1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Choosing the Topic

Tourism is an industry that is able to provide a new style of rapid economic growth

in terms of employment opportunities, income, standard of living and in turn other sectors

in the host countries (Wahab 5). The tourism industry is a collection of various companies

which together produce the goods and services which is required by tourist in particular

and traveler in general (Yoeti 140). Tourism as an industry is very complex and its

existence is very sensitive to changes and developments. The changes are mainly related

to “the desire or tourist’s motivation who always wants to look and enjoy new experience

for the satisfaction of personal desires, something different than was ever felt before”

(Goeldner 5). The tourist’s desire always changes according to developments.

The tourism industry experiencing rapid development is natural tourism which

conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people. Now, tourism is

not only managed by the government or high capital companies, but it can be also

developed by people with small capital. It is the product of people who realize that tourism

potentials can increase the people’s welfare. Tourism potential is all things which are

organized and provided, so it can be utilized for the development of tourism in the form of

atmosphere, events, objects, and services (Pendit 108).

Tourism potential can also be a resource of diverse physical and biological aspects,

as well as the richness of human culture that is developed for tourism (Fandeli 48). Yoeti

expressed the definition of tourism potential as “Everything that is owned by a tourist

attraction and is useful to develop the tourism industry in the area” (67). Based on the
 2

explanation above, a tourism potential is something that can be developed into a tourism

attraction. There are a lot of tourism objects/potentials which are developed by people or

the community. With tourism which is managed by the local people, there is a way to gain

more benefit from tourism for the people.

One of the tourism sites which are managed by local people is Goa Pindul. Goa

Pindul is located in Dusun Gelaran, Bejiharjo village, Karangmojo, Gunung Kidul,

Yogyakarta. It is a tourist site which keeps the charm of natural beauty that is very

interesting and which can be enjoyed as a natural tourist destination. Goa Pindul is a cave

with a deep river flowing through it which shows a beautiful scene, unique views, and an

amazing atmosphere.

Based on the internet website (sebuahperistiwa.blogspot.com), it was officially

opened for the public in October 2010. Goa Pindul has three kinds of zones inside, and the

zones are divided by the light intensity of the cave: the bright zone, dim zone, and dark

zone. One particular activity that can be done in Goa Pindul is cave tubing. It is a kind of

cave exploration by following the river which flows under the cave. This tourist site is also

equipped with facilities.

Despite its far distance from the center of Yogyakarta city, Goa Pindul attracts

many tourists to enjoy the beauty of its natural attractions. According to Subagyo, the

Chairman of the Tourism Group of Bejiharjo village (POKDARWIS DEWA BEJO), there

were 59,312 visitors who visited Goa Pindul in 2012. This is very good since Goa Pindul

is one of the caves that have become an icon for the other caves in the Gunung Kidul

regency. It is because Goa Pindul is one of the first caves that are developed by the

government of Gunung Kidul regency as a tourist destination. This tourist site is

developed as one of the natural attractions by utilizing the natural beauty of the cave

which is owned by Goa Pindul and is supported by the existence of several facilities.
 3

Currently, it could be said that Goa Pindul is not developed optimally by the local

people, the management, or the local government. Facilities and infrastructures that can

support the development of Goa Pindul are still lacking. Therefore, the facilities in Goa

Pindul are still very minimal when the presences of facilities that can help support the

development of the increase in operational income of Goa Pindul. By this situation, there

are efforts that need to be taken to develop Goa Pindul as a natural tourist site by adding

activities that can be done in Goa Pindul and completing facilities and infrastructures in

order to build an integrated area such as sports, recreation, accommodation and

conservation so as to increase the number of tourists.

From the description above, it appears that Goa Pindul has huge potentials which

can be developed as a natural attraction; however it still has a lot of deficiency in its

management. These deficiencies include, tourism facilities and infrastructures, conflict

management in the management of Goa Pindul, the development of fund which are still

lacking and many other things. It certainly can inhibit the future development of Goa

Pindul. Thus, the writer is interested to research and write a graduating paper about the

potentials of Goa Pindul as a natural attraction since the writer wants to know more about

the potentials and the development of tourism in Goa Pindul which can make this tourism

site become a natural attraction and also improve the welfare of the local people.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of this graduating paper are:

1. To describe clearly the potentials of Goa Pindul as a natural attraction

2. To find out the public perception of the tourists/visitors about the development

of Goa Pindul as a natural attraction

 4

3. To inform the reader about the role of the local people and the government in

the development of Goa Pindul

4. To know the efforts to bring in tourists to visit Goa Pindul and offer

suggestions to improve tourism at Goa Pindul

1.3 Scope of the Research

This graduating paper discusses Goa Pindul. The writer makes a limitation to

discuss the theme of this graduating paper. It focuses on the tourism potentials of Goa

Pindul as a natural attraction in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta.

1.4 Methods of Research

This graduating paper will use a qualitative analysis method with field research to

directly observe at the site. Field research will include two parts: observation and

interview. The writer will use data from direct observation and will perform interviews

with the local people, tourists/visitors, and the tourism board of Gunung Kidul. Library

research will be done to collect data by finding some books related to research as

references. The library research will be applied to support the writer to collect some data

and information needed from the relevant books or other resources. Besides, the writer

will also use the internet to collect data related to the objective of the study. The writer

will also take some pictures to support this graduating paper.

According to Yoeti on book Pengantar Ilmu Pariwisata; Yoeti assumed that the

potential of the tourist site depends on what are owned by the tourist site to be offered to

the tourists, so it is influenced by the three A (3A)/three main elements of tourism:

 5

attractions, accessibilities, and amenities which determine the success of a tourist site.

Thus, the writer uses this analysis by explaining these three main elements of tourism.

1.5 Presentation

This graduating paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is the

introduction. It contains the background of choosing the topic, objectives, scope of the

research, methods of research, and presentation. The second chapter describes the profile

of Goa Pindul. It contains the location, history, and features of Goa Pindul. Moreover, it

also explains about access, ticket prices, facilities and infrastructures in Goa Pindul. Then,

the third chapter discusses the potentials of Goa Pindul which describes the 3A tourism

potentials analysis of Goa Pindul and the development of Goa Pindul as a natural

attraction in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. The last chapter is the conclusion. It will answer

the research objectives and scope of the study, and also summarize of the main point.