Increasing Tourism in Karo District, Indonesia Based on Place Identity

Abstract

Place identity is one of the necessary aspects to increase tourism. It can also improve someone’s quality of life. This study aimed to find place identity on tourism development in Karo District, Indonesia, which can be used to create a tourism development program. This research used mix method by identified four elements: distinctiveness, continuity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. The result shows that the strongest element of place identity was self-esteem and distinctiveness, while self-efficacy and continuity were weak. Furthermore, tourism in the area relatively goes well even though place identity elements were weak. However, the improvement to enhancing tourism is needed. Keywords: Tourism Development; Place Identity; Karo DistrictISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia.