Bili-Bili DAM 

multifunction project with an area of + 

2,415 Km2 which can provide irrigation 

water covering an area of + 24,600 ha, 

clean water consumption (PAM) for the 

people of Gowa and Makassar Regencies 

of 35,000,000 m3 and for hydroelectric 

power plants with a power of 16.30 Mega 

Watts. 

Based on this, the principles and 

concepts of tourism development in Gowa 

Regency are prepared with reference to a 

number of important points mentioned 

above, coupled with an international tour-

ism perspective in encouraging the devel-

opment of Gowa Regency tourism at an in-

ternational standard. The arrangement is at 

the same time in order to build the ideology 

and concepts that become the basis for for-

mulating the direction of tourism develop-

ment in Gowa Regency in accordance with 

the functions that have been determined by 

the central government (based on the Reg-

ulation of the Minister of Tourism Number 

10 of 2016), so that consistency in tourism 

development in Gowa Regency is also 

achieved. Contributive Gowa Regency 

starts at the regional (provincial), national, 

and even international levels. Thus, the 

principles of tourism development in 

Gowa Regency are based on three main 

principles that are considered important in 

accordance with a number of 

considerations set out in each relevant reg-

ulation. The three principles are; first, com-

munity-based and local wisdom. 

In this case, the tourism develop-

ment of Gowa Regency emphasizes the 

community base sector and carries the val-

ues of local wisdom that exist and develop 

in the community. In addition, the people 

of Gowa Regency are also positioned not 

only as objects but also subjects in their 

tourism development. Second, Integrative. 

In this case, Gowa Regency always opti-

mizes its role actively in achieving goals 

and standards that apply at the provincial, 

national, and international levels. Thus, 

tourism in Gowa Regency is expected to 

contribute not only to Gowa Regency it-

self, but in real terms it can contribute sig-

nificantly to the development of tourism 

around and at various levels. Fourth, sus-

tainable. In this case, the tourism develop-

ment of Gowa Regency in principle must 

prioritize important aspects that are in ac-

cordance with sustainable tourism. This is 

in order to preserve the resources owned in 

this area. 

Based on the three existing develop-

ment principles, the concept of tourism de-

velopment in Gowa Regency will focus on 

the basic sectors in its community while 

still referring to and carrying out the values 

of local wisdom that exist and develop and 

make the people of Gowa Regency the sub-

ject of tourism development. The tourism 

development is compiled collectively by 

referring to every effort to achieve goals 

and standards that apply at the provincial, 

national, and international levels in ensur-

ing the role and contribution of tourism in 

Gowa Regency broadly. In addition, the 

tourism development of Gowa Regency is 

also structured by upholding sustainability 

aspects as the main principle in ensuring 

that its tourism development has a positive 

impact on the environment and its territory 

in the long term. 

Based on the Minister of Tourism 

Regulation Number 10 of 2016, it is 

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explained that district tourism destinations 

are tourism destinations in which there are 

tourist attractions that have a suitability of 

district/city scale themes (provincial com-

petitiveness) and have been determined to 

be the authority of the district/city. The 

tourism destination plan is a direction for 

the development of tourism destinations in 

the tourism zoning system which consists 

of two parts, namely: 

1. Determination of the scope of the 

Gowa Regency Tourism Destination 

(DPK) area; and 

2. Determination of the Gowa Regency 

Strategic Tourism Area (KSPK) and 

Gowa Regency Tourism Develop-

ment Area (KPPK) which later be-

came the direction for the develop-

ment of Gowa Regency tourism desti-

nations. 

 

The Gowa Regency Tourism Desti-

nations (DPK) were determined by taking 

into account several things, namely the Na-

tional RTRW, RIPPARNAS, RTRW of 

South Sulawesi Province, RIPPARPROV 

of South Sulawesi, and RTRW of Gowa 

Regency. In addition to observing several 

documents, the determination of Gowa 

TPF is mainly made on the basis of similar 

characteristics of tourism attractiveness, as 

mentioned in Chapter 4 regarding tourism 

destinations. The following are the tourism 

areas of Gowa Regency with their respec-

tive themes: 

1. Ecotourism area of Malino and its sur-

roundings with the theme of adven-

ture ecotourism and agrotourism; 

2. Cultural and historical recreation area 

of Somba Opu and its surroundings 

with the theme of cultural and histori-

cal recreation of the kingdom of 

Gowa; and 

3. Pattallassang Family Recreation Area 

with family recreation theme. 

 

 

The division of the Gowa Regency 

tourism area development plan which is di-

vided into three tourism areas can be seen 

in Figure 1 below.

 

 
Figure 1. Map of the Tourism Development Area of Gowa Regency 

Source: Gowa Regency, 2020 

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The research area is located in the 

Biroro River Area, Bontolerung Subdis-

trict, Tinggimoncong District, which is lo-

cated 65 km from the administrative area 

of Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi Prov-

ince. Consists of highlands and valleys 

with a slope of above 40%. The main 

source of the Biroro River comes from the 

“Ketemu Match” waterfall which has a 

land area of about 3ha. The river winds its 

way through several neighborhoods in the 

Bontolerung Village, before ending at 

Takapala Waterfall in the same village. 

