THE ANALYSIS OF TOURISM POTENTIAL AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN WEST SUMATERA

Tourism has become one of the important industries in the world nowadays. It provides a major economic development opportunity for many countries, regions, districts and a means of improving the welfare of its residents, for example Bukittinggi district. As one of tourism destination in West Sumatera, from Rp 42 billion in 2011 of Bukittinggi revenue, nearly one-third or around 30,3 percent of revenue which come from tourism sector (Haluan, 2012). James Elliot argues that tourism is the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes (Elliot, 2002: 38). Carme Laura Gil (2011) suggest that Tourism is an activity that allows us to discover the marvellous diversity of a thousand tongues and a thousand colours, to understand them, accept them, respect them and realise that we share a collective identity (World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 2001: 53). Sugiarto et al. (2009) they claim that “Indonesia as one of the largest archipelago in the world, stretching 5.110 km along the equator from east to west and 1.888 km from north to south. It consists of five mayor islands (Java and Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya) and about 30 smaller groups, with more than 17,000 islands in total. The chain of islands divides the indian and facific oceans and is enriched with natural resouces and diverse cultures, 16 offering a vast range of tourism activities. Thus, it has long been a popular tourist destination” (Sugiarto et al, 2009: 5)