Stakeholder communication in managing geological landscape-based coastal tourism destination

This article aims to explore stakeholder communication in managing coastal tourism and geotourism as intertwined tourism products in the protected coastal areas. The research location is the coastal areas of Pacitan Regency, a part of Sewu Mountain Geopark in Indonesia, including Buyutan Beach, Watukarung Beach, Klayar Beach, Srau Beach, and Pacitan Bay. Using qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted. The findings show that destination management and development rely on stakeholder networking, owned by the local tourism awareness group. As a legitimate manager of the tourism destination, the local government is less concerned about sustainable tourism and still uses an informational strategy (one-way communication) and top-down communication with the stakeholders. This finding underscores the urgent need for developing multistakeholder collaboration and paradiplomacy in stakeholder tourism communication management to manage sustainable tourism activities in geology-based protected coastal areas.