Integrating Local Culture and Green Human Resource Management to Strengthen Sustainable Blue Economy Practices in Small Island Tourism of Indonesia

Abstrak

This study aims to analyse the strategic role of human resource management (HRM) in supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Blue Economy in the tourism sector in the Indonesian archipelago. The main focus of this study is how Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices, local cultural factors, sustainable leadership, and workforce capacity building can improve the effectiveness of blue economy implementation oriented towards economic, social, and environmental balance. This study employs a qualitative, literature review approach that examines 20 reputable international and national, indexed scientific publications relevant to HRM, sustainable tourism, and the blue economy. The analysis employed content analysis, highlighting key themes including green recruitment, environment-based training, participatory leadership, and local community empowerment. The study's results indicate that integrating HRM within the blue economy framework plays an important role in fostering sustainable tourism in small island regions. The implementation of HRM has been shown to increase workers' ecological awareness, strengthen organisations' social responsibility, and improve the economic efficiency of the tourism sector without compromising marine environmental sustainability. In addition, local culture and sustainable leadership have been proven to strengthen social legitimacy, create green innovation, and increase community involvement in ecosystem-based tourism management.  The most relevant HRM strategy for island tourism destinations is one that combines the principles of green HRM, sustainable leadership, and community-based empowerment. The implications of this study emphasise the importance of cross-sector collaboration between the government, the tourism industry, and local communities in building sustainability-oriented human resource capacity. Theoretically, this research advances understanding of the relationship between HRM and the blue economy in the context of tourism. At the same time, the results can serve as a policy reference for the development of highly competitive and environmentally sustainable island tourism destinations.