Rural Tourism in the ‘Third World’:
The Dialectic of Development
The Case of Desa Senaru at
Gunung Rinjani National Park
in Lombok Island
___________________
A thesis
submitted in fulfilment
of the requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
at
Lincoln University
(Lists of Contents)
by
Matthias Schellhorn
___________________
Lincoln University
2007
Table of Contents
Abstract ....................................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms.................................................................................................vi
Table of Contents...................................................................................................................vii
List of Tables............................................................................................................................x
List of Figures..........................................................................................................................xi
List of Maps............................................................................................................................xii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
The birth of a research project...................................................................................................2
CHAPTER TWO
More than just hosts and guests: Tourism, development and culture.................................5
Tourism as a development tool...................................................................................................5
Defining the parameters of development theory ....................................................................... 6
The evolution of development theory.........................................................................................9
Tourism theory and the development discourse.......................................................................17
Quality and balance: The magic pentagon of tourism development? ......................................21
The concept of sustainable tourism ..........................................................................................23
Globalisation.............................................................................................................................27
Culturaltourism.........................................................................................................................30
New directions in tourism cultural theory ...............................................................................35
Tradition...................................................................................................................................38
Authenticity .............................................................................................................................40
Commodification..................................................................................................................... 42
Literature review - conclusion..................................................................................................45
CHAPTER THREE
A case of development: Research focus, study approach and methods............................49
Situating the research ..............................................................................................................49
Tourism – a multi-faceted research subject.............................................................................50
Research questions ..................................................................................................................52
Research approach...................................................................................................................53
Desa Senaru as a case study of tourism development .............................................................54
Getting started: Research design .............................................................................................61
Different information - different techniques ...........................................................................62
Practical aspects of the research process .................................................................................66
Cross-cultural research: The challenge of creative intersection...............................................67
Chapter summary......................................................................................................................70
CHAPTER FOUR
Development for poverty eradication – tourism’s untapped potential?............................73
The Millennium Development Goals .......................................................................................73
New Zealand’s official development assistance.......................................................................74
The role of tourism in international development assistance ...................................................77
New Zealand’s development assistance in the tourism sector .................................................79
The pro-poor tourism development approach ..........................................................................81
Principles of pro-poor tourism..................................................................................................81
The limitations of state intervention.........................................................................................85
Chapter conclusion ...................................................................................................................91
CHAPTER FIVE
Development, conservation and tourism – an easy alliance?..............................................93
What is at stake – biodiversity and local development needs ..................................................93
Conservation and ecotourism: Discourse and ideology ...........................................................95
Tourism development within an integrated conservation model..............................................99
Ecotourism – the new-found development choice .................................................................102
Ecotourism – a sustainable alternative?..................................................................................108
Chapter conclusion .................................................................................................................111
CHAPTER SIX
Tourism in Indonesia: National priorities and politics ....................................................114
Tourism in Indonesia..............................................................................................................114
Tourism as a national planning priority................................................................................ .118
Cultural politics ..................................................................................................................... 119
Post-Suharto: New regional policies – new tourism strategies ..............................................125
Tourism – a cultural and political phenomenon .....................................................................127
CHAPTER SEVEN
Tourism development in Lombok - a contextual analysis ................................................128
Regional development planning and tourism in NTB Province.............................................128
Decentralisation – a new era of local responsibilities ............................................................132
Tourism development on the island of Lombok.....................................................................134
Bombs on the ‘island of peace’ ..............................................................................................140
Effects of the Bali bomb terror attack (2002) on tourism in Lombok....................................142
Chapter conclusion .................................................................................................................147
CHAPTER EIGHT
On the slope of sacred Mount Rinjani:
The Desa Senaru communities and tourism development................................................148
The Gunung Rinjani National Park ........................................................................................148
Communities of Desa Senaru .................................................................................................153
The formal and informal tourism economy of Desa Senaru ..................................................157
Tour organisers.......................................................................................................................165
The gorokan............................................................................................................................167
Tour guides.............................................................................................................................169
Porters.....................................................................................................................................172
Employment in the tour sector ...............................................................................................173
How hard it is to wait… .........................................................................................................175
The competitive nature of the tourism business ....................................................................176
Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................178
CHAPTER NINE
The politics of culture and ethnicity ...................................................................................180
Searching for “real things” - the tourist’s perspective............................................................180
Simple is beautiful – the idealisation of local life ..................................................................182
The tourists are always the others ..........................................................................................185
Aesthetic poverty....................................................................................................................187
Ethnicity as a tourist attraction - the tour operator’s perspective ..........................................190
