Batu is a city with very high tourism potential because of its geographical conditions and socio-cultural potential. Batu City, which is located 800 MDPL (Meters Above Sea Level), is blessed with enchanting natural beauty. This potential is reflected in the richness of agricultural production, fruit and vegetables, which is supported by beautiful panoramas of mountains and hills. The sadness of tourism development is not felt by the indigenous people of Batu City. Large investors get more benefits from developing industrial-scale tourist destinations.
One example is Sumbergondo Village which is located in Batu. This village has extraordinary tourism potential which includes: something to buy, The plantation's abundant produce, such as apples, carrots, potatoes and strawberries, can be made into typical village souvenirs. Something to feel has a climbing route to Mount Arjuna which is often used by climbers from various regions which is presented in the form of a Mount Arjuna tour package, something to see For the most part, the Sumbergondo village area has plantations that are still fertile and active, so the air is still cool and there are farmers' activities. Unfortunately, the limited resources owned by the tourism department are the main obstacle to the development of tourist villages in Batu City, especially limitations in training for the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) that each village has.
This is the background for doctoral activities serving the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) Universitas Brawijaya (UB), whose members are Firda Hidayati, DPA; Akhmad Amirudin, M.Pol.Sc; and Bayu Kusuma, M.Sc. to help Sumbergondo Village increase its potential through potential mapping and introduction to the program Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The activity was carried out on November 5 2018 in Sumbergondo Village.
"This desire should be aligned with the capacity of Human Resources outside the government structure so that Empowered Villages do not just become tagline "However, it can be realized by turning several villages in Batu City into independent villages, especially in the tourism sector," explained Firda.
The output, he added, is a model assessment potential for tourist villages, training modules for developing tourist villages and training methods for Tourism Awareness Groups spread across villages and sub-districts in the Batu Region (Pokdarwis). With this, potential tourism villages will balance out the imbalance in tourism management which is dominated by large investors.
