The Implementation of Community-based Ecotourism Concept in Osing Tourism Village Development Strategy of Banyuwangi Regency, Indonesia

Rural tourism is one of the sectors having potency and opportunity to develop as the optimization of rural resources in the fighting against poverty. One of the approaches which can be used to develop rural tourism activities is Community-based Ecotourism (CBE) concept in the form of tourism village. Different from conventional tourism, CBE gives direct impact to the area conservation, takes role in the local community economic empowerment efforts and enhances both sustainable conservation and development. This research-based article aims at 1. identifying and assessing rural potencies and tourist attractions in Osing culture-based village in Tourism Development Zone 1 (TDZ 1) of Banyuwangi regency; 2. analyzing the readiness of both CBE implementation and the community; and 3. designing guidelines of tourism village development strategy with CBE concept. The research takes place in Kemiren Village of Glagah District Banyuwangi because Kemiren is considered as the most representative of Osing culture-based indigeneous villages. The tourist attraction assessment is based on 5 aspects: attractions, accessibility, condition of socio-economic environments, accommodation and supporting facilities. The readiness assessment of CBE development is based on 4 scoring aspects: socio-economic, environmental, and management aspects. The community readiness assessment in the tourism village development with CBE concept is based on the community characteristics, perception, participation and wishes. Each of the assessment result will be analyzed and ranked in 5 scoring classes: very good, good, medium, bad and very bad.)