UNAIR NEWS – The Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) Universitas Airlangga students have made another bright innovation in the field of tourism in the Innovative Village Empowerment and Development Programs Competition. The online competition’s final announcement was released on Sunday, November 26, 2023.
The competition was held by the State University of Yogyakarta (UNY). UNAIR team consisted of fourteen members with Nurin Faizun as the team leader and Dr. M Fariz Fadillah Mardianto from the Department of Statistics, as the advisor. They prepared a sustainable tourist village program.
Toron Samalem Tourist Village
Kampung Toron Samalem is located in Blumbungan Village, Larangan District, Pamekasan, Madura. Nurin explained that their innovation aims to empower tourism within the village by collaborating with Islamic boarding schools. He believed that by strengthening the promotional tools, the tourism potential of Kampung Toron Samalem could expand further.
“We want to expand the tourism potential of Toron Samalem, which is rarely known to domestic tourists. We plan to collaborate with strategic partners to enhance the promotions,” he told UNAIR NEWS on November 27, 2023.
Unlocking tourism potential
The field of tourism has an immense potential to be explored. Currently, the rise in tourist numbers post-pandemic could be an opportunity for tourism improvement. The tourism recovery in Kampung Toron Samalem is a rising moment from the pandemic.
“The potential within the tourism sector is good for empowering the local community. They should be equipped with tourism management to run it sustainably.” said the Statistics student.
The scheme
The innovation includes a sustainable empowerment plan, from branding, promotion, implementation, to evaluation. They expected the program to be effectively realized according to the scheme. The involvement of the local community and the tourism awareness group (pokdarwis) is crucial in implementing these activities.
“We hoped that the community and the pokdarwis could manage the tourism management on their own to stimulate their local economy,” he said.
The project also supports the village SDGs. Hopefully, the optimization of local tourism can drive sustainable development within the local community. This project is expected to provide benefits to the local community, in the field of tourism, infrastructure, and economic sectors.
Author: Satriyani Dewi Astuti
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
