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e-ISSN: 2549-8673, p-ISSN : 2302 – 884X

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COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT BY STRENGTHENING THE TOURIST

VILLAGE AND EDUCATION

Desi Tri Kurniawati*, Sigit Pramono, Risca Fitri Ayuni

Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia

Isma Adila
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia

*Email : desi.rayhan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Tourism contributes much to the economy of Indonesia. As such, the government supports
tourism development and encourages local governments to develop local potential, including
rural tourism. Indonesia holds immense potential for rural tourism since the country has many
villages with abundant resources for tourism. The development of tourist villages cannot be
separated from rural tourism, an alternative for tourism in recent years amid the new trend of
sustainable tourism. Tourists these days care much about environment conservation,
community empowerment, and local culture. The development of tourist villages cannot be
separated from the participation of the local community. However, problems arise in the
development of tourist villages. Dusun Losawi also faces difficulties in developing itself as
Kampung Dolanan. Although Kampung Dolanan has existed for four years, it has not
benefited the local people. One solution to solve the problem is community empowerment
through Community-Based Tourism (CBT). As a first step to identify the issues and formulate
solutions in Kampung Dolanan, the community service team conducted field surveys and
FGDs with Pokdarwis. The results were solutions in three main areas: (1) human resources—
improvement of human resource quality through mindset training and comparative studies;
(2) infrastructure sector—improvement through landmark construction, traditional toys
provision, and land rental assistance; and (3) marketing communication—improvement
through photography training, social media communication training, rural tourism marketing,
and brand management. The activities carried out in the current program of Doktor Mengabdi
were field surveys, FGDs, program proposals, mindset training, traditional toys provision, and
preparation for other activities in September 2020.

KEYWORDS
Tourist Village, Kampung Dolanan, Community-Based Tourism, Education

INTRODUCTION

Tourism is one of the main sectors that drives Indonesia’s economic growth. Based on CNN
Indonesia’s (2020) data, the tourism sector contributed 5.25% to Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in 2018. Tourism contributes IDR 229.5 trillion in foreign exchange, an increase of
15.4% annually, and absorbs a workforce of 12.7 million people or 10% of the total Indonesian
workforce. The enormous contribution of tourism encourages the government to continue to
develop tourism to increase domestic and foreign tourist visits. Some of the efforts to build
tourism are tourism investment and promotion, developing new tourist attractions,
accelerating infrastructure completion, boosting local business participation, increasing the
diversity and competitiveness of tourism products or services, and so on. In addition, the
government also continues to encourage each region, even to the smallest government unit
or the village, to manage the potential resources for tourism.

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Villages are now encouraged to develop their potential and turn into rural tourism. Data from
the Directorate General of the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions,
and Transmigration of the Republic of Indonesia shows that Indonesia has 787 villages with
marine tourism potential, 576 villages with river tour potential, 165 villages with irrigation tour
potential, and 374 villages with lake tourism potential (CNN Indonesia, 2017). In Indonesia,
the development of desa wisata, or a tourist village, cannot be separated from the rural
tourism trend. The trend emerges from the change in tourism motivation and patterns, from
mass tourism to alternative tourism. The trend circles around the mature market—educated
tourists who care much about environment conservation, community empowerment, and local
culture (Rizkianto and Topowijono, 2018). Rural tourism has positively impacted tourist
villages, increasing income, employment, increasing village government income, increasing
demand for local products, and better facilities for local people (Febriana and Pangestuti
2018).

The development of tourist villages is inseparable from the village authenticity, such as
abundant natural potential or traditions or rituals carried out by the community. The local
community is one of the stakeholders with an important position and role in supporting tourism
development (Sunaryo, 2013). Therefore, the community’s participation and function in
developing tourist villages are essential to maintain tourism sustainability and make the village
community prosperous.

