Finding the Missing Piece in the Short Course, Andi Junila Aulia Walks a Sustainable Path in the Tourism Sector
After launching as a project to revive tourism in her hometown following the pandemic, Andi Junila Aulia’s organisation, Re-Tour Indonesia[1], has found a new direction, focused on growing sustainable tourism and sharing expertise.
Founded in 2020, Re-Tour set out to develop community-based tourism in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. Junila and her team collaborated with local communities on various projects, including training residents in Ara Village to develop reusable packaging for tourists.
As her involvement in the tourism sector grew, Junila, whose educational background is in agricultural sciences, realised she wanted to deepen her knowledge. This led her to participate in the Australia Awards Short Course on Sustainable Tourism Management, delivered by Griffith University, in 2023.
‘Although the Short Course’s main theme was tourism, I also learned a lot about business management, including how to make tourism sustainable, market segmentation and other business theories,’ Junila explained.
Treating Tourism as a Business for Sustainability
Junila had established Re-Tour Indonesia as a social innovation project that did not prioritise profit.
During the Short Course, Professor Noel Scott, Deputy Director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism, highlighted that industry professionals should not only focus on community development but also explore ways for tourism to generate profit.
‘Business knowledge was relatively new to me, as I had primarily focused on environmental conservation programs,’ Junila said.
Reflecting on the experience, she added with a laugh, ‘We were all mentally exhausted from learning during the Short Course, but it was the kind of exhaustion that felt good,’ .
Sharing Knowledge as a Tourism Consultant
Attending the Short Course has led Junila to rethink the future of Re-Tour. Currently, Junila and her team are working on plans to offer consulting services to the tourism sector, alongside ventures related to the industry.
‘The business knowledge I gained during the Short Course has given me a new perspective on Re-Tour,’ Junila said.
‘Aside from assisting communities through community development, we are also exploring other ways to contribute to the tourism sector, while generating profit to ensure that Re-Tour remains sustainable.’
She acknowledged that until now, Re-Tour had relied on grants, subsidies and similar sources of funding. The organisation was launched with support from the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Academic Fellowship Program 2020, where Junila studied Environmental Issues and Natural Resource Management at the East-West Centre in Hawaii.
Junila’s decision to purse consulting services in tourism was also shaped by advice from Professor Scott.
‘I once asked Professor Scott what we could do to contribute more to our communities when we returned to Indonesia,’ Junila recalled. ‘He suggested using the knowledge and experience we gained during the Short Course to become sustainable tourism management consultants.’
Exploring Luppung Mangrove’s Tourism Potential
The consulting role was put into practice in Junila’s Short Course Award Project, which investigated the potential of a mangrove ecotourism site in Luppung, Bulukumba.
‘The question was, could we improve the local economy around the conservation area through ecotourism or edu-tourism?’ Junila explained. ‘I thought it would be a missed opportunity if the Luppung Mangrove Tourism Area only offered sightseeing tours.’
Junila’s Award Project explored the site biodiversity, including mapping the various mangrove species that could be used for education-based tourism activities.
Using data collected through field analysis and observations, Junila designed edu-tourism packages for school children and university students conducting research.
‘We presented our findings to the Bulukumba Regency Government, but recently the Luppung Mangrove Tourism Area has recently been undergoing maintenance, so it remains closed to the public,’ Junila said.
The Re-Tour team has since revisited the location to refine the edu-tourism package. . Junila is also focusing on perfecting Re-Tour’s consulting services before officially launching them to the public.
Walking the Path of Entrepreneurship
In addition to applying the knowledge gained from the Short Course to develop Re-Tour, Junila decided to immerse herself in the social enterprise ecosystem. This led her to join Rappo, a social enterprise dedicated to transforming single-use plastic waste into eco-friendly products while empowering underprivileged coastal women in Untia, Makassar.
After completing the Short Course and gaining real-life experience at Rappo, Junila feels her life plans have become much clearer.
‘The Short Course inspired me to create a kind of to-do list for my future. Before, I often felt uncertain about whether to focus on conservation, social development or another field,’ Junila shared.
‘Through my work at Rappo, I gained a strong foundation in basic entrepreneurship, from community empowerment to product development. This experience has sparked my interest in biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, especially in addressing the lack of data science management in sustainable tourism.’
Junila is now exploring ways to pursue a Masters degree, after which she plans to return to Bulukumba to further develop Re-Tour by integrating biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.
‘By pursuing a Masters degree in this area, I hope to strengthen Re-Tour as a social enterprise with science-based innovation,’ she said.
[1] https://www.instagram.com/retour_id/
