Plants as flagship species in tourism destination: A case study at mount Mahawu Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

This study aims to identify the plants as a flagship species in tourism destination based on the perception of tourists. Field survey was conducted in Mt. Mahawu nature-based tourism area in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Field survey was done by distributed questionnaire to the 196 respondents. Respondent asked to identify the preferred main tourism attraction in Mt. Mahawu and respondent's perception of diversity of plant species that could potentially be used as a flagship tourist destination. Among the numerous natural tourism object in Mt. Mahawu, this research explained that plants was one of the most interesting tourism attraction in Mt. Mahawu. The important plants species were found in research area as a tourist flagships, both in term of tourism interesting object and conservation issues, encompasses Nepenthes maxima Reinw. ex Nees, Blechnum capense (L.) Schltdl., Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese, Phajus sp., Tabernaemontana pandacaqui Poir, Macaranga minahassae Whitmore, Swietenia macrophylla King, Bulbophyllum lobii Lindl, Euphorbia cotinifolia L. and Shefflera elliptica (Blume) Harms. The conservation effort to preserve such species was important in order to enhance tourism destination competitiveness in Mt. Mahawu.