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ANALYSIS OF ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF SEMBILANGAN 

BEACH: CHARACTERS, FACTORS, AND CHALLENGES 
 

1Rita Parmawati, 2Agung S. Kurnianto, 3Afrilyani Kontrayana,  
4Azzah F. Cholis, 5Herman Hidayat, 6Wilda Al Aluf 

1Postgraduate Program, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia, 
2Public Health Institution, Universitas Bakti Indonesia, Indonesia, 

3456Master Program of Environmental Management and Development, 
Postgraduate Program, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia 

email: 1ritaparmawati1990@gmail.com, 2agung.sih.kurnianto@gmail.com, 
3afri.apre@gmail.com, 4azzahbio@gmail.com, 5hhidayaat@yahoo.co.id, 

6alalufwilda@yahoo.co.id  
 

ABSTRACT 
Sembilangan beach in Bangkalan, East Java Province, Indonesia, is one of the 
potential and growing areas for ecotourism. This beach has several aspects of 
ecotourism development that has not been professionally managed to achieve 
ecotourism goals. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors supporting the 
process of ecotourism development in Sembilangan beach, both in terms of visitors 
and the community. This knowledge is useful to support the strategic steps to 
accelerate its development. This research was conducted at Sembilangan beach, 
Bangkalan, East Java Province. Topics or the independent variables are explored 
related to the perception of tourists, culture, environmental conditions, community 
participation, economic conditions, and institutions. Data of the respondents are 
grouped according to their status: visitors and community. Simultaneous and Partial 
Test is used to understand the correlation. Environmental, economic and institutional 
factors have a simultaneous influence on community participation in the development 
of ecotourism. Environmental conditions partially have the greatest influence on 
community participation in the development of ecotourism Sembilangan beach. 
 
Keywords: ecotourism development, beach, visitors, community, characters, factors, 

challenges. 
 
 

INTRODUCTION 

The tourism industry is one of the sustainable movements that has many 

strategic functions, including economic development, social empowerment, and 

conservation (Peraturan Pemerintah No. 50, 2011; Permendagri No. 33, 2009). The 

power of the tourism industry to drive the development of international economy can 

not be underestimated. Approximately, 10% of total worldwide’s GDP is contributed by 

this industrial sector (Hirotsune, 2011). The development countries, especially tropical 

countries such as South America and Southeast Asia has been benefited from the 

tourism business. This has a positive impact, tourism has supported 9-10% of total 

national GDP, which indicates apositive impact of tourism growth. The potential of 

mailto:ritaparmawati1990@gmail.com1
mailto:agung.sih.kurnianto@gmail.com2
mailto:afri.apre@gmail.com
mailto:azzahbio@gmail.com
mailto:hhidayaat@yahoo.co.id
mailto:alalufwilda@yahoo.co.id


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Indonesian domestic tourists reaches 250 million trips, with total expenditureof USD 

3.6 million (Ministry of Tourism, 2014). In addition, foreign tourist arrivals in 2015 

reached 9.73 million visits and generated USD 11.1 billion (CBS, 2016). The number 

of tourists from ASEAN countries reaches 40% of total foreign tourists, with Malaysia 

and Singapore contributing 1.49 and 1.74 million tourists/year respectively (Zengeni 

and Zengeni, 2012). However, since 1990, the ecotourism development in Indonesia 

is considered very slow and its products very limited in number and inovation. This 

evidence is due to the lack of guidance on ecotourism and the absence of serious 

policy from the stakeholders (Triutami, 2009), which are very contrary to nature 

potential and cultural attractions. Indonesia has 18 of the world's 200 ecosystems and 

10% of the world's flowering plant species. In addition to the high level of diversity, 

Indonesia's geological and geographic conditions also have a uniqueness to explore 

(Nugroho, 2011; Butarbutar and Soemarno, 2013). 