It has never been easy to develop tourist villages due to various problems, such as lack of
product differentiation, no standardization of tourist villages, tourism products not based on
local potential, limited access, poor management of tour packages, lack of government
commitment, low quality of local human resources, and regulatory problems. Some of these
problems also occur in developing the tourist village named Kampung Dolanan in Dusun
Losawi located in Malang Regency. The tourist village has been established for four years but
has not provided significant benefits to the community. The idea of Kampung Dolanan came
from the local community’s activities—they teach their children through traditional games on
Sundays, and many of the women (mothers) living in Losawi handicraft traditional toys based
on orders.
Based on the initial survey, Dusun Losawi faced internal obstacles in developing Kampung
Dolanan. First, the local community was not aware of the village’s potential and relied much
on the annual festival, Festival Permainan Tradisional or Traditional Games Festival. Second,
the local community was not able to ‘sell’ the local potential and to use the existing marketing
channel well. Third, there were different perceptions between the young people, as the driver
of cultural centers, and the older people on the concept of rural tourism.

The different perceptions would hinder the development of the tourist village. Thus, one of the
efforts to accelerate Kampung Dolanan and improve awareness of the local community is
community empowerment through Community-Based Tourism (CBT). CBT positions local
people as the main actor in empowerment through tourism so they can feel tourism
advantages.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Desa Wisata, or a tourist village, is a form of tourism where a small group of tourists live in or
near the traditional life of remote villages and study the village life and the local environment
(Inskeep, 1991). A tourist village represents one form of community-based and sustainable
tourism development. The development of tourist villages is expected to help create equitable

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development following sustainable tourism. A tourist village has made tourism products to
bring and show more rural culture to preserve the local culture while providing more
opportunities for the rural people. A tourist village integrates attractions, accommodation, and
supporting facilities presented within a community life structure that combines with the
prevailing culture and traditions (Nuryanti, 1993). The most crucial component in a tourist
village is (1) accommodation, that is, part of local people’s residence or special units
developed based on local people’s home, and (2) attractions, or the whole daily life of the
local population along with the village physical setting that allows tourists to integrate as active
participants, such as courses in dance, language, painting, and other specific matters.

Pariwisata Inti Rakyat (PIR) defines desa wisata as a rural area offering original rural
atmosphere from many aspects of life—socioeconomic, sociocultural, customs, and daily
life—including impressive village spatial planning and architecture, or even unique and
interesting economic life that are potential to develop as a tourism object, such as attractions,
accommodation, food and beverages, and other tourism products (Hadiwijoyo, 2012:68).

Three (3) factors drive rural tourism. First, rural areas have natural and cultural potential that
are relatively more authentic than urban areas. Rural communities still practice cultural values,
traditions, and rituals. Second, rural areas offer such an environment relatively free from
pollution compared to urban areas. Third, rural areas face relatively slow economic
development to a certain extent, so optimal utilization of local communities’ economic, social,
and cultural potential is the reason for developing rural tourism (Damanik, 2013).

Specifically, the development of a tourism village is an effort to complement and improve

tourist facilities to meet tourists’ needs. Local communities have an essential role in
developing tourist villages because resources and the uniqueness of existing traditions and
culture are the main driving forces of tourist villages’ activities. Local communities living in a
tourist village also become an interrelated part of the ecological system. They become the
host and the main actor in the empowerment and development of a tourist village from
planning to implementation. Thus, it is evident that the success of a tourist village’s
empowerment and growth depends on local communities’ acceptance and support.

Community-Based Tourism
Community-Based Tourism (CBT) opens up ample opportunities for rural communities to
participate in tourism development. CBT represents tourism development that relies entirely
on local communities. Local people give ideas for activities and management, and they can
feel the benefits of such activities directly (Herdiana, 2019).

According to Hudson and Timothy in Rizkianto and Topowijono (2018), CBT is the
involvement of local communities, and they will get benefits from their participation. Mentoring
is directed to defend the interest of local communities and other groups interested in tourism.
Tourism management provides more significant opportunities for realizing the welfare of local
communities. Community-based tourism is related to the active participation of local
communities as managers in existing tourism development.