The length of the river flow, from the 

Ketemu Mate Waterfall in the Biror neigh-

borhood to the Takapala waterfall in the 

Bontolerung neighborhood is about 1000 

meters. Of course, this is a natural resource 

potential that is very useful. 

 

 

Tourism Product Resources 

The Biroro river area with the water-

fall "Meet the Match" has an attraction as 

one of the natural river attractions in Ting-

gimoncong District along with the Bulu 

Balea waterfall, Lembanna waterfall, Bu-

lan waterfall, Tonasa waterfall, and Gal-

lang waterfall which then empties into the 

river. Jeneberang and then headed to the 

Makassar Sea. The Ketemu Matchmaking 

Waterfall and the Takapala Waterfall form 

a river with a width of about 2-4 meters. 

This river is a source of clean water and 

rice fields for people in Bontoelrung and 

Bulutana Villages. Based on secondary 

data from RIPPARKA Gowa 2021-2035, 

that the tourism area development plan 

based on Leading Tourist Attractions 

(DTWU) and Supporting Tourist Attrac-

tions (DTWP), Tinggimoncng District is 

stated in the following table

 

Source: RIPPARKA Gowa (2021-2035) 

 

 

Table 1. Development Plan for DTWU and DTWP in Tinggimoncong District, Gowa 

Regency 

DTWU and DTWP Development Plan 

 
  
Regional Develop-

ment Goals 

The realization of competitive and sustainable ecotourism and agro-

tourism areas 

 

 

Area Coverage Tinggimoncong District, Parangloe District, Parigi District, Kuncio 

Pao District 

 

 

Product Theme Adventure Ecotourism and agrotourism 

 

 

Featured Tourist At-

tractions 

Bawakaraeng Mountain, Ramma Valley, Tanralili Lake, Lembanna 

Waterfall, Lembanna Pine Forest, Strawberry Garden, Malino Pine 

Forest, Malino Highland, Takapala Waterfall, Green Valley, Banti-

murung Gallang Waterfall 

 

 

Supporting Tourist 

Attractions 

Parangbugisi Waterfall, Bissoloro Waterfall, Meet Mate Waterfall, 

Butta Gowa Ecotourism, Water 

 
 

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The Biroro river area in Bontolerung 

which is flanked by highlands, valleys, and 

hills with natural vegetation cover in the 

form of forests, cabbage, mustard and po-

tato vegetable plantations, and rice fields is 

a complementary attraction with the fea-

tures of the “Ketemu Match” waterfall and 

the “Takapala” waterfall. " This view can 

be enjoyed, from the main access to 

Bontolerung Village, from entering Malino 

City, then turning east, to the trekking 

route to the waterfall location, it takes 15 

minutes to get to Biroro village, as a visitor 

distribution point. Along the way, there is 

the potential for natural and cultivated 

plant species developed by the community. 

Tourism support facilities such as 

lodging/homestays are adequate. However, 

the facilities for restaurants and stalls are 

still in the pilot stage. The number of 

inn/homestay hotels in Bulutana Village 

and Bontolerung Village is around 32 

units, with the highest price of IDR 

1,600,000 per night and the lowest price of 

IDR 250,000 per night. However, there are 

also resorts that rent up to IDR 7,000,000 

per night including meals. Usually this is 

for family gathering classes. But unfortu-

nately, the road infrastructure is not sup-

portive. The road is still narrow, so when 

the volume of vehicles increases, traffic 

jams will quickly occur. 

 

Social Resources 

One of the main elements in tourism 

institutions is tourism human resources 

(HR). Tourism HR is an important element 

because of its role as a provider of labor in 

the tourism industry. The available, com-

petent, and reliable tourism human re-

sources are certainly a driving force for 

tourism development in Gowa Regency, so 

it needs to be a concern for policy makers. 

Based on data obtained from Disparbud in 

the last six years, it shows a consistent in-

crease in the workforce in the tourism sec-

tor in Gowa Regency. However, when 

viewed from the side of growth in the last 

three years, it tends to decline (see Table 

2). In a survey conducted by Local Govern-

ment (Logov, 2021) on 45 business actors 

operating in Gowa Regency, it was found 

that the majority of business actors ab-

sorbed less than five workers (51.11%), 

followed by the category of employment of 

5-20 people (31.11%). The results of this 

survey indicate that employment in the 

tourism industry in Gowa Regency relies 

on small to medium scale businesses.

 

Table 1. Development Plan for DTWU and DTWP in Tinggimoncong District, Gowa 

Regency 

 

Field Type of Entrepreneur 
Total (in People) 

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 

   
Accom-

modation 

Hotels 76 76 76 76 76 76 

Lodging 23 61 76 80 88 98 

Villa 32 43 59 59 59 99 

Homestay 15 45 75 75 75 89 

        

        

Food and 

Drink 

Restaurant 12 33 47 83 168 168 

Food stalls 108 286 286 359 362 392 

Shop 12 402 402 417 417 451 

Catering - - - 9 31 35 

Lesehan - 30 30 44 44 44 

Café - - - 61 72 79 

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Source: Gowa Regency Tourism and Culture Office (2021) 

 

Bureauro River Development Strategy 

in Bontolerung 

The Biroro river area in Bontolerung 

to the Takapala waterfall can be developed 

as a natural tourism area based on experi-

ential tourism, which is a tourist area that 

provides flexibility for visitors to explore 

the area with a family adventure approach, 

agro and education. This principle is in line 

with several studies on the development of 

tourist areas in different destinations (Me-

acci & Liberatore, 2018; Serdane et al; 

2020). This development scenario is real-

ized through the packaging of activities as 

follows. 1) Trekking, which is exploring 

the Biroro river flow with the Takapala wa-

terfall as the final destination. It can also be 

expanded by exploring thematic paths of 

geology, botany and river ecosystems; 2) 

Agro Adventures, namely the packaging of 

tourist activities exploring protected for-

ests and tea plantation areas (Malino High 

land), vegetable plantations in the Pat-

tapang and Kanreapia highlands to get to 

know various types of plants, bird watch-

ing and enjoying the processed products of 

local vegetable plantations with vegetarian 

culinary activities as the main attraction; 3) 

Automotive tourism by developing off-

road motorcycle lanes with separate lanes 

from non-motorcycle activities. 

To support the packaging, the pat-

tern of area development is divided into at 

least three, namely: 1) core zone: covering 

the Ketemu Jodoh Waterfall and the Biroro 

river as the main attractions and binding 

tourist activities in the core area; 2) buffer 

zone: includes a buffer area from the 

Biroro river flow which is used in a limited 

manner by prioritizing the preservation of 

ecological functions and the spread of tour-

ism activities to reduce the burden on the 

core zone; 3) development zone: an area 

that is reserved as a zone for the develop-

ment of activities and facilities in the fu-

ture; 4) support zone: an area used as a dis-

tribution point for visitors, commercial fa-

cilities and a visit circulation center area lo-

cated at the front/entrance area of the Area. 

The recommended circulation of visits is 

by loop-line and back-trecking where the 

flow of incoming and outgoing visitors 

uses one access gate that is currently avail-

able. On the inside, different circulation 

paths are arranged between the paths lead-

ing to the core zone and exiting the core 

zone. This is done to reduce the impact of 

the density of visiting activities within the 

Area, spread tourism activities and opti-

mize the visiting experience (Morrison, 

2013; Albrecht, 2017). 

In the management aspect, a man-

agement strategy is recommended by 

strengthening the function of the 

Bontolerung River Ecotourism Manage-

ment Community group which has now 

been formed through Community Service 

activities carried out by LPPM Unhas, in 

accordance with the principles of commu-

nity-based tourism (Khalid et al., 2019). 

Institutional strengthening can be pursued 

through the following strategies: 1) the es-

tablishment of a tourism object manage-

ment community that is built through the 

        

        

Travel agency 59 59 63 94 100 116 

Entertainment and Recreation 114 114 114 171 258 288 

       

       

Total 451 1149 1228 1528 1750 1935 

Growth (%)  154,8 6,9 24,4 14,5 10,6 

 

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synergy of the community, local govern-

ment and universities, by strengthening its 

formal juridical aspects; 2) training to in-

crease human resource capacity gradually, 

starting with visitor service training, OHS 

and Business training; 3) strengthening the 

inclusion of the tourism supply chain by 

prioritizing products from within the 

Bontolerung Village and Bulutana Village, 

Tinggimoncong Subdistrict, Gowa Re-

gency. 

 

CONCLUSION 

 

The Biroro River area in 

Bontolerung can be developed as a natural 

tourism area with the theme of experiential 

tourism, which is a tourist area that gives 

visitors the flexibility to explore the area 

with a family adventure approach, agro and 

education. In the management aspect, a 

management strategy is recommended by 

strengthening the functions of the 

Bontolerung Tourism Awareness Group 

and the Bontolerung River Ecotourism 

Management Community which are cur-

rently newly formed. The model for devel-

oping river-based tourism activities on the 

Biroro Bontolerung river is directed to a 

sustainable community-based tourism de-

velopment model (Kahlid et al; 2019). 

To achieve this, the development ap-

proach does not rely on government initia-

tives, but can elaborate on the interests and 

interests of each stakeholder. This study 

has provided an information regarding 

tourism resources in the Biroro 

Bontolerung River Area and contributed to 

the enrichment of applied science of tour-

ism management as a consideration for 

tourism development in Tinggimoncong 

District, Gowa Regency. 

The limitation of this research is that 

it has not revealed the technical aspects of 

physical, service, and operational plan-

ning. This provides an opportunity for fur-

ther research that will make an important 

contribution to the object of research. In 

the aspect of community empowerment, 

this research provides an opportunity for 

applied research in the form of a guide to 

the activation of social and cultural ele-

ments in the development of the 

Bontolerung and Bulutana areas. 

 

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