Integrating Digital Transformation, Community Based Tourism, and Creative Economy for Sustainable Marine Tourism in Bone Bolango Regency
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55681/ijssh.v4i3.4824Keywords:
Community Based Tourism, Creative Economy, Digital Transformation, Marine Tourism, Tourism Ecosystem SustainabilityAbstract
This study examined the roles of digital transformation, community-based tourism, and the creative economy in supporting the sustainability of an emerging marine tourism ecosystem at Oluhuta Paradise, Bone Bolango Regency, Indonesia. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design combined a structured survey of 100 respondents from four stakeholder groups with in-depth interviews with 11 key informants representing village government, community organizations, creative economy actors, and district officials. Digital transformation was moderate (M=3.03), constrained mainly by low digital infrastructure readiness (M=2.88), although social media use for promotion was fairly active (M=3.27). Community-based tourism recorded the highest mean (M=3.50), underpinned by strong local ownership and control (M=3.65), yet decision making remained concentrated among core managers and benefit distribution was not yet fully equitable. The creative economy was moderate (M=3.38), strongest in local cultural identity (M=3.72) but weaker in formal collaboration with the tourism sector. All constructs showed adequate reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.818 to 0.895). Each variable correlated positively with ecosystem sustainability, with digital transformation the strongest (r=0.361), followed by community-based tourism (r=0.340) and the creative economy (r=0.261). Integrating both data strands produced the Digital Creative Community Tourism Model, an initial intervention framework connecting the three pillars and open to structural validation and participatory testing.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Henro Prayitno Nento, Mohamad Fadly Binolombangan, Apdul Gandi Igirisa, Kurniadi K. Hasan
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