UNS — Cabeankunti Village, Cepogo District, Boyolali Regency is one of the villages with a fairly strong historical tourism potential. The village has an archaeological bathhouse or ‘Patirtan.’ This site is presumed to have existed since the Ancient Mataram era in the 8th century. Despite this historical significance, the site remains hidden from the wider community’s attention due to the lack of tourism promotion. This condition encourages Group 1 of Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) Grant from Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta to take the initiative to optimize the tourism potential of Cabeankunti Village through online marketing.
There are actually quite a number of ‘Patirtan’ sites in the village, including the Kedung Banteng Embung, Patirtaan Cabeankunti, Nyi Demang Niti Wencono’s Tomb, and Nongko Prodo Pertapan. However, these tourist objects are difficult to find because they have not been recorded on a digital map. Group 1 of the UNS MBKM Grant took the initiative to add these tourist attraction points on the digital map.
Another optimization effort to promote tourism development in Cabeankunti Village was carried out through digital promotions. Group 1 of the UNS MBKM Grant created a special Instagram account for the village under @mbkmdesacabeankunti. Through this account, the Group of ten people uploaded a number of promotional photos and videos.
The Group 1 UNS MBKM Grant Coordinator, Elza Maylliana Aryanti, hopes that the MBKM work program can be useful in the long term for Cabeankunti Village as a potential tourist village. “Through this MBKM program, we hope that our work program implementation can bring long-term benefit for Cabeankunti Village community as a prospective tourist village,” said Elza.
Not only promoting Cabeankunti Village tourism, from September to December, the Group also made efforts to preserve beautiful landscape. They carried out a reforestation program by planting 100 tree seedlings obtained from the Boyolali Regency Environmental Office and the Watershed Management Center (BPDAS) of the Lalung Reservoir, Karanganyar. The tree seedlings planting was carried out around the Kedung Banteng Embung. The Group planted 35 guava tree seeds, 35 soursop tree seeds, 20 tree seedlings, and 10 (ten) Ketapang tree seedlings for this re-planting program.
Additionally, to optimize the development of tourism objects, the Group consisting of students of the Geography Education Study Program also prepares a Development Plan Draft for the Tirta Tourism using the AutoCad application. This draft was then submitted to representatives of the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) and the Cabeankunti Village Youth Organization on December 4, 2021. The Group 1 of the UNS MBKM Grant also submitted a design for the Cabeankunti Village icon along with the draft submission.
The Secretary of Cabeankunti Village, Sulistiyanto, highly appreciates the efforts made by the UNS MBKM Group 1.
“Thank you for choosing our village for MBKM activities implementation. All the ongoing projects have been very beneficial for our village. Hopefully, we can maintain this collaboration and partnership in the future,” said Sulistiyanto. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti