Improving tourism destination governance: Case of Labuan Bajo City and the Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Indonesian tourism shows a positive progress which is characterized by many attractions as well as increasing number of tourists. Yet tourism destinations have not been managed professionally and facilities available do not meet the adequate standard. Collaboration mechanisms among stakeholders have not been effective to support the purposes of ideal tourism destinations management. In short, there is an essential problem in terms of destination governance. This study aims to find destination governance framework in order to build up destination attractiveness as well as environment sustainability since the Komodo National Park (KNP) was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986. Results show that tourism destination governance is in need for a comprehensive policy framework through coordination among agencies in the policy-making process; performance-based tourism management and strengthening the commitment of tourism stakeholders. © Medwell Journals, 2016.