Implementing community-based tourism (CBT): Lessons learnt and implications by involving students in a CBT project in Laelae Island, Indonesia

Lack of community participation is a major reason leading CBT to fail. This study discusses and illustrates how to involve students into a CBT project in order to achieve two major aims: a) use the students as key informants and stakeholders in CBT implementation with the purpose to provide useful insights and advice to local communities; b) provide a practical example on how to enhance students’ learning experiences and practice-based learning identify the challenges addresses; and c) identify the challenges experienced by the students in order to inform how to better design field-based educational experiences. The student findings revealed useful information about the socio-cultural issues inhibiting CBT implementation (e.g. focus on short-term financial benefits rather than long-term sustainable programmes), which in turn are used for providing useful suggestions to the local community. Consequently, three ways to better implement CBTprojects are identified: understanding the socio-cultural condition of the community and of obtaining community support, having a clear purpose and firm foundation for CBT, and creating a tourism and environmental awareness group. Findings also revealed that students faced three major challenges in participating in the CBT project: different attitudes and responses from the local community on the CBT project, the issue of palimbang and the reclamation megaproject. The paper concludes by discussing the implications on how to better integrate students in CBT projects, as the latter represent an important way in which educational institutions can provide community service.