Syafruddin CHAN Cut APRILIA Zaida Rizqi ZAINUL

Indonesian Marine Tourism: Developing a Favorable Tourism Destination to Attract International Sailing Boats

The objective of this paper is to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of Sailing Yacht tourism based on empirical evidence, mainly on demand aspects. The results will be very useful for decision-makers to design, launch and control marketing strategies and policies including promotional aspects to increase the awareness of the yacht sailors from various parts of the world, arouse their intention to come, increase spending and length of stay in Sabang as a free trade zone in west part of Indonesia. Data collection was conducted qualitatively by using the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) technique conducted in four sessions. Each session involves ten sailors who serve as respondents. The data were then analyzed using both score and weight associated with IFAS and EFAS aspects. The output is mapped in Cartesian graphs. The main finding of this study is that the strategy that must be implemented by Sabang is an Aggressive strategy, which uses the Strength to seize the profitable Opportunities. This is in line with the combined strategy that recommends Strength Opportunity (SO) as a priority strategy because it has the highest value of 16.92. In sequence, the next strategy is Weakness Opportunities (WO) that is meant to fix the Weakness in other to be able to grab the profitable Opportunities so that untapped opportunities can be utilized for the benefit of the sailors and tour operators. Then, ST and WT strategies will be implemented to complete all 4 strategies recommended. With the implementation of these four strategies based on the priority scale, it is expected to maximize the utilization of limited resources, but also at the same time maximize the efforts made to achieve the goal of increasing the number of sailor visits to Sabang, Indonesia and increasing their length of stay.
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JEL Classification M31
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1. Introduction

There is a tendency in increasing the interest of tourists to marine tourism in Southeast Asia (Musa, G. 2000), such as diving, snorkeling, windsurfing canoeing and yachting to explore a group of islands that are widely available in Southeast Asian countries. This trend can be clearly observed in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia that are becoming the favorite destination of Yacht Sailors (Hamzah, 2004). A large number of local and foreign tourists love to find the relaxation, recreation, and adventure that can be obtained on maritime tourism because these Southeast Asia countries have adequate resources to accommodate for marine and adventure tourism, including those who love to explore the marine nature using a sailing boat (yacht).

Competition among Southeast Asian nations to attract yacht tourists become higher. Thailand has formed a restoration of economic development called "Thailand Marina Hub of ASEAN". The objective is to promote Marine Tourism products in Thailand to coincide with other tourism products including local wisdom and culture (Bech, 2002). While the Malaysian government has encouraged the establishment of yacht marinas to meet the increasing demand (Mosbah and Al Khuja, 2014). On Langkawi Island alone, there are more than 5 Yacht clubs equipped with international standard Marina such as Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Kuah, Rebak Marina on Rebak Island, and Telaga Harbor Marina in Pantai Tengah. In addition, several other places like Penang also begin to grow into a sailing ship destination. There are other marinas in Pangkor, Ipoh, Johor Baru and Port Dickson (Sazali et al., 2012).

Indonesia also does the same. Currently, Indonesia has begun to encourage the development of Marina. One of them is in Sabang. The development of Marina is done by Sabang Authority Agency (BPKS) which has the responsibility to develop the Tourism sector.

Although promotional activities have been conducted regularly, in fact, the visit of a sailing ship to Sabang has not been so encouraging. In the year of 2015 Sabang visited by 24 sailboats. In 2016 there was a slight increase to 26 sailboats and by 2017 there were 29 sailboats visiting Sabang from the 50 sailboats targeted to arrive (BPKS, 2018).

Pic. 1: The Distance of Sabang-Phuket-Langkawi Pic 2: Marina Lhok Weng, Sabang

Yet from a geographical point of view, Sabang is very close to Phuket and Langkawi. The two main areas of sailing ship destination in the region. The distance from Sabang to Phuket is only 220 NM. While the distance of Sabang to Langkawi is only 260 NM. When the average speed of sailing vessels 10 NM per hour, then Sabang can be reached by the sailboats from Phuket just only 22 hours. But why is the number of sailboats coming to Sabang not as been expected? This paper aims to examine more deeply, why the visit of the sailing ship to Sabang is still relatively small, whereas the infrastructure built, promotion activities, as well as the geographical factor of Sabang, actually become strength factors to attract more sailors to visit Sabang.

The objectives of this paper are to identify the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the yacht tourism, using empirical evidence mainly on the demand side. The result will be very useful to design and launch new marketing and promotional strategies and policies in order to increase visit, increase average tourist expenditures and enhance the image of Sabang as a sailboats destination in the Western part of Indonesia. The findings of this study will greatly assist Sabang in determining the management policy of sailboat tourism destination management which will be able to significantly improve the Sabang economy.

