Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) held an opening ceremony for its empowerment service in Bojongnagka, Pemalang Regency, Central Java. This empowerment program was conducted to develop agrotourism in that area.
The program was a continuation of the Village Empowerment Program (P2MD), which was conducted by Udinus. The P2MD was initiated by the General Directorate of Vocation, in which Udinus got the Rp. 36,5 million for this one specific program.
On that occasion several prominent figures made an appearance, including Dr. Kusni Ingsih, MM.,—the Vice Chancellor III of Student Affairs at Udinus—, with Dr. Raden Arief Nugroho, S.S.,—the Dean of the Humanities Faculty—accompanying her. Furthermore, Dr. Neni Kurniawati, S.S., M.Hum.,—the Head of the Hotel Management Department—was also present with the Program Supervisor, Izza Ulumuddin Ahmad Asshofi, S.E., M.Mpar.
In addition, Wahmu, S.E., (the Chief of Bojongnangka Village), Hendra Sekarjati (the Head of the HPI Job Training Bureau of Central Java), and Erman Prasetyo (the Head of the Abdi Prawiro Cultural Foundation) was also present at the opening ceremony. The ceremony was held at Gatra Kencana, Bojongnangka Village, on Wednesday, August 10th, 2022.
During her speech at the ceremony, Dr. Kusni Ingsih, MM., stated that the opening ceremony marked the beginning of the empowerment program conducted by the Hotel Management Department. Through this program, students will not only educate the locals, but they will also learn how to properly manage the agrotourism sector.
“This program will open the opportunity for students to learn with the locals in Bojongnangka Village, allowing students to learn outside the classrooms. Hopefully, this collaboration will not only stop here,” Kusni stated during her interview.
Meanwhile, Genta Bernard Mahardika, the Head of the Empowerment Team, explained that Bojongnangka Village had immense potential as a tourist spot, namely, Gatra Kencana. Through this empowerment program, students of the Hotel Management Program developed numerous facilities to improve the tourist attraction in this village.
“As for tourism potential in rice fields, we have built a bridge accessible to visitors. In the future, we will also plan to build a pond for fish therapy and a children's swimming pool within the same area as the bridge,” he explained.
Furthermore, Genta revealed that the rice fields would not lose their primary purpose, namely as an agricultural center to plant organic rice. Moreover, to support this agricultural aspect, the empowerment team planned to use household waste as fertilizer to be applied to rice fields, such as banana peels, fish bones, and other organic waste.
“We have also designed intriguing tour packages, as well as taught the locals the way of tourism, namely, tour guiding, tour packaging, and educational tour packaging, such as waste management,” Genta added.
The opening ceremony was opened with a ribbon-cutting session by Dr. Kusni Ingsih, MM., —the Vice Chancellor III of Student Affairs at Udinus—, and Wahmu, S.E.,—the Chief of Bojongnangka Village. Following that session, there was also a traditional dance performance from Pemalang and a further examination of the tourist attraction.
The village chief expressed his gratitude and joy for the visit and contribution given by Udinus in an attempt to improve the quality of the agrotourism sector in Bojongnangka Village, Pemalang Regency. He revealed that the village had seen a major increase in tourists, with the number of visitors being 170 thousand.
“We hereby thank Udinus for supporting the tourism sector in our village, as well as giving guidance to further empower the tourism sector of Bojongnangka Village,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Humas Udinus)
