Tourism has emerged as one of Indonesia's key economic sectors, playing a strategic role in national development. Sustainable tourism refers to a model of tourism development that ensures long-term viability, preserves environmental functions, and generates economic benefits for local communities (Prayitno et al., 2023). To enhance global competitiveness, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has prioritized five destinations for accelerated development such as Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Likupang, and Labuan Bajo. The initiative aims to optimise Indonesia's tourism potential, increase tourists' length of stay, and encourage creative economic growth around these destinations.

Labuan Bajo, located in West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, is a featured destination in this programme. In accordance with Government Regulation No. 50 of 2011 on the National Tourism Development Master Plan 2010–2025, the government established the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority (BPOLBF) through Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2018 to spearhead its transformation.

The rapid growth of tourism in Labuan Bajo is evidenced by a significant increase in both domestic and international tourist arrivals. Based on visitor data reported by the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority (BPOLBF), a significant upward trend in tourist arrivals was observed between 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the number of visitors reached 170,077, which then sharply increased to 423,847 in 2023. This growth reflects the post-pandemic recovery of the tourism sector, as well as the results of extensive promotional efforts and infrastructure development led by the government and relevant stakeholders. However, in 2024, the number of tourist arrivals experienced a slight decline to 411,349 visitors. This decrease is presumed to be influenced by external factors, one of which was the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki that occurred during the same year.

To achieve sustainable tourism development in Labuan Bajo, it is essential to ensure both community acceptance and active participation in tourism-related activities. The local community is an important element in the tourism village because the community will manage tourism into sustainable tourism and contribute to local income from the tourism area (Aridayanti, et al., 2024). In Labuan Bajo, this is realised through the development of tourist villages. The key to the successful development of a tourism village lies in its strong rural atmosphere, welcoming residents (friendly, sincere, honest, and trustworthy), professional stakeholders or actors, well-implemented Sapta Pesona principles, good public health and education, as well as an improving local economy (Susianti et al., 2023). Besides that, the role of community leaders is essential to developing tourism as they inspire the community to be self-reliant and find solutions that lead to improved tourism services (Khaenamkhaew et al., 2023).

Gorontalo Village is one of the villages in Komodo District that was officially designated as a tourism village in 2019. It has received various technical guidance programs and training for the community as part of the strategy to strengthen the Labuan Bajo Super Priority Tourism Destination (DPSP) (Menparekraf/Kabaparekraf, 2023). However, despite its tourism village status, Gorontalo Village still faces several challenges, such as the lack of a Tourism Awareness Group (POKDARWIS), limited human resource capacity in tourism development, and community concerns about the social and environmental impacts of massive tourism infrastructure development (Vincent, 2024).

Tourism development will create opportunities for physical growth, social interactions between tourists and the local community, and encounters with different cultures (Sari et al., 2023). The Gorontalo Village community also faces cultural challenges, as some residents still believe that tourism development is not fully aligned with local traditional values. The rapid transformation of the area, including the construction of roads and tourist facilities, raises concerns about possible social changes, loss of community land, environmental damage and increased traffic that can cause congestion (Grasias, 2022).

Community perceptions of tourism are based on Doxey’s (1975) four-stage Irridex model, which outlines how greater tourist numbers and levels of tourism development in a destination correspond with increasingly antagonistic community attitudes to tourism (White et al., 2024). Therefore, this study aims to understand the attitudes of the Gorontalo Village community towards the development of the Labuan Bajo DPSP. This study is expected to identify the main challenges faced by local communities and provide strategic recommendations that support tourism development that is sustainable, inclusive and in line with local cultural value.

Tourism

According to Law Number 10 of 2009 on Tourism, which is the most recent law concerning tourism in Indonesia, tourism is defined as "all tourism activities carried out by tourists in a particular area or location, including activities related to preparation and travel to the destination, activities at the destination, and activities related to the return journey to the place of origin." Sustainable tourism is a form of tourism management that considers economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Tourism serves various functions that contribute to economic, social, and cultural development. According to Goeldner & Ritchie (2012:48), the functions of tourism include:

1. Economic function: Tourism acts as a source of foreign exchange, creates employment opportunities, and drives the growth of other sectors such as transportation, culinary industries, and handicrafts.