Previous studies related to the development of this marine tourism product, many of which focus on the Yacht charter market (Kalcic, 2016), which has a different business scheme compare to sailing yachts. Several studies conducted for sailing yachts focused solely on measuring sailors’ satisfaction (Hoon 2015; González and González, 2015). Even if there is a specific view about the development aspect of tourism destinations with the SWOT approach, but the scope of the analysis wider, covering the aspect of nautical tourism as a whole (Lück, 2007). Therefore, the authors believe the findings of their study will provide a new dimension in the development of sailing yacht destinations, especially for the newly developed sailing tourism industry such as in Sabang, Indonesia.

2. Literature Review

Yacht Tourism has grown rapidly in recent years. This is because of the efforts made by countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia to promote their countries as an attractive destination for sailboats tourism destination. In fact, Thailand and Malaysia are more successful than Indonesia in terms of bringing the sailboats to their country, whereas on the other hand, the marine resources of Indonesia are much more interesting compared to the two neighboring countries.

Understanding Sailboats Tourism Concept and Sailboats Tourism Destinations Sailboats Tourism Concept has several terms that can be exchanged between one and the other. Some call Sailing Tourism, but some mention Yacht Tourism and Nautical Tourist (Tsartas and Lagos, 2014). Other researchers (Kalcic, 2016, Sariisik et al., 2011) incorporate the notion of marine tourism as a leisure activity in which people travel to a tourist destination either by land to spend time in the waters or traveling through the waters to reach the land to spend their spare time.

A number of literature say that sailboat tourism is part of marine tourism (Chan, 2015; González and González, 2015). According to them, marine tourism is a type of tourism that is often associated with sports activities in the water such as fishing, sailing, underwater photography, surfing, rowing competitions around the sea park, enjoying beautiful scenery under the water surface. More explicitly, they incorporate a type of boat trip (pleasure boating), yacht tour (ocean yachting), and cruising in marine tourism activities (Lück, 2007).

2.1. 6A's Approach in Marketing Tourism

In an effort to understand the development of tourism destinations in general, this research also adapted the framework attribute of destination 6A from Buhalis and Amaranggana (2015). Buhalis and Amaranggana (2015) pointed out that the tourist destinations consist of several core components. It categorizes these components into framework 6A. First, the attractions include nature, artificial, artificial buildings, and special events. In this study, the attractions include nature, culture, and man-made. Second, accessibility, which includes transportation systems, terminals, and modes of transportation. Third, the amenities include accommodation, catering, retail and other travel services. Fourth, available tour packages that have been prepared by tour operators or travel agencies. Fifth, activities i.e. all activities that can be done by tourists when they are in the destination. Sixth, ancillary services refer to banks, telecommunications, postal services, hospitals, and others. Thus, in this study, the 6A framework of from Buhalis and Amaranggana (2015) has been taken into account to understand the characteristic of the Weh Island destination

This pattern allows management between each destination to be different. The difference is a character that became the hallmark of each destination. For that purpose, the management concepts underlying this study include: (a) anchorage area arrangement; (b) accessibility to land; (c) the arrangement of the point of land on the ground; (d) the arrangement of travel activities on land; (e) organizing local art and cultural attractions; and (f) stakeholder participation in all of the treatment (Sari et al., 2016).

2.2. SWOT Analysis

SWOT is a strategic planning method used to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a project or a business speculation. SWOTs will be better discussed using tables so that it can be well analyzed in relation to each aspect (Jackson et al., 2003; Sariisik et al., N. D.; Valentin, 2001). This process involves determining the specific objectives of business speculation and identifying internal and external factors that support and which are not in achieving that goal (Jackson et al., 2003; Piercy and Giles, 1989).

3. Research Method

The research was conducted in Sabang, Pulau Weh. The object of this study is the assessment of the development of sailing tourism (yacht tourist destination) which aims for more sailboats to visit Sabang through the implementation of a better marketing strategy. The population in this study are those sailors from various countries who have visited Sabang and have travelled exploring marine tourism in the region of Southeast Asia. The total number of them in the last 5 (five) years is estimated to be 500 people. Sample determination method using non-probability sampling using a convenience sampling method with the number of respondents reaching 40 people. Data collection is done through two levels of data collection through questionnaire distribution and use of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) technique. The answers given in the list of questions presented in the questionnaire are confirmed through deep discussion in the four FGD sessions.