Three (3) main principles in the development of CBT (Sunaryo, 2013) are:
a. Involving local people in decision-making
b. Certainty for local people to gain benefit from tourism
c. Educating local people about tourism

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Social Media Marketing

Social media is a form of promotion through digital media. Social media is used to build
engagement with consumers. Social media offers various unique features that allow
marketing conversation in the form of word of mouth. Social media refers to online
applications, platforms, web tools, or technology systems that facilitate collaboration and
sharing of content between community members (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Examples of
social media include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WeChat, Blog, and Twitter (Tess, 2013).
Social media is considered an effective channel to reach consumers at lower costs than
traditional media, such as printed media, TV, and radio; social media also ensures increased
scientific attention to the importance of Social Media Marketing (SMM) activities in the brand-
building process (Iankova et al., 2019).

Some people argue that social media is the right media for marketing because it provides
easy access (Zarella, 2010). Using social media, such as blogs, social networking, Facebook,
and Instagram, is considered a strategic step in marketing products. Besides reducing
promotional costs, social media also has a wider reach and is easily accessible for product
promotion compared to conventional marketing (Ahmed and Zahid, 2014:546; Pane,
2014:13).

Social media can help to reach more areas and people faster. To sum up, social media has a
vital role in developing organizations, especially branding, creating brands, and sorting
product types and product specifications to attract consumers.

RESEARCH METHOD

The partners in this community service activity were Pokdarwis1 in Dusun Losawi, Tunjngtirto
Village, Singosari District, Malang Regency. The service method used a qualitative approach
based on field surveys and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the partners to reveal
problems in the development of Kampung Dolanan as a tourist village. Data were analyzed
using a qualitative descriptive analysis. The community service focused on three (3) main
areas: human resources, infrastructure, and marketing communication.

RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Field Surveys and FGD with Managers of Dusun Losawi

Through the program Doktor Mengabdi2, we conducted activities in Dusun Losawi, including
field surveys. The field surveys aimed to know the location of community service and identify
the potential of the site to be developed as a tourist destination. The field surveys also
revealed the problems faced by Dusun Losawi that would be discussed in FGD. We
conducted three (3) field surveys starting on May 11, 2020.

The next activity was Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with Pokdarwis members. FGD was
done in the community hall of Dusun Losawi. FGD aimed to identify problems related to the
development of Kampung Dolanan as a tourist destination. The problems were analyzed and

1 It stands for Kelompok Sadar Wisata, a group whose members are tourism stakeholders. They are
the main drivers of rural tourism. They help to create good situations for rural tourism development.
(From https://www.berdesa.com/bangun-wisata-desa-pokdarwis-terbukti/)
2 A program by the university where academics with a doctoral degree are assigned to do community

service to empower the community (From https://bacamalang.com/01/09/2020/anif-fc-phd-program-

doktor-mengabdi-ub-mampu-berdayakan-sosial-ekonomi-warga)

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discussed to find the solutions. The Pokdarwis members would consider the solutions from
the community service team to be implemented in Kampung Dolanan. We conducted four (4)
FGDs since June 5, 2020. Each FGD lasted 3-5 hours.

Program Proposal
The programs proposed became the implementation method of the community service. (1)
The human resource development program included mindset training and comparative
studies. (2) The infrastructure development program included landmark construction,
traditional toys provision, and land rental assistance. (3) The marketing communication
program included improvement through photography training, social media communication
training, rural tourism marketing, and brand management. The programs proposed by the
community service team were accepted well by the management of Kampung Dolanan.