2. Socio-cultural function: Tourism strengthens local identity and provides space for intercultural dialogue.

3. Environmental function: Through ecotourism, tourism can support environmental conservation efforts.

Tourism Destinations

Tourist destinations are a core element in the tourism system, as they are the places visited by tourists to enjoy various attractions and experiences. According to UNWTO (2007), a tourist destination is defined as a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries where visitors can stay.

The success of a tourism destination is strongly influenced by the presence and integration of four main components, known as the 4A (Cooper et al., 2008):

1. Attraction: The main element that draws tourists to a destination. Attractions can be natural resources (such as beaches, mountains, lakes), local culture (such as traditional ceremonies or dances), or man-made attractions (such as theme parks and festivals).

2. Amenity: Supporting facilities that ensure tourists’ comfort during their visit, such as hotels, restaurants, public restrooms, and information centers.

3. Accessibility: Refers to how easily tourists can reach the destination. This includes transportation systems, road infrastructure, and overall connectivity.

4. Ancillary services: Additional services provided by local governments at tourism destinations, both for tourists and tourism stakeholders. These support services include banks, clinics, travel agencies, and tour guide services.

Community Attitudes

In the context of tourism development, the attitude of the local community plays a crucial role, as they are the most directly affected by tourism activities. To understand this dynamic, Doxey (1975) developed a model known as the Irridex (Irritation Index), which explains how community attitudes change as tourism develops in their area.

Doxey’s Irridex Model outlines four progressive stages of community attitudes that evolve as the number of tourists and the intensity of tourism activities increase:

1. Euphoria Stage: In the initial phase, the community welcomes tourism with enthusiasm. Tourists are seen as something exciting and economically beneficial. The relationship between residents and tourists is open and positive.

2. Apathy Stage: As tourism grows and becomes part of daily life, enthusiasm begins to fade. Interactions between residents and tourists become more formal and transactional.

3. Annoyance Stage: The community begins to feel disturbed by the presence of tourists. Dissatisfaction arises due to issues such as traffic congestion, rising prices, environmental degradation, or disruption of local culture.

4. Antagonism Stage: The community openly rejects tourists. Tourists are no longer welcomed and are seen as a burden or threat to local identity and well-being.

Social Impact of Tourism

Tourism activities are closely linked with social actions, as they relate to the behaviors of individuals and groups while traveling, as well as the effects on local communities. According to Spillane (1985), tourism has several impacts, one of which is social in nature. The social impacts of tourism can affect various aspects of life (Spillane, 1985), including:

1. Impact on Morals and Behavior: Tourism exposes local residents to new behaviors, some of which may conflict with traditional moral values. It may also promote a consumerist lifestyle, particularly among the youth, potentially weakening traditional community bonds.

2. Impact on Religion: Tourism can influence local religious practices, especially when destinations attract visitors with different beliefs, which may affect the sanctity of sacred sites.

3. Impact on Language: Tourism can lead to the erosion of local languages, as global languages become more commonly used in tourist areas.

4. Impact on Health: Tourism can negatively affect public health, especially regarding the spread of infectious diseases brought by tourists. This is particularly concerning when sanitation and healthcare facilities are inadequate to handle the influx of visitors

Based on the theoretical framework employed, the following is the conceptual framework used in this study.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Research Object

In this study, the research object refers to the attitudes of the community in Gorontalo Village toward the development of the super-priority destination in Labuan Bajo.

Research Location

The research was conducted in Gorontalo Village, Komodo District, West Manggarai Regency.

Types and Sources of Data

The data sources consist of primary data obtained directly from the Gorontalo Village community through surveys and structured interviews, while secondary data were collected from various relevant literature, journals, and official documents.

