The city of Sukabumi actually has tourism potential that is just as good as other areas in West Java (Jabar). This is what attracted the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to conduct research, especially related to tourism destinations in this Moci City.

ITB collaborated with the West Java Province Tourism and Culture Office (Disparbud) and the Sukabumi City Youth, Sports, and Tourism Office (Disporapar) to implement the Village Tourism Development Program in Sukabumi City on Sunday, December 3, 2023.

This collaboration, framed within the Familirization Trip activity, is part of a competitive development innovation program.

The Familirization Trip is an opportunity for tourism actors and potential tourists to get to know the tourism potential and attractions of Village Tourism in Sukabumi City more closely.

This activity includes visits to various strategic locations, tourist attractions, and interactions with local tourism industry players to provide deeper insights into the potential and opportunities for developing Village Tourism in Sukabumi City.

During a visit to the Soekabumi Chinese Museum at the Danalaga Square complex in Sukabumi City on Sunday, December 3, Assistant Professor and Lecturer at the ITB School of Business and Management Raden Aswin Rahadi explained the history of how they came to research village tourism in Sukabumi City.

"It started from our participation in the West Java tourism improvement program conducted by the West Java Provincial Government. Alhamdulillah, we were appointed as the person in charge, and we chose Sukabumi City because of its great potential, but it turned out to be underexplored," said Assistant Professor and Lecturer at the ITB School of Business and Management Raden Aswin Rahadi, accompanied by the Chairman of the Dapuran Kipahare Foundation Irman Musafir Sufi.

At that time, they saw that Sukabumi City had already planned seven thematic villages to be highlighted. "And we will start from here, namely three thematic villages: Odeon Village, Cikeong Village, and Katumbiri Village," he explained.

His visit, along with the group to Sukabumi City, collaborated with the Sukabumi City Government (Pemkot) and the West Java Provincial Government.

"I myself fell in love with this city, we are together creating a concept to develop tourism in Sukabumi City, so that in the future it is hoped to become a tourist destination that many people will visit. As an initial step in development and currently still in the very early phase, we, as academics, see a gap that needs to be further elaborated from an academic perspective," said Raden Aswin Rahadi.

Aswin and the ITB research team see the extraordinary potential in Odeon Village, Katumbiri Village, and Cikeong Village.

"We then try to create a module or framework that can later be used as a guide for carrying out activities in the villages in the future," he explained.

So according to Aswin, for now, they are first preparing the foundation in the form of training modules, activity modules, or programs.

"For this Familirization Trip, we are testing how if this activity is commercialized so that it can run well and these villages can be independent," he said.

The friendly man advised tourism actors in Sukabumi City to continue to explore existing potentials.

"Sukabumi has extraordinary tourism potential, and tourism actors in Sukabumi City need not worry; there is a lot that can be explored further.

Especially if there is tangible support from the Sukabumi City Government and the West Java Provincial Government. Hopefully, other academics can join in to make the existing potential into a concept that can be realized in concrete actions," he advised.

On the other hand, Lecturer in the Tourism Destination Study Program at the Bandung State Polytechnic (Polban) Eko Susanto revealed that the reason for this research was that ITB had a research scheme in collaboration with the West Java Provincial Government.

"This scheme is in the form of community non-physical funding grants directed towards applied research on campus, which is then developed into something real, becoming a formula or merely a concept," said Eko, who is also an assistant researcher conducted by ITB Bandung.

The friendly man explained that since this is a government grant, there must be research results applied in the community.

"ITB then took us (Polban) as assistant researchers because ITB's core is business and management, while our core is tourism, thus combining two fields into one study," he explained.

According to Eko, this study started at the beginning of 2023 by identifying the resources available in Sukabumi City and the problems preventing their development. The study aims to revive thematic villages with their respective resources.

Ultimately, this produced a book or guideline module for developing thematic villages, consisting of aspects of operational development, marketing, institutional aspects, and business risk aspects. The essence is how to manage these villages conceptually and technically.

"The reason for the Familirization Trip is that many studies do not end with a real simulation of the activities done by the community. After the study results were formulated into a book, we trained the community periodically. This can be said to be a test for the trainees on how to implement what has been trained. This brings training closer to the real situation and is expected to build confidence in the community to operate it," he explained.

Sukabumi: A Must-Visit Destination

Meanwhile, the Head of Tourism at the Sukabumi City Disporapar, Hardi Kusumah, expressed his gratitude and felt helped by ITB Bandung's presence in developing tourism potential in Sukabumi City.

"We, as the Sukabumi City Government, feel helped by ITB's presence in promoting and enhancing tourism," he said.

Hardi explained that currently, given the very limited budget in the tourism sector in Sukabumi City, conducting studies like this is very difficult, so this is very helpful and serves as an opportunity for tourism development to increase.

"Previously, there were also campuses conducting similar research, one of them being UMMI, which focused on creative economy development. While ITB's research is on village tourism, since Sukabumi City does not have villages, the research is on thematic villages initially planned by the Sukabumi City Government," he explained.

When asked about Sukabumi City being included in the West Java Tourism Office's trip agenda, Hardi responded positively.

"Alhamdulillah, we are happy because without collaboration or cooperation with the Provincial Government, this becomes our collective responsibility. As an initial step by the Sukabumi City Tourism Office to increase tourist visits to Sukabumi City, we will conduct evaluations and studies of existing tourism," he added.

Basically, tourism in Sukabumi City is artificial. Natural tourism is only in Cikundul. Especially after the addition of Cikeong Village, which offers water tourism.

"Currently, there are still seven planned villages, and by 2024, there will be an additional village, Layangan Village in Cikole District, bringing the total to eight thematic villages," he explained.

In the same opportunity, the West Java Provincial Disparbud, represented by the Head of Marketing, Chandra Wulan, emphasized that Sukabumi City is one of the leading destinations in West Java.

"The packaging is very complete. Especially after the opening of the Bocimi Toll Road, our market is clear. Access from Jakarta is reduced, taking about 2 hours to reach Sukabumi, and access from Bandung is adequate. So there is no reason for Sukabumi not to develop its tourism potential and other creative economy sectors," she said.

With thematic villages and museums with historical value, Sukabumi City has a unique character compared to other areas in West Java.

The steps to be taken by the West Java Provincial Government involve a Pentahelix collaboration between the provincial government and the city/regency government, investors, communities, the media, and academics.

"The Pentahelix community we have implemented is a tangible step to develop Sukabumi City tourism, making tourism a locomotive for economic development in West Java," Chandra Wulan added.

This friendly woman stated, Sukabumi: A Must-Visit Destination.

"Sukabumi City to Ciletuh is a complete package of nature and the community. The accommodation here is complete, with hotels and homestays available for tourists. So don't worry, accommodation, amenities, and accessibility are not obstacles. So don't hesitate to visit Sukabumi," she concluded.