Marine Tourism and Cruise Development in Indonesia: Perspective of Sustainable Environmental Accounting

Abstract

Indonesia’s marine tourism and cruise sector has entered an important stage of sustainability transformation. The expansion of cruise mobility, coastal attractions, and island-based tourism offers  substantial economic potential, but it also creates ecological costs that are rarely recorded in conventional  tourism accounting. Performance indicators remain dominated by visitor arrivals, port calls, tourist  expenditure, and accommodation statistics, while carbon emissions, marine waste, water use, pressure on  coral reefs, ecosystem degradation, and local economic leakage receive limited attention. Using a  qualitative desk study, this paper examines marine tourism and cruise development from the perspectives  of environmental accounting, natural capital accounting, the blue economy, carbon accounting, and sustainability disclosure. The analysis indicates the need for an integrated accounting framework that measures economic benefits, ecological costs, and community-level value retention. The paper proposes a destination-based environmental accounting framework comprising natural capital accounts, environmental  cost accounts, cruise emissions and waste accounts, local value retention accounts, and a sustainability disclosure dashboard. This framework can assist port authorities, destination managers, and regional governments in evaluating sustainability performance and strengthening accountable, evidence-based marine tourism governance.