Introduction

This study examines the impact of ecotourism on Hoga, a small tropical island off South East Sulawesi in Indonesia. The study specifically looks at the impact of Operation Wallacea, a research ecotourism organisation operating across the area. Operation Wallacea is the only significant ‘tour operator’ in the Hoga/Kaledupa area of the Wakatobi Marine National Park at present. Given the poor history of the industry has worldwide, in discovering new destinations and then encouraging over-development of these often fragile environments, to the point where the original attraction of the destination is lost, it is essential that this mistake is not repeated on Hoga. Therefore a carrying capacity should be set out as a limiting factor on the numbers of visitors within a certain area. Visitors to a tropical desert island such as Hoga, in an area with virtually no other visitors, value the quiet and peacefulness of ‘their’ discovery. The addition of other visitors to the island affects this ‘wilderness feel’ and is one of the first environmental and social factors to be affected as numbers of visitors increase.

The aims of this study are set out below:

To describe the distribution of tourist activity across Hoga and the surrounding reefs.
To examine how ecotourists who visit Hoga perceive “wilderness feel” and whether they feel it exists on Hoga.
To establish where wilderness exists on Hoga and to what extent.
To compare visitor perceptions of wilderness with the distribution of tourist activity across Hoga.
To assess the validity of “wilderness feel” as a useful tool in identifying carrying capacity.

Methodology

Over a four week period tourists visiting Hoga were questionnaired using various different questions in order to meet the study’s objectives. Questionnaires were used to identify the spatial and temporal activity of visitors on the island. Visitors perception of wilderness were quantified using a wilderness feel valuation scale. Their perceptions of wilderness were gauged through qualitative focus group interviews of a semi structured nature. Individual interviews with key members of operation wallacea’s staff were also carried out to gain background information on the development of Hoga and consequentially the history of wilderness feel degradation on the island. The distribution of tourist activity was also measured through path use counts carried out over two days at 8 sites around the island. The sites valued using the wilderness feel valuation scale in the questionnaire were analysed individually as to the type of location, number of people present, number of structures and general human impact. This quantitative analysis of location was then compared to the wilderness values people placed on each location. This allows a valuation of the worth of wilderness feel in determining carrying capacity on the island. Local people in the village of Furake were also interviewed to ascertain their perception of wilderness and their attitude towards the impact of visitor presence.

Preliminary Results

The first observation to make from the results is that the numbers of visitors on Hoga obviously detracts from the wilderness feel experienced on the island. However, this does vary significantly between the different areas of the island, as the previous statement applies predominantly to the South West corner of the island where Operation Wallacea are based, and the vast majority of the islands’ visitors stay. The same cannot be said for much of the rest of the island as it is inhabited only along the West coast and the centre of the island is virtually impenetrable. Generally speaking it was found that visitor expectations did not coincide with their perceptions on arrival, in particular many thought that the island would be less westernised, with lower visitor numbers, and a greater degree of wilderness feel. However, other findings show that many visitors to travel much on the island and therefore never reach the areas that still retain the wilderness feel, and instead remain on South West corner of the island where wilderness feel is no longer present.

It can be seen that wilderness feel can be used as a selling point for tourism in the area, however, it is a phenomenon that will be lost if the development of the area is not strictly controlled through channels of organisations such as Operation Wallacea who realise the dangers of threat from mass tourism and understand that numbers have to be limited.

Report

Dissertations entitled Quantifying Wilderness Feel and Carrying Capacity on Hoga Island will be produced by Amy Roberts, University of Cambridge and Christopher Reed, University of Portsmouth by May 2003.