Sampling Technique

Sampling was conducted using a Non-Probability Sampling method with a Purposive Sampling technique. The sample size was determined using the Taro Yamane formula (Ridwan, 2005):

Tabel 1

Perhitungan Ukuran Sampel Menggunakan Rumus Slovin

The final number of respondents in this study was rounded to 98. The criteria for respondent selection included ownership of a Labuan Bajo ID card, a minimum residence period of more than five years, involvement in tourismrelated activities, and an age range of 17–50 years.

Data Collection Technique

Data collection was carried out through several methods: observation, interviews, surveys using structured questionnaires, photographic documentation, and literature review to support the research analysis.

Data Analysis Technique

The data collection in this study was carried out through questionnaires, which were then analyzed using a quantitative descriptive analysis method to understand the attitudes of the Gorontalo Village community toward the development of the Super-Priority Tourism Destination (DPSP) in Labuan Bajo. This research employed a statistical approach aimed at summarizing, describing, and presenting data in a concise and structured manner. The results from the questionnaires were averaged and then described to explain the findings and draw conclusions about observable phenomena using numerical data.

Table 1

No.	Sub-Variabel	Indicator	Average Score	Description	Sub-Average
P1	Euphoria	Welcoming tourists enthusiastically	3.56	Strongly Agree	3.54 (Strongly Agree)
P2		Happy with the presence of tourists	3.56	Strongly Agree
P3		Proud of the presence of tourists	3.53	Strongly Agree
P4		Supporting tourism development	3.60	Strongly Agree
P5		Ready to coexist with tourists	3.47	Strongly Agree
P6	Apathy	Presence of tourists is considered normal	2.92	Agree	2.90 (Agree)
P7		Indifferent to the presence of tourists	2.52	Agree
P8		Carrying out activities without being influenced by tourists	3.00	Agree
P9		Tourists as a business routine	3.29	Strongly Agree
P10		Tourist presence does not affect social life	2.78	Agree
P11	Annoyance	Disturbed by the increasing number of tourists	1.90	Disagree	1.90 (Disagree)
P12		Tourist presence reduces the quality of life	1.87	Disagree
P13		Tourist crowds disturb comfort	1.91	Disagree
P14		Tourists disturb daily routines	1.87	Disagree
P15		Increased complaints about tourist behavior	1.98	Disagree
P16	Antagonism	Openly expressing displeasure toward tourists	1.62	Strongly Disagree	1.69 (Strongly Disagree)
P17		Refusing to interact with tourists	1.64	Strongly Disagree
P18		Tourists as the main cause of social problems	1.70	Strongly Disagree
P19		Increasing conflict incidents between locals and tourists	1.79	Disagree
P20		Rejecting tourism projects	1.69	Strongly Disagree

Source: Personal data, (2025)

The results of this study show that community attitudes towards tourism can be categorised into four sub-variables: Euphoria, Apathy, Annoyance, and Antagonism. In the Euphoria sub-variable, the community fully supports tourism development, with the highest average value of 3.60, which is included in the 'Strongly Agree' category. This support is reflected in the community's request to be involved in development planning and the development of tourist attractions. Meanwhile, the indicator with the lowest average value in this subvariable is 'Community willingness to coexist with tourists in daily life, which obtained a value of 3.47 and remains in the "Strongly Agree" category. This value shows that although the community supports tourism development, there is still unpreparedness to adapt to rapid changes, which can be caused by cultural factors that are still oriented towards local traditional values.

In the Apathy sub-variable, the indicator with the highest average value is 'People consider tourists as part of the business routine', with a value of 3.29, which is included in the 'Strongly Agree' category. This indicates that the presence of tourists has contributed to an increase in local economic activity, especially in selling local products. Meanwhile, the indicator with the lowest mean score is 'People do not care about the presence of tourists', with a score of 2.52, which falls into the 'Agree' category. This finding indicates that despite the tendency towards apathy, the people of Gorontalo Village still support tourism due to its positive impact on the local economy.

In the Annoyance sub-variable, the indicator with the highest mean value is 'Increased community complaints about tourist behaviour', with a value of 1.98. Meanwhile, the indicator with the lowest mean score is 'The presence of tourists reduces the quality of daily life of residents and begins to disrupt daily life', with a score of 1.87. Based on the research results, respondents generally Disagree with these two indicators, indicating that the people of Gorontalo Village tend to support tourism development and do not feel disturbed by the increasing number of tourists.

In the Antagonism sub-variable, the indicator with the highest value is 'Increased incidence of conflict between local communities and tourists', with a value of 1.79, which falls into the 'Disagree' category. This indicates that conflicts between local communities and tourists rarely occur. The indicator with the lowest mean score was 'Communities openly show displeasure towards tourists', with a score of 1.62, which falls into the 'Strongly Disagree' category. This result reflects that, in general, the community accepts and welcomes the presence of tourists as part of tourism development in Labuan Bajo.

This study concludes that the Gorontalo Village community accepts tourism development in Labuan Bajo and is currently in the 'Euphoria' phase. However, some concerns have emerged, mainly related to road degradation due to the opening of new access to support tourism development. The impact of this infrastructure development includes the sacrifice of community-owned land as well as increased traffic that has the potential to cause congestion. This finding aligns with research conducted by Elhanisi et al. (2023), which revealed that the community in Pujon Kidul Tourism Village, Batu City, has also felt similar impacts.

Table 5. Results of reliability statistical Table 2

No.	Sub-Variable	Indicator	Average Score	Description	Sub-Avg.
P21	Moral/ Behavior	Community social behavior	2.68	Agree	2.36 (Agree)
P22		Consumer behavior in the community	2.71	Agree
P23		Changes in social norms	2.18	Disagree
P24		Changes in moral values	2.14	Disagree
P25		Moral violations by tourists	2.08	Disagree
P26	Religion	Tourism affects religious practices	1.61	Strongly Disagree	2.21 (Disagree)
P27		Tourists participate in local religious activities	3.10	Agree
P28		Decline in adherence to religious teachings	1.56	Strongly Disagree
P29		Introduction of new religious practices	1.74	Strongly Disagree
P30		Tourist presence in places of worship	3.03	Agree
P31	Language	Use of local language	2.22	Disagree	2.95 (Agree)
P32		Increase in foreign language usage	2.92	Agree
P33		Enrichment of foreign language	3.45	Strongly Agree
P34		Interest in learning foreign languages	2.93	Agree
P35		Introduction of local languages to tourists	3.24	Agree
P36	Health	Public health conditions	2.21	Disagree	2.58 (Agree)
P37		Improved health services	2.97	Agree
P38		Risk of increased disease transmission	2.52	Agree
P39		Quality of environmental cleanliness	2.94	Agree
P40		Increase in air pollution	2.26	Agree

Source: Personal data, (2025)

The research results on tourism's social impact show various influences on the community, which are grouped into four main aspects: morals/behaviour, religion, language, and health.

In the moral/behavioural aspect, the highest indicator is ‘Tourism has an impact on increasing consumptive behaviour in the community,’ with an average score of 2.71, which falls into the ‘Agree’ category. In contrast, the lowest indicator is ‘Unethical moral violations by tourists,’ with a mean score of 2.08, which falls into the ‘Disagree’ category. This shows that although tourism encourages consumptive lifestyle changes in the community, these changes do not significantly affect the moral values of the Gorontalo Village community.

In the religious aspect, the community did not feel a significant impact of tourism on religious practices. The indicator with the highest score is 'Tourists participate in local religious activities,' with an average of 3.10, which falls into the' Agree' category.' This finding shows that the community is open to tourists participating in or simply witnessing local religious activities. On the other hand, the indicator with the lowest score was 'Tourism influences religious practices,' with an average of 1.61, categorised as 'Strongly Disagree.' This indicates that tourism development has influenced local religious practices. This indicates that significant tourism development does not interfere with local religious values.

In terms of language, the positive impact of tourism is more apparent. The community strongly agrees that tourism helps enrich foreign language skills, with an average of 3.45 categorised as 'Strongly Agree.' This is due to the increase in foreign tourists visiting Labuan Bajo, which indirectly teaches people to use foreign languages. However, the results show that the increased use of foreign languages does not affect the use of local languages as everyday language. The people of Gorontalo Village still use the traditional Manggarai language in their daily interactions to maintain the local language.

In the health aspect, the highest indicator is 'There is an increase in health services as a result of tourism,' with an average value of 2.97, categorised as 'Agree'. This can be seen from the community's increased access to adequate health services, such as a hospital in Labuan Bajo. In contrast, the lowest indicator was 'Tourism affects public health conditions,' with an average score of 2.21, categorised as 'Disagree.' This is in line with the statements of the Labuan Bajo Village community. This is due to the Gorontalo Village community's statement that direct contact with tourists is rare, so tourism has no significant effect on their health. However, the indicator 'Environmental cleanliness has decreased due to tourism' received an average value of 2.94 in the 'Agree' category, indicating that the community recognises a decrease in environmental cleanliness since tourism has developed.

Overall, the results show that communities have mixed perceptions of the impacts of tourism. They tend to accept positive impacts, such as improved foreign language skills and tolerance of cultural differences. However, they are also aware of the social and environmental risks, such as the waste problem. As expressed by one community, the habit of littering is not entirely done by tourists but is also caused by the behaviour of the local community. Therefore, it is necessary to increase public awareness of environmental cleanliness as research conducted by Rohani et al., 2020 in the Pampang Ecotourism Village of Gunung Kidul that the village community began to have an awareness of preserving and protecting the environment through tourism so that it became a pilot village in innovation and environmental management.

The results of this study indicate that the community of Gorontalo Village generally supports the development of tourism in Labuan Bajo and is currently in the 'Euphoria' stage, which is marked by strong enthusiasm and willingness to participate in tourism planning. Despite a slight tendency towards apathy, the community still acknowledges the positive economic impact of tourism. Socially, tourism contributes to improving foreign language skills among residents without diminishing the use of local languages. However, the community also expressed concern about the negative impacts of infrastructure development, including road damage, traffic congestion, and environmental issues such as waste accumulation.

In response to these findings, it is necessary to promote a collaborative approach involving local communities, tourism managers, and government stakeholders. Communities are encouraged to participate in training programs on tourism awareness, service quality, business management, product development, and marketing. Tourism managers should enhance community involvement through educational initiatives, active participation in tourism activities, and the establishment of tourism awareness groups. The government is expected to collaborate with academic institutions in providing capacitybuilding programs, enforce environmental protection policies, and ensure the availability of infrastructure that supports tourism without disrupting local ecosystems. A participatory approach that includes local communities in every stage of tourism development planning, implementation, and evaluation is essential to achieve sustainable tourism and maintain harmony between tourists and local residents.

As a continuation of the research on the attitudes of the Gorontalo Village community, the next study can focus more specifically on the social and cultural changes experienced by the community since the development of the tourism sector in Labuan Bajo. This is important because the current research does not elaborate in detail on the social impacts felt by the community following the growth of tourism in Labuan Bajo. The upcoming study aims to identify shifts in cultural values, social norms, and traditional practices resulting from interactions with tourists as well as the accompanying economic changes. Additionally, the research will analyze the influence of modernization and globalization brought by tourism on the lifestyle, language, and communication patterns of the local community. The results are expected to serve as a basis for policy recommendations that balance tourism development with the preservation of Labuan Bajo’s cultural heritage.

With the completion of this research, the author hopes that it will be beneficial to various stakeholders, particularly the government and authorities in Labuan Bajo, in supporting the development of the tourism sector. The journey to complete this study was not without its challenges filled with hard work, perseverance, and valuable lessons along the way. With sincere humility, the author extends heartfelt gratitude to all parties who have contributed, supported, and assisted throughout the research process. May all the kindness extended be repaid in kind, and may we all be granted good health and long life.