Activities

Penulis: Claudina Sibarani, Programme Associate
Editor: Firra Kholisha Mustika, Communication

Accommodation is one of the supporting facilities for the tourism industry, accommodation facilities play an important role in facilitating the needs of tourists while traveling. Following the development of the accommodation industry requires great efforts, especially in certain areas that have challenges such as limited energy and limited Human Resources (HR). The accommodation industry consists of various types such as Hotels, Motels, Guest Houses, Bungalows, and Homestays. Homestay is a type of accommodation that provides facilities and facilities for tourism aminities by utilizing residential houses directly.  One of the efforts made to provide knowledge is through training to the community about the basic management of Homestay.

DESMA Center held a Homestay Basic Management Training on Thursday, June 7, 2022 in the Batu Katak Ecotourism area, Batujongjong Village, Bahorok District, Langkat Regency. This activity is part of a program to strengthen the capacity of tourism Human Resources (HR) around area III of Gunung Leuser National Park. This training is aimed at community groups who are tourism business actors and the Batu Katak Tourism Institute (LBPK). This activity is aimed at providing solutions to market access challenges, utilizing the resources owned as optimally as possible and creating an image of attraction and quality tourist products in Batu Katak Ecotourism.

Homestay Basic Management Training was held with 3 sessions of training including tourism business field also the definition and homestay characteristic. The 1st session was opened with a pre-test and introduction to the material about basic tourism business fields such as lodging accommodation business, as well as homestay management management. For this session, the participants are free to discuss and also ask about the materials.

For the second session, the training was continued with presenting how to manage homestay specifically about the Standard Operating Procedures or SOP. The accommodation SOP is a guideline about the procedures of standart operating that is used for ensuring about all the decisions and measures, also the use of facilities are processed in accordance with the standards of the organizer or company or community of accommodation providers in the destination area. The guide of how to manage a homestay also includes the flow of the initial room booking until the guest finishes using the service provided, and leaves the attractions. The SOP also included administrative procedures required by homestay service providers as well as considerations for the implementation of health protocols. Guidelines for the implementation of cleanliness, health, safety (Safety) and environmental sustainability (Environtmental Sustainable) homestays were also given to participants for the prevention and control of CoronaVirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19). This training facilitates and helps owners/managers including the community involved in the development of the Batu Frog Ecotourism destination.

On the last sessions, the participants was trained again to remember the materials that has already preseted with a post-test to see how far they understand about the training. The training ended with a review of the material followed by a question and answer session. Trainees are seen actively participating to ask various questions related to the topic or training material. From this training, the participants as the people who owned a business in Batu Katak, are hoped to can make and compiled good money management and could apply it to their tourism business either personal or group business.

Homestay Basic Management Training, is part of the Ecotourism Digitalization Project and Strengthening the Capacity of Ecotourism Actors in Gunung Leuser National Park, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra which is implemented by DESMA Center.

Digitalization of Ecotourism and Strengthening the Capacity of Ecotourism Actors in Gunung Leuser National Park, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra, which is implemented by desma center, is a development project of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, in collaboration with the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB), jointly financed by the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW.

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The Ecotourism Digitalization program and Strengthening the Capacity of Ecotourism Actors consists of a series of training activities which include: (1) Guiding Tour Training (2) Itinerary Preparation and Tour Quotation Training (3) Service Excellence Training (4) Homestay Management Training (5) Culinary Training (6) Hygine &sanitation training (7) Financial Management Training (8) Social Media Management Training (9) Story Telling Training, Caption Writing,  write Ecotourism Promotional Articles.

This project also facilitates (1) the implementation of CHSE certification in the tourist destination category, (2) business matching, (3) Fam trips (4) Stakeholders Networking, and (5) Development of a digital platform that will synergize tourism and creative economy businesses in the Gunung Leuser National Park Area in the Langkat Regency, North Sumatra.   

The Ecotourism Digitalization program and Strengthening the Capacity of Ecotourism Actors is aimed at providing solutions to market access challenges, connecting attractions and improving quality tourist products in the TNGL region III area. This is in line with the government's objectives contained in the National Medium-Term Plan for 2020 – 2024, the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy 2020 – 2024 and the National Tourism Development Master Plan 2010 – 2025.