Ngesrepbalong Village is among many villages overseen by Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus), and it happens to have immense natural tourism, culinary, cultural, and educational tourism potential. Recently, a Student Organization Capacity Building Program (PPKO) team at Udinus launched a program entitled ‘the Beauty of Village Trilogy: Launching and Workshop of Beautiful Tourism in Ngesrepbalong’ in Ngesrepbalong Village.

The program was initiated by a PPKO team consisting of members of the Student Executive Board of the Economic and Business Faculty, with a total of 20 members. Fifteen of them were students, the rest of them being volunteers. The Beauty of Village Trilogy was launched in the meeting hall of Ngesrepbalong Village, