Sustaining spirit and place: Establishing a legal framework for protecting local wisdom and socio-ecological sustainability in cultural tourism investment
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I Gusti Agung Ayu Gita Pritayanti Dinar 1 * , Komang Adi Kurniawan Saputra 1
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1 Universitas Warmadewa, Bali, INDONESIA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This research aims to develop a framework for cultural tourism investment strategies based on the philosophy of place, which involves understanding the ontological relationship between humans, culture, and landscape. So far, most tourism investment policies tend to focus on economic aspects, while the values of local wisdom and spirituality have not been sufficiently integrated into investment planning. This study emphasizes the importance of applying the philosophy of place and local wisdom, such as Tri Hita Karana (THK) in Indonesia, the concept of gross national happiness in Bhutan, and the Satoyama landscape approach in Japan, as foundations for sustainable tourism investment strategies. This study demonstrates that the philosophy of place can serve as an integrative principle to balance economic interests with cultural and ecological values. The key findings reveal a significant normative gap in Indonesia’s investment law, which fails to operationalize concepts of local wisdom such as THK. In response, this study proposes a public-private-people-place investment governance model, in which “place” is positioned as a living entity with moral rights, and recommends specific amendments to law number 25 of 2007 concerning Investment to mandate a cultural and spiritual impact assessment. The integration of local wisdom into cultural tourism investment strategies has proven to not only enhance sustainability but also strengthen the social legitimacy and global competitiveness of destinations.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EUR J SUSTAIN DEV RES, Volume 10, Issue 3, 2026, Article No: em0401

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejosdr/18522

Publication date: 01 Jul 2026

Online publication date: 05 May 2026

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