AN ECO-RESORT IN RAJA AMPAT, WEST PAPUA IN THE CONTEXT OF ECO-TOURISM

Abstract

The intention of this study is to present the ways in which the operations and architecture of an eco-resort contribute to the paradoxes of Eco-tourism. The paper first examines the rational behind the construction of Eco-tourism and its relationships with Sustainability in Tourism. This helps to identify the fundamental reason for its paradox, as it is idealistic in theory and thus often claimed to be used as a branding tool. This paradox arises from trying to fulfill both preservation and development at the same time. An eco-resort, in the context of a Marine Protected region at Raja Ampat, West Papua, is used as a case study to understand the supportive roles played by the operations and architecture. This paper would further elaborate the paradoxes found in macro- operations, micro-operations and the construction material of an eco-resort. In conclusion, the development of an eco-resort is contested within its very own emergence. It has a larger focus on the operations of an eco-resort than the architecture of it. As the concept of Eco-tourism is translated through the operations and and has yet emerged through the architecture of an eco-resort, it has a huge potential to manifest itself in other possible ways.