Effect of Community Participation Levels on Tourism Village Development

Abstract

Tourism is a catalyst for community economic development in cities and villages. In Indonesia, the central government encourages village governments and their communities to turn their villages into tourist villages. This is an effort to improve the village’s economy. Lamajang Village is one of the tourist villages in Bandung Regency and is categorized as a pioneer tourism village even though it has been designated as a tourist village for more than 10 years. Previous studies have stated that the success of developing a tourist village depends on the level of acceptance and support of the local community. This study aims to identify forms of community empowerment and measure the level of community participation in the development of tourism villages. The study approach uses the Arstein ladder of participation theory which suggests eight levels of participation and case study. The analysis uses a quantitative approach and is equipped with a qualitative approach to deepen the social phenomena. Data collection were done using in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The method of analysis used content analysis and scoring. This study found that the level of community participation in the development of tourism villages is 86.2% or at a moderate level. Particularly, the level of participation is very high for the form of participation on consultation and placement, and very low on citizen control. These results indicate that high community participation is not the only factor that can determine the success of developing a tourist village.
 Keywords: participation, community, village tourism, development