Sembilangan beach in Bangkalan, East Java Province, Indonesia, is one of 

the potential and growing areas for ecotourism. This beach has several aspects of 

ecotourism development, including biodiversity and beautiful scenery (Alison, 2015), 

but has not been professionally managed to achieve ecotourism goals. The purpose 

of this study is to analyze the factors supporting the process of ecotourism 

development in Sembilangan beach, both in terms of visitors and the community. This 

knowledge is useful to support the strategic steps to accelerate its development. 

 

METHODS 

Study Site 

This research was conducted on October, 2-5th 2017 at Sembilangan beach, 

Bangkalan, Madura. Sembilangan beach is located about 10 km south from Bangkalan 

city (Figure 1). This beach has beautiful scenery and a mangrove area that has great 

potentiality to be developed as a conservation area and a natural observation path. In 

addition, Sembilangan beach has a traditional fishing port and shipyard. There is a 

heritage lighthouse (mercusuar) of the Dutch colonial period, which has the potential 

as a historical tourist attraction.  

During this time, visitors come incidentally. There is no ticket withdrawals from 

the local government. Local communities separately coordinate paid parking locations. 

Daily visits reach 30-50 people and increase to about 100 people on weekends. 



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Figure 1  
Study Location on Sembilangan Beach.  

Key: 1. Harbour, 2. Mangrove Area, 3. Beach, 4. Lighthouse. 
 

Data Collection and Analysis 

We used questionnaires with the sample of respondents determined 

purposively (n=32) (Usman, 2012). Topics or the independent variables are explored 

related to the perception of tourists about :1. environmental conditions; 2. 

organizational institutions; and 3.economic conditions. We also used semi-stuctured 

inteview with local’s culture and community participation topics to understand the 

communities roles in developing sustainable tourism The likert scale is used as the 

reference value in the questionnaire, the ranges are from very negative to very positive 

(scale 1-4). To know the influence of independent variable, we used Linear Regression 

Analysis. Data of the respondents are grouped according to their status: visitors and 

the Sambilangan beach’s community, which can be used to understand the 

perceptionof tourists and also the participation of the community. We used 

Simultaneous and Partial Test to understand the correlation between them. The 

statistical test was performed by SPSS ver 16.0 software. 

 



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DISCUSSION  

Visitor Perception 

Sig value (0.177)>α value (0.05), so H0 is accepted on simultaneous test 

(Table 1). This shows that together all the variables have no effect on perception. In 

addition, also can be concluded that the correlation coefficient 0.177 can not be used 

as a conclusion in the relationship between the perception of visitors to the 

development of Sembilangan beach as an ecotourism area. In detail, it can be stated 

that simultaneously there is no positive relationship between the perception of society 

with environmental, economic and institutional conditions to the development of 

Sembilangan beach as an ecotourism area. 

 

Table 1.  
Simultaneous Test of Visitor Perception 

Model 
Sum of 

Squares 
Df 

Mean 

Square 
F Sig 

Regression 18.116 3 6.039 1.763 .177b 

Residual 95.884 28 3.424   

Total 114.000 31    

Information: a. Dependent Variable: Perception. b. Predictors: (Constant),  
                           Institutional, Environmental Conditions, Economics. 
 

By the result of the partial test, it is known that environmental conditions 

indicate the significance value (0.000) <value α (0.05) (table 2). Therefore, it can be 

stated that environmental conditions have the greatest influence on visitor perception 

among two other variables. Through a development model, that is, if the environmental 

conditions (EC) are formulated by equation = 10.729 + 0.302 EC + e. This equation 

shows that if an increase of EC by one unit, it will increase the visitor perception of 

0.302 units. 

 

Table 2.  
Partial Test of Visitor 

Model 
Unstandardized 

Coefficients 
Standardized 
Coefficients 

t Sig. 

B Std. Error Beta   

 
(Constant) 10.729 1.458  7.358 .000 
Enviromental 
Condition 

.302 .143 .375 2.113 .044 



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Economics -.244 .252 -.174 -.970 .340 
Institutional -.166 .240 -.125 -.692 .494 

Society Participation 

Based on Table 3, it can be known that the significance value (0.000) < α value 

(0.05). This shows that environmental, economic and institutional factors have a 

simultaneous influence on community participation in the development of Sambilangan 

beach ecotourism. 