Local people as ‘ethnic attractions’........................................................................................195
State control of cultural tourism .............................................................................................196
National park attractions – the adat perspective ....................................................................199
The politics of culture.............................................................................................................201
Chapter conclusion .................................................................................................................203
CHAPTER TEN
Development for whom? ......................................................................................................206
How they got there – the stories of two Senaru entrepreneurs...............................................206
Who is in the ‘business of tourism’?.......................................................................................210
Economic leakage...................................................................................................................217
Employment in the hospitality sector ....................................................................................220
Gender roles in tourism development.....................................................................................222
Barriers to tourism business involvement .............................................................................225
Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................228
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Rinjani Trek Ecotourism Programme: A project for development?.......................232
The Gunung Rinjani National Park Project and Rinjani Trek Ecotourism Programme.........233
The allocation of project resources.........................................................................................237
Project pressure and the business of ‘eco’tourism..................................................................243
The project culture..................................................................................................................252
The project entrepreneur.........................................................................................................255
Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................263
CHAPTER TWELVE
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................268
What kind of business is tourism?..........................................................................................268
Revisiting the principle of balance .........................................................................................273
Towards an ethically grounded approach: The role of community development .................278
Integrating tourism and development ....................................................................................282
List of References .................................................................................................................289
Appendices ............................................................................................................................306
Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................307
Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................309
List of Tables
Table 1 Overview of the research process...............................................................................65
Table 2 Programmatic focus of New Zealand’s tourism development assistance ..................80
Table 3 CO2 emission potential for key ecotourism source markets (RTC ticket sales).......110
Table 4 The eco-paradox of international tourism ................................................................112
Table 5 International tourist arrivals in Indonesia 1969 and 1990-1999 (in millions)....... ...116
Table 6 Selected tourism sector performance indicators for Indonesia (2000-2006)........ ....117
Table 7 Officially recorded foreign and domestic tourist arrivals NTB 1990-2006 .......... ...137
Table 8 Safety and security disturbances affecting tourism in Indonesia 1997-2007 ...........139
Table 9 Lombok tourist arrivals following the Bali bombings 2002 .................................. ..143
Table 10 Bali bomb crisis (2002): Impacts for small industries in Lombok..........................144
Table 11 Ticket sales for Rinjani Trek (2002-2006) ..............................................................145
Table 12 Selected characteristics of native and migrant settler societies in Desa Senaru......156
Table 13 Rinjani trek foreign users (2002-2006) ...................................................................162
Table 14 Participation in tour operations (Desa Senaru) 2002 / 2006....................................173
Table 15 Annual cash income of a family in a Sasak wetu telu hamlet .................................177
Table 16 The development paradox of cultural tourism.........................................................204
Table 17 Staff type and female employment ratios for Senaru hospitality businesses ..........221
Table 18 Qualification status of Senaru hospitality staff .......................................................221
Table 19 Barriers to native participation in tourism development .........................................226
Table 20 The social justice paradox of tourism development ................................................228
Table 21 GRNPP/ RTEP In-country national contract expenditure 1999-2005 ....................237
Table 22 Work time input by international consulting sector specialists...............................238
Table 23 GRNPP activities and participation rates for native people ....................................249
Table 24 Participation of native people in GRNPP training activities...................................250
Table 25 The project paradox of tourism development..........................................................263
List of Figures
Figure 1 Kangchenjunga integrated development model ..........................................................2
Figure 2 Tourism development's magic pentagon....................................................................22
Figure 3 Abstract continua of traditionality .............................................................................39
Figure 4 Ricefields near Desa Senaru.......................................................................................56
Figure 5 Desa Senaru environs.................................................................................................58
Figure 6 Foreign tourist arrivals in NTB 1990-2006 (trend)..................................................138
Figure 7 Gunung Rinjani caldera with Lake Segara Anak.....................................................149
Figure 8 Traditional Sasak architecture and tools (Desa Senaru) ..........................................152
Figure 9 Domestic tourism at Desa Senaru ............................................................................158
Figure 10 ‘Traditional village’ tourism (Dusun Senaru hamlet) ............................................164
Figure 11 The business of trek organisation...........................................................................166
Figure 12 Trek organisers as successful entrepreneurs ..........................................................168
Figure 13 Waterfall attractions of Desa Senaru......................................................................171
Figure 14 Social dynamics of the local tourism trade (Desa Senaru) ....................................179
Figure 15 Inside an adat house...............................................................................................182
Figure 16 ‘Intrusions of modernity’ .......................................................................................184
Figure 17 Welcome sign and donation box at Dusun Senaru hamlet.....................................189
Figure 18 Gunung Rinjani – a place of spiritual power and healing......................................200
Figure 19 Product sourcing by Desa Senaru guesthouses ......................................................219
Figure 20 Regional origin of Desa Senaru guesthouse staff ..................................................220
Figure 21 Women guides of Desa Senaru. .............................................................................224
Figure 22 The ‘three circles’ integrated conservation model (GRNPP) ................................234
Figure 23 The Rinjani Trek Centre.........................................................................................236
Figure 24 Lombok contract expenditure for GRNPP/ RTEP project sectors.........................239
Figure 25 Distribution of financial resource inputs to project components (GRNPP)...........240
Figure 26 ‘Traditional people’ as camera objects ..................................................................251
Figure 27 Project entrepreneurship ........................................................................................260
Figure 28 The ethical pentagon of tourism development .......................................................275
Figure 29 Open system model of integrated tourism development........................................285
List of Maps
Map 1 Location of Desa Senaru research site on Lombok Island (Indonesia).........................55
Map 2 Hamlets of Desa Senaru study area...............................................................................57
Map 3 Indonesia .....................................................................................................................115
Map 4 Nusa Tenggara Province and Lombok Island .............................................................129
Map 5 Lombok with Gunung Rinjani National Park .............................................................135
Map 6 The Rinjani Trek (Gunung Rinjani National Park)................................................... .160
Map 7 Spatial distribution of tourism infrastructure in Desa Senaru ....................................163
Map 8 Location of trek organisers and guides in Desa Senaru .............................................213