Multi-stakeholder complexity of sustainable ecotourism development

Sustainable tourism is one of the sectors on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, which can realize environmental sustainability, safeguard cultural heritage and improve economic prosperity. Ecotourism is an ideal form of sustainable tourism because it is claimed to minimize negative impacts on the environment and increase economic prosperity by increasing the benefits of the tourism sector. However, ecotourism has challenges in its development. Ecotourism is a type of tourism whose development could be faster, and the results are also slow because ecotourism is non-mass tourism, so stakeholders often pay little attention. The role of stakeholders as facilitators and supporters is vital to foster collaboration, cooperation and communication between various parties to create sound management for ecotourism development. The coastal area of Malang Regency is known to have potential natural tourism and conservation. One of the developing tourist destinations is the Clungup Mangrove Conservation (CMC) ecotourism. This research was conducted in the CMC (Clungup et al.) Ecotourism area in Sendang Biru, Tambakrejo Village, Sumbermanjing Wetan District, Malang Regency. The purpose of the study was to find the role of stakeholder collaboration in the development of sustainable ecotourism in the CMC Ecotourism area. This study uses primary data through interviews using open questions and is supplemented with observations and secondary data from literature studies to strengthen the analysis. The research approach uses exploratory qualitative to understand the phenomenon of stakeholder collaboration towards sustainable ecotourism in the CMC Ecotourism area. The results of the study showed that there was still a lack of stakeholder relationships or interactions in the development of ecotourism in the CMC Ecotourism area. The Bhakti Alam Sendangbiru Foundation as an ecotourism manager has not fully collaborated. The research findings suggest (a) creating and increasing stakeholder awareness to collaborate, (b) empowering, (c) creating and strengthening cooperation between sectors and local economic activities, (d) good governance for ecotourism development.