 
Table 3.  

Results of Simultaneous Community Participation Test 

Model 
Sum of 
Squares 

Df 
Mean 

Square 
F Sig 

Regresion 462.982 3 154.327 82.280 .000b 

Residue 52.518 28 1.826   

Total 515.500 31    

Information:  a. Dependent Variable: Participation. b. Predictors (Constant),  
                         Institutional, Environmental Conditions, Economics 
 

The environmental condition factor shows the significance value (0.000)<α 

value (0.05) (Table 4). Therefore, environmental conditions partially have the greatest 

influence on community participation in the development of ecotourism Sembilangan 

beach. Seen through a development model, that is the formula of the equation = 1.611 

EC + e, so that known that an increase of environmental conditions will also increase 

the participation of the community at 1,611 units. 

 

Table 4.  
Partial Community Participation Test Results 

Model 
Unstandardized 

Coefficients 
 

Standardized 
Coefficients 

  

 B Std.Error Beta T Sig 

(Constant) .339 1.079  .314 .756 
Environmental 
Condition 

1.611 .106 .941 15.230 .000 

Economics .183 .186 .062 .984 .334 
Institution -.084 .178 -.030 -.474 .639 

Information: a. Dependent Variable: Participation 
 

Environmental conditions in which the most influential factor on community 

participation, supported by natural assets owned by Sembilahan beach: white sand, 

calm ocean’s wave, a historical lighthouse, and the existence of mangroves (see plate 

1). People's desire to develop ecotourism is evident by their understanding of the 



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importance of maintaining this natural asset. One of the activities that is empowered 

independently is clean the beach, planting and caring mangrove plants. However, the 

presence of tourists has an impact on the local management. It is very important to 

educate the tourists by the managers, in this case is doing by the community, to 

support the sustainability the ecotourism of Sembilahan beach.  

 

  

Plate 1  
A. Landscape of Sembilangan Beach in the Afternoon; B. Mangrove Communities;  

C. A Lighthouse since Dutch Colonial Government Era (1878). 
 

The perception to a tourism object affects the sustainability of a tourism site. If 

the perception of tourists to the quality of the tourism object’s attraction is low, which 

can be interpreted as the emergence of dissatisfaction, it will not experienced as 

repeated visits (Nisa et al., 2014). Visitor’s perception is influenced by the variations of 

tourism’s attractions that exist in an object. A scope of positive choice will strengthen 

the sustainability of tourism consumption (Budeanu, 2007). Sustainability is a superior 

goal in the tourism industry. The main support from government and regional 

cooperation between countries will result as a sustainable tourism (Aal, 2014). 

However, the concept of sustainable tourism is not well understood by tourists. It 

requires a hard work to educate to the tourists about this concept (Symañska, 2013). 

However, the absence of any significant influence from all three factors tested, 

including environmental factors, is a description of Sembilangan beach which is more 



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attractive to the the visitors. This has an impact on their lack of sufficient knowledge 

on topics relevant to observational factors. Visitors who come repeatedly is an 

indication that there is a 'great interest' of a tourist attraction. Objectively, tourist 

attractions have been able to be the destination that can serve various tourism needs 

and supporting facilities (Vetitnev et al., 2013). Satisfaction of tourist destinations will 

bring loyal tourists. Yoon and Uysal (2005) demonstrated that tourist satisfaction is 

influenced by the "attraction motivation" inspired by the destination infrastructure, when 

the "driving motivation", which together with the drivers of tourism, feelings, and 

instincts, directly affects loyalty to destruction. In addition, there is an indication of the 

linkage between promotion and repeat visitors, where the medium of inter-community 

conversation becomes one of the good promotional media (Stange et al., 2002). 

In addition, the very small interest of the community in developing the 

promotion and development of ecotourism becomes a picture of the lack of existence 

of community organizations that can manage ecotourism development. This underlies 

the small influences of community participation and the economy. In fact, the coastal 

community of Sembilangan has a strong foundation in building an ecotourism 

organization. 

