Nature-based spiritual tourism development on ecotourism sites of Indonesia pre- and post-covid-19 pandemic

This study aimed to examine GRDP per capita, income inequality, and its determinants on nature-based spiritual tourism development on ecotourism sites of Indonesia pre- and post-covid-19 pandemic, as well as the risks it faces. The analysis utilized data collected by Indonesia of Central Agency of Statistics, annually from 2010 to 2023, covering 33 provinces in Indonesia in the form of panel data. It further incorporated the fixed-effect model on provinces by applying least-square dummy variable. The results show that human resource development had a significant positive impact towards GRDP per capita, while hotel tourism businesses on ecotourism sites had a significant negative impact towards income inequality. Nature-based spiritual tourism promotion expenditure on ecotourism sites, nature-based spiritual tourism infrastructure on ecotourism sites, and restaurant tourism businesses on ecotourism sites show results that were differ to previous studies. This study addresses the gaps identified in previous publications, which indicate that nature-based spiritual tourism development on ecotourism sites of Indonesia pre- and post-covid-19 pandemic faces development risks. It further contributes to the literature by applying the analytical hierarchy process to investigate the high priority factors that can improve the performance indicators of nature-based spiritual tourism development on ecotourism sites of Indonesia, amidst the challenges of development risks in Indonesia.