UNS – Lecturers of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a focus group discussion (FGD) and training on Tourism Industry 4.0 Branding for Maron River. The event took place offline in Maron Hamlet, Dersono Village, Pringkuku Sub-district, Pacitan Regency. A total of 42 participants from the Maron River Community Tourism Group (Pokdarwis), including social media managers, ticket booth attendants, and boat drivers, predominantly from the younger generation, attended the training.
The FGD is part of the implementation of the Research and Community Service (P2M) activity under the Community Partnership Program (PKM) funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek). Dr. Pipit Wijayanti, S.Si., M.Sc., the team leader, was joined by Dr. Dwi Ardiana Setyawardhani, S.T., M.T. from the Faculty of Engineering (FT) UNS and Dr. Anung Rachman, S.T., M.Kom. from the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Surakarta. The training event was successfully conducted with high enthusiasm from the participants on Thursday (10/8/2023).
Dr. Anung delivered the training material. In his presentation, he explained the effectiveness of social media as a means of branding for Maron River. According to Dr. Anung, social media is a fairly effective branding tool. Through social media, tourists can get an idea of what to expect when visiting the Maron River based on photos or videos uploaded by the management on social media.
“Through social media, visitors can know what they can see, do, and feel when visiting the Maron River based on photos or videos uploaded by the management on social media,” Dr. Anung explained.
Dr. Pipit explained to uns.ac.id the background of this community service activity. Several aspects were highlighted, including ticket management and social media management. The digital recording of ticket data can be utilized by Pokdarwis to determine strategies for increasing visits. This digitalization contributes to more organized administrative processes, making it easier for tourists to access the necessary services and information.
In addition to the presentation on the effectiveness of social media as a branding tool for the Maron River, the P2M Team also provided training on enhancing basic photography and videography skills, which is part of improving services for tourists. With this training, boat drivers acquired basic photography and videography skills to assist tourists.
“Boat drivers need to provide photo or video services. Therefore, boat drivers should possess the necessary skills to ensure the photos meet the tourists’ expectations,” Dr. Pipit clarified.
Warlan, the Head of Dersono Village, and Dwi, the Chairperson of Pokdarwis, expressed gratitude and delight for the training conducted by the UNS P2M Team. They hoped that this collaboration would continue to develop, enabling the tourism destination to grow rapidly and function independently. They also hoped that the participants, through this training, could improve their services, leading to satisfied tourists who could recommend others to visit Maron River.
Humas UNS
Reporter: R. P. Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti