Stakeholder perceptions to support Jurassic Park project as a future wildlife tourism

Abstract

Tourism in protected areas contributes to the financial sustainability of its sites. It has a positive impact on a stakeholder within and beyond the destinations through effective and efficient benefit-sharing. This study examine the environmental attitudes, community attachment, economic gain, and community involvement that will impact to the stakeholder perceptions to revitalization project in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. In the context of protected areas of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, this project related to the extensive tourism infrastructure development from nature-based tourism to a new project of Jurassic Park. The concerns regarding the stakeholders’ support may have on expectations for tourism development. This research use the Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Weber’s Theory of Substantive and Formal Rationality (WTSFR) with a quantitative approach. A total of 182 questionnaires with Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) were applied. Finding provides that stakeholder perceptions play a significant role as a mediator in shaping the relationship between each of variables to support tourism development. Ultimately, this study paves the way for improving normative practices toward Sustainability and offers practical solutions to the challenges the government and non-government organizations face to protect the endangered species, society, and the environment.