COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT IN THE HISTORICAL AND PILGRIMAGE TOURISM AT NGRINGINAN VILLAGE OF BANTUL, YOGYAKARTA

Abstract

Rural tourism is one of the community empowerment programs that stimulate the rustic's economic growth through its potential. The local community has sought to promote tourism as an alternative development strategy, which magnificently attracts many tourists each year. This study aims at analyzing the tourism products' development patterns and formulate the model of community empowerment practices in Ngringinan tourism village. The study was conducted in Ngringinan, Palbapang village, Bantul sub-district, Yogyakarta. Data was collected through field observation, interview, Focus Group Discussion, and literature review. The analytical method used was descriptive analysis. The study results revealed that community empowerment in Ngringinan rural village consisted of two stages: community awareness and capacity improvement. Both schemes appeared to be detrimental for the success of rural tourism product development. The community empowerment chain starts with planning, implementation, and evaluation. As a result, community empowerment through a tourist village development in Ngringin Village has successfully established the local community resilience toward socio-cultural, economic, and environmental changes.