UNS — Kepuhsari Wayang (Shadow Puppet) Village, which located in Manyaran Sub-District, Wonogiri District, collaborates with Applied Microeconomics Research Group from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta for a continuous innovation amid the Covid-19 Pandemic. Various efforts are taken by the team and community member to improve the condition of Kepuhsari Wayang Village as a tourist village. The team that consists of Prof. Dr. Yunastiti Purwaningsih, M.P, Tri Mulyaningsih, S.E., M.Si., Ph.D, Mulyadi, SE, M.Ec. Dev, dan Lely Ratwianingsih, S.E., M.Sc., together with the village staff, formulate some of the attributes needed to make Kepuhsari a tourist destination. The idea was sparked as a result of the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) which was held last August.
Several attributes to popularize Kepuhsari as tourist destination among other are directions, homestay signboards, and village information media. Moreover, socialization of street name to the neighborhood village through flyers. The attributes are installed on September 24th, 2020. This attributes aim to differentiate Kepuhsari from other tourism villages.
“With these attributes instalation, hopefully, the existence of tourism village can be more recognizable by the public. Moreover, prospective visitors can reach this wayang village easily with various directions that have been made. Finally, as a result of this joint activity, Kepuhsari is no longer a tourist village without signs,” Mulyadi explains, Saturday (26/9/2020).
Until today, the outside community is not sufficiently informed about the geographical location of this tourist village. From the traffic access to Jalan Raya Wonogiri to Pracimantoro, there are no clear directions to Kepuhsari. The mentoring to the Kepuhsari Wayang Village, Manyaran, Wonogiri is not the first event in this region. Previously, the team had provides support for the human resource in the village, through a training in e-branding for wayang products. Humas UNS
Reporter: Dwi Hastuti