Interrogating Community Readiness in Advancing Sustainable Marine Tourism: Critical Insights from the Mandeh Coastal Region

The success of sustainable tourism in marine tourism areas is highly dependent on the readiness of local communities. This study aims to analyse the level of community readiness in promoting sustainable marine tourism in the Mandeh Coastal Area, West Sumatra, one of the priority marine destinations in the Indonesian National Tourism Master Plan (RIPPNAS). A qualitative approach was used based on the Community Readiness Model, integrating data with thematic analysis processed using N-vivo. Informants were selected through purposive sampling, including Hexa-helix actors: community, government, business, academia, NGOs and media. The findings confirm that community readiness in the Mandeh coastal area is at a promising early stage, but not yet fully optimised. To realise sustainable marine tourism, there is a need for strategic interventions that focus on increasing community literacy, strengthening local institutional capacity, and facilitating resources by various parties through a collaborative approach. Despite the strong potential of natural and cultural resources, the main challenge lies in community empowerment and integration of roles among stakeholders. The findings provide strategic implications for more inclusive and sustainable tourism development through a community readiness-based approach.