The social condition of society work (gotong royong) and social discussion 

(musyawarah) to solve a problem has made the community participate in several 

development and management activities, such as cleaning beach activities, planting, 

and also caring for mangrove collectively. People also understand the economical 

benefits of the tourist’s visit in Sembilangan beach. There is an increase of 

communities income through food or beverage sales to the tourists at the coastal area. 

However, the management process in Sembilangan beach is still partially based, 

whether individual or in small group, it is considercan be optimized through a structured 

institution. Therefore, institutional factors are considered have effects on community 

participation in development through cooperation between the government, the private 

sector and the community. 

The concept of traditional Indonesian values, such as gotong royong and 

musyawarah, is an important part of human life because it affects all aspects of human 

life (Rokeach, 1973). Traditional values in society create a guide to life (Schwartz, 

1999) and answers to both basic and universal questions (Zhou, 2011). However, the 

threat of modernization and globalization can have an impact on Indonesia's traditional 

conditions (Sihombing, 2013). 



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Community participation refers to a question of how these communities have 

an influence in managing the existing resources (Sudana, 2013). Ecotourism, as an 

important component in the sustainability industry, has a close relationship between 

human existence and the environment that exists in their living space. The integrity 

and sustainability of an experience, learning, and tourist visit to nature, landscape, 

flora, fauna, and the culture within, must be carefully planned and managed. Village-

based management, including local participation, allowing benefits to occur, compared 

to the disadvantages of non-ecotourism management activities that are less 

sustainable. Ecotourism, natural resources, cultural heritage, village life in Sembilang 

beach, is an integrated tourism within the scope of local economic activity type (Kiper, 

2013). 

A kind of participation, not just to achieve a success and efficiency of 

management, rather kind of knowledge sharing and transformation of the learning 

process itself as well as the service of human resource development (Okazaki, 2008). 

In the case of ecotourism development of Sembilangan, education on the importance 

of environmental conditions as the main asset is not only emphasized to the 

community, but also to the visitors. The local management approach, in this case is 

the society, towards sustainability education, will be more efficient and easy to achieve 

its goals. It is less efficient when it occurs to the development (Timothy, 2007).  

The presence of community participation in the form of organization will give 

way to the maximum profitability of ecotourism. During this time, the lack of initiation 

of economic factors at Sembilangan beach is a description of the small income 

generated by food and parking. The presence of eco-tourism developer organizations 

will bring merchants into a cooperative or association that can minimize competition, 

facilitate the distribution of goods, sales and increase the selling price (Mensah and 

Ernest, 2013). In addition, education conducted to the community and visitors can 

provide hope for a sustainable ecotourism process, so that the investment value 

invested in the area of Sembilangan Beach is not shrinking and can continue to grow. 

However, the presence of ecotourism must really experience the perception 

test and the proper formulation of the strategy. The general consensus of the 

researchers concludes that the economic benefits of ecotourism appear more 

problematic, as people are less interested in the development process and are 

reluctant to change with old income practices (Theophile, 1995). Ecotourism 

development requires an in-depth study of each specific case, both in the form of 



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tourism, its application, and the communities it contains. Ecotourism development that 

has been built in the Galapagos archipelago provides enormous economic benefits, 

but research shows that the relationship between tourism and the local economy brings 

about income and demographic impacts (Taylor, 2002). Future research is expected 

to lead to perception of local governments in managing Sembilangan beach into an 

ecotourism that has a national competences. 

 

CONCLUSION 

Simultaneously, the three factors, environmental, social, and institutional, do 

not affect visitor perceptions. Partially, environmental factors have the greatest effect 

on visitor perception compared to other factors. Analysis on community participation 

shows the simultaneous influence of environmental, social, and institutional factors on 

community participation. Partially, environmental conditions become the main 

influence of community participation in the development of ecotourism in Sembilangan 

beach. 

 

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