Tracing the Early Tourism Activity in Eastern Indonesia

Recently the Indonesian government promotes eastern Indonesia as the alternative of tourist destinations. Historically, organized tourism activities in Indonesia can be traced to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The activity began to be limited to Java, parts of Sumatra, and Bali. Therefore, the study is only in that region. Not many studies discuss the beginning of tourism activities in eastern Indonesia. This study aims to reveal the beginning of tourism activity in eastern Indonesia at the end of the nineteenth century until the first half of the twentieth century. Besides historical methods consisting of heuristics, criticism, interpretation, and historiography, this study uses geographical approach. The sources used are travelogues, tourist guidebooks, newspapers, and periodicals. The result shows that the beginning of tourism activity in eastern Indonesia has existed since the end of the nineteenth century although when it has not been regulated. It relates to the shipping line of Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM) in the East. This study concludes that tourism activity in eastern Indonesia has become a concern of Dutch East Indies government. However, its development is constrained by infrastructure and accommodation facilities. The problems which also faced by the Indonesian government today.