Sustainability Status of Kalitalang Ecotourism in Mount Merapi National Park Using Multidimensional Scaling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23960/jsl.v14i3.1522Abstract
Kalitalang Ecotourism is a natural tourism object in the Mount Merapi National Park (TNGM) region, jointly managed by local communities and conservation area operators. It lies within Mount Merapi’s highest volcanic hazard zone, and features steep terrain that may pose safety risks to visitors. Visitor numbers increased markedly from 59,144 in 2024 to 182,856 in 2025 following its official designation as a natural tourism object in December 2024, potentially intensifying environmental pressures. The destination has also faced governance challenges during the transition toward a more formal tourism management arrangement under TNGM, underscoring the need to balance conservation objectives with local community interests. Despite these challenges, no previous multidimensional sustainability assessment has been conducted. This study’s novelty lies in providing such an assessment for Kalitalang Ecotourism. This study aims to assess the sustainability status of Kalitalang Ecotourism management using the Rap-Ecotourism method based on multidimensional scaling, through an organized and transparent attribute matrix covering five dimensions: ecology, economy, social, law and institutions, and accessibility and infrastructure. Data were gathered through field observations, structured interviews using interview guidelines, questionnaires, and secondary sources. The results reveal that Kalitalang Ecotourism’s sustainability level falls into the moderately sustainable category (65.33%). The ecological dimension scored 80.67% and was classified as highly sustainable, while accessibility and infrastructure (66.96%), legal and institutional (71.30%), social (62.23%), and economic (69.45%) dimensions were classified as moderately sustainable. Optimizing sensitive attributes through adaptive management and temporal monitoring is a key recommendation to improve Kalitalang Ecotourism’s sustainability. To better capture local economic consequences, future research should replace the Regional Original Revenue or Pendapatan Asli Daerah (PAD) contribution attribute with tourism sector economic growth.
Keywords: multidimensional scaling, national park, Rap-Ecotourism, sustainability matrix
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Statistics
Abstract views: 5 times
PDF downloaded: 0 times
Metrics
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Danuri, Ronggo Sadono, Tri Atmojo, Wahyu Wardhana
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Licence that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
