International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 13, Issue 3 (March 2026), Pages: 33-40

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 Original Research Paper

A sustainable marine tourism model integrating the blue economy and local wisdom for poverty alleviation on Banyak Island

 Author(s): 

Sari Bulan Tambunan 1, *, Muslim Wijaya 2, Wan Rizca Amelia 2, Adelina Lubis 3, Ihsan Effendi 4, Dhian Rosalina 5

 Affiliation(s):

1Accounting Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Medan Area, Medan, Sumatra Utara, Indonesia
2Management Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Medan Area, Medan, Sumatra Utara, Indonesia
3Master of Management Program, Universitas Medan Area, Medan, Sumatra Utara, Indonesia
4Master of Agribusiness Program, Universitas Medan Area, Medan, Sumatra Utara, Indonesia
5Department of Management, Universitas Samudra, Langsa, Aceh, Indonesia

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2937-9723

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.03.004

 Abstract

Banyak Island in Aceh Singkil Regency has strong potential for marine tourism, yet the region continues to face poverty and limited socio-economic development. This study aims to develop a sustainable marine tourism model based on the blue economy and local wisdom as a strategy for poverty reduction in coastal communities. A quantitative explanatory approach was applied using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with LISREL, analyzing Blue Economy Potential, Local Wisdom, Training and Capacity Building, Sustainable Marine Tourism, and Coastal Community Welfare. Data were collected from 176 active fishers selected through purposive sampling. The results indicate a good model fit (p-value = 0.05691; RMSEA = 0.015; CFI, GFI, and IFI ≥ 0.90). Local wisdom shows the strongest influence on the tourism model, followed by training and capacity building and blue economy potential, while the sustainable marine tourism model has a significant positive effect on community welfare. These findings suggest that integrating blue economy principles, local cultural values, and community capacity building can promote inclusive and sustainable marine tourism and effectively reduce poverty in coastal areas.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

Blue economy, Local wisdom, Marine tourism, Coastal welfare, Poverty reduction

 Article history

Received 11 August 2025, Received in revised form 21 January 2026, Accepted 1 March 2026

 Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemdiktisaintek) through the Direktorat Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (DPPM) for the funding support and trust given through the Regular Fundamental Research Scheme (PFR) grant. This support is very meaningful for the Universitas Medan Area research team in completing the research and publishing the research results in the form of scientific articles. Hopefully, the results of this research can provide a real contribution to the development of science and sustainable development, especially in the field of marine tourism and coastal community empowerment. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations:

The study was conducted in accordance with ethical standards for research involving human participants. All respondents were informed about the research objectives and the voluntary nature of participation, and informed consent was obtained prior to completing the questionnaire. Participant anonymity and confidentiality were ensured, and the collected data were used solely for academic research purposes. 

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

Tambunan SB, Wijaya M, Amelia WR, Lubis A, Effendi I, and Rosalina D (2026). A sustainable marine tourism model integrating the blue economy and local wisdom for poverty alleviation on Banyak Island. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(3): 33-40

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 Figures

  Fig. 1

 Tables

  Table 1 Table 2 Table 3

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