Articles

Authors: Putri Widiansyah, Tourism Programme Officer dan Firra Kholisha, Communication Officer

Village Tourism is believed to be a driver of the community economy, MSMEs, creating jobs, preserving the environment, and culture. So now, many tourist villages in Indonesia are racing to explore their potential. However, are tourist villages a favourite destination for tourists, especially domestic tourists ?

To answer this question, DESMA Center created an online survey to capture the opinions of the respondents. The online survey was conducted by filling out a Google Form and the link was shared on all DESMA Center's social media channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook).

The online survey results show that 93% of respondents are very interested in visiting a tourist village, but 82% of respondents have their own understanding of a tourist village. As many as 82% of respondents did not specifically understand what a tourist village was. Some of them concluded that a tourist village is a village in which there are tourist objects with the availability of facilities and lodging without the need for village activities. Other respondents mentioned that a tourist village is a place managed by the government as a tourist attraction.

Meanwhile, according to UNWTO, rural tourism is a tourism activity where the visitor/tourist experience is related to various products that are generally related to nature tourism activities, agriculture, village life/culture, fishing and sightseeing.

Based on the survey results regarding several activities that can be done in a tourist village, there are 5 activities that are most popular according to respondents, namely: 91% enjoy the scenery, 77% see local culture, 76% enjoy local culinary, 70% play water in the river and 64% hunting photos or selfies.

Activities that tourists are interested in when visiting a tourist village are activities with natural and cultural themes. In addition to the five activities above, other activities that are also in demand are shopping for local crafts, playing musical instruments and traditional games, learning history and trekking.

Regarding staying overnight in a tourist village, 69 per cent of respondents have stayed in a tourist village. If they have the opportunity to stay in a rural area, 59% of respondents aged 18-35 choose traditional and environmentally friendly lodging; 32% choose to stay with local people as an accommodation option in a tourist village. In addition, 7% of tourists choose Glamping (Glamour Camping) accommodation.

DESMA Center/ Putri Widiansyah L dan Firra Kholisha M