4. Results and Discussion

The implementation of SWOT analysis in the business plan of sailing tourism destination development in Sabang is very relevant, considering that this destination is a new yacht tourism destination. Consistent and comprehensive efforts are required to ensure that the marketing policies related to the development of this sailing ship product are done correctly. One way is to provide accurate information about the condition of the existing business environment so that business decisions are also more accurate. SWOT analysis is intended to provide reliable information that can be a major reference for the decision maker in Aceh and Sabang, to develop this sailing ship destination into the ideal destination.

Steps taken in this SWOT analysis is to identify indicators or items used as the basis for measuring internal environment variables consisting of Strength and Weakness and External variables consisting of Opportunity and Threat. Then after all indicators are identified, then the weighting and rating are computed.

From the 4 analyzed variables in the SWOT analysis, the result of the recapitulation can be seen in the following table:

Table 1. Recapitulation of IFAS and EFAS Value

No Description Score
1 Strength 8.62
2 Weakness 6.49
3 X Axis 2.13
 
4 Opportunity 8.30
5 Threat 6.25
6 Y Axis 2.05

On the Cartesian diagram (Graph 1), there are two values that are coordinated to describe the result position. For X-axis, coordinates obtained from the reduction of Strength and Weakness, The value is 2.13. As for the Y-axis is derived from the reduction of Opportunity and Threat. The result is 2.05.

Based on the findings of the two coordinates it can then be drawn a Cartesian graph (Graph 1), which consists of 4 quadrants.

Quadrant I: Aggressive. Describes the existence of a very good situation because there are forces that are utilized to seize the advantageous opportunities.

Quadrant II: Diversification. Describes the situation that although organizations face threats, there are reliable forces.

Quadrant III:Defense. Describes that the organization is experiencing weaknesses in various ways (internal) so that profitable opportunities are difficult to achieve.

Quadrant IV:Turn Around. Describing the organizational situation is very bad because in addition to the various internal weaknesses arise outside.

Graph 1. Sailing Yacht Tourism Destination Development Strategy

The coordinated values obtained from the previous calculations are included in the Cartesian diagram, the position is located in quadrant 1. Therefore, the strategy to be implemented is an Aggressive strategy. In other words, this destination has the Strength to frontally take advantage of the Opportunities available, before the opportunity was taken by the competitor. Sabang must use all the resources available to build a better sailing tourism destination.

Figure 1 describes what items are used in measuring the performance of each variable used in this study both internal and external. But because a company is always faced with limited resources and resources, there is always a priority scale to run the strategies used. The following table illustrates the scores for each strategy from the highest to the lowest. The highest score is owned by the SO strategy with a score of 16.92. While the lowest is the WT strategy with a score of 12.74

  • Priority I: SO (Strength and Opportunity). SO strategy is a priority strategy because it has the highest value of 16.92. Therefore Sabang must implement this strategy, which is to use all its Strength to exploit all the opportunities that exist.
  • Priority II: WO (Weakness Opportunity). The next sequential strategy is WO which has a value of 14.79; namely to solve problems related to existing weaknesses by fixing them, so that untapped opportunities can be utilized for the benefit of both sailors and tour operators.
  • Priority III: ST (Strength Threat). Then ST Strategy to dampen Threats, so that the Threat impact on the development of this sailing tourist destination is not disturbed.
  • Priority IV: WT (Weakness Threat).The last priority is to run the WT strategy with the smallest score of 12.74. In this way means that Sabang is improving the existing weakness to be used to reduce the impact of Threats

Figure 1. Combined Strategy

It is clear that the main strategy that must be applied by Sabang to develop its sailing tourist destination is implementing aggressive strategy by using the existing strength to maximize the utilization of all opportunities, which lead to increase the attractiveness of the destination to attract more sailors to come as well as to make them stay longer.

5. Conclusion and Future Research

Although this study has revealed some important findings, some limitations need to be raised for future research. The development of tourist destinations should be related to the use of information technology that can record and store tourist behavior data. Later on, the data might be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns and trends of tourist behavior, so that the attributes of the Sabang destination can be tailored to the tourist preference to ensure a better level of satisfaction.

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Article Rights and License
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Sprint Investify. ISSN 2359-7712. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License
Corresponding Author
Syafruddin Chan, Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia
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Author(s)

Syafruddin CHAN
Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Cut APRILIA
University of Syiah Kuala, Indonesia

Zaida Rizqi ZAINUL
University of Syiah Kuala, Indonesia
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