Mindset Training
The first program was mindset building related to rural tourism, especially the development of
Kampung Dolanan. The activity was carried out on July 21, 2020, in the community hall of
Dusun Losawi. The topic was presented by Ir. Bambang Irianto as the initiator and counselor
of tourist villages in Kota Malang. He is an expert in the field and has been assisting Glintung
Go Green (3G) and Kampung Tangguh Mandiri Glintung. He also has received many national
and international awards. He will become a long-term counselor for the development of
Kampung Dolanan.

Ir. Bambang Irianto presented a topic on the management strategy of a thematic village. The
material covered all aspects of villagers’ lives because developing a tourist village needs
collaboration of all aspects and all village parties. This material was presented based on the
villagers’ request to find the best way to unite the various groups in Dusun Losawi, including
(a) the elderly group that focuses on reforestation, (b) the cultural group that focuses on
culture, ethics, and games for children, and (c) the mother group who handicraft traditional
toys. After the material delivery, there was a question and answer session between Ir.
Bambang Irianto and the local community. It was hoped that the training could help the local
people of Dusun Losawi to realize the potential, and all groups could collaborate in using the
potential and developing Kampung Dolanan. It was also expected that Pokdarwis could
participate better and show critical thinking in developing Kampung Dolanan. A mature
mindset would help the local community of Dusun Losawi to face challenges in developing
Kampung Dolanan.

Infrastructure Development
The next step was the procurement of equipment for traditional games to strengthen the
infrastructure in Kampung Dolanan. Some of the equipment available in Kampung Dolanan
was too old and broken, so they needed replacement. Thus, the community service team
provided new equipment such as bakiak, wooden yo-yo, karambol, monopoly boards, gasing,
egrang, bola bekel, catapult, marbles, kites, and dakon. The equipment was placed in some
points as traditional game centers in Kampung Dolanan.

Marketing Communication of Kampung Dolanan

Administratively, Malang Raya consists of Malang City, Malang Regency, and Batu City. Each
has a different icon and logo representing different characteristics of the region. Malang
connects the main tourist attractions in East Java. Its natural and cultural potential has been
attracting domestic and foreign tourists. One of the sustainable tourism strategies Malang
Raya has done is urban tourism through thematic villages. Thematic villages offer great
potential in attracting tourist visits and increasing village independence.

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Brands in tourist villages are essential to attract visitors because they function as an identity
for tourist villages. Thus, it is crucial to develop the identity of Dusun Losawi and Kampung
Dolanan to differentiate them from other tourist villages. Branding helps to build this identity.
Branding refers to various communication activities to build brand awareness. Through
branding, Kampung Dolanan can convey its identity and impress potential visitors. In this
globalization era, social media also support branding for a tourist village. Social media has
become the most widely used marketing channel today, considering that Indonesia’s social
media users make up more than 50% of its population. It makes social media a strategic
marketing channel to market Kampung Dolanan., A comprehensive understanding of content
creation and social media features (especially Instagram) is needed for effective social media
use. Kampung Dolanan can create human interest content—presenting human activities
through photos and videos. The training on using social media as a marketing medium was
delivered by Jovanca. The results were expected to improve the quality and marketing
capacity of Kampung Dolanan managers.

CONCLUSION

This community service aimed to build and strengthen the local community mindset of
Kampung Dolanan in Dusun Losawi as a tourist destination. Institutional strengthening and
tourist village management is very important in developing the potential of the village. The
development of Kampung Dolanan as a tourist destination requires the participation of all local
people in Dusun Losawi. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the local community, so there
is a sense of involvement and belonging between communities.

The implementation of the community service program related to community empowerment

was carried out offline and involved several resource persons or experts in rural tourism. We
conducted three core activities: strengthening the mindset and motivation to build the tourist
village, improving infrastructure, and strengthening tourist village marketing.

The community service was expected to develop and improve the quality of Kampung
Dolanan. The activities done were expected to become the basis for developing village
potential and empowering the local community. We hope that action plans and targets can be
implemented and then evaluated by stakeholders in Kampung Dolanan to maintain Kampung
Dolanan as one of the leading tourist destinations in Malang Raya.

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