Sustainable Tourism's Contribution to Local Spending and Economic Development of Makassar City

Abstract

There has been alarming growth in interest regarding sustainable tourism, especially in the promotion of the local economy through area conservation. Nevertheless, very few studies explore how sustainability efforts within local tourism industries specifically benefit the economy. This research intends to fill this void by investigating the economic impacts of energy efficiency measures and promotion of local goods initiatives on local communities in Makassar City. Quantitative methods of research were employed, whereby the survey data was gathered through a questionnaire which was filled out by the purposive sampling of tourism firms that practice sustainability. The descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used in the analysis of income and local expenditures in attempts to determine the link between the measures of sustainability and the economic gains of the firm. The results show that businesses that adopt and implement sustainability measures have an overall positive impact on local economies by increasing revenue earned by local businesses. Therefore, the research advances the case that sustainable tourism enhances economic growth of both the sacrificing organisations and the local economies and therefore, the case for policies which govern the support of conservation practices across the tourism industry are required