Nglanggeran
Indonesia
2021
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Nglanggeran, located 25 km away from Yogyakarta city, has developed the concept of Community-based tourism. The majority of the population work as farmers, plantation workers and ranchers. The beauty of its natural landscape and the uniqueness of Gunung Api Purba (ancient volcano) are the main attraction in Nglanggeran. The geological formation of the volcano tells an Oligo-miosen (tertiary age) history of the area. Tourists can opt for trekking activity exploring towering giant-sized chunks of rocks and taking pictures with the green landscape in the background. This attraction is also a part of the UNESCO Global Geopark of Mount Sewu.
Living in with the people of Nglanggeran at local homestays provides an authentic feeling of being in, and become part of, the countryside. Nglanggeran tourism village has approximately 80 homestays offering a combination of other tourism packages. During the activities, they can learn about many things: flora fauna, suitable planting, cultural arts, chocolate processing, wooden batik, hand-painted batik, etawa goat farm, eco-spa and learn about tatakrama (unggah-ungguh: a sort of traditional manners).
Traveling would not be complete without enjoying special locally-sourced food. Nglanggeran offers the signature chocolate products, ranging from drinks to assorted processed chocolates. There is a souvenir centre that displays souvenirs and the likes for visitors to purchase from. Agrotourism of cacao processing from start to finish is another Nglanggeran’s outstanding proposition of its rural tour option.
The use of e-ticketing is more common in Nglanggeran initiated in 2015. Being one of the tourism villages that applies e-ticketing system, Nglanggeran was motivated by the desire to reduce paper use, fasten the service mechanism, minimise leakage/financial recording errors, and facilitate transparancy to the public. The management team uploads the total visitation number on the village website every 10-minute, to allow anybody to easily monitor activities in the village.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Collaboration is one of the keys to success
The development of the Nglanggeran tourism village is an example of a bottom-up and top-down program approach, that is a strong desire from the community to further develop and progress and a solid support from the government and non-government parties to work together in the development process. In short: building an effective collaboration between the tourism village’s internal team and other stakeholders.
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Tourism brings a positive impact to the community
The village integrates tourism development in an independent strategy of economic sustainability.
The tourism industry provides stimulus to other sectors (e.g. cocoa production) as well as added value and additional income to the community but does not completely replace existing occupations in agriculture, craftsmanship, etc., ensuring resilience in times of crisis. This approach proved successful during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Youth engagement to embrace change
The village recognizes youth as a driving force for change in the community. Involving young residents in tourism activities encourages positive change in their households and makes families more engaged and supportive of new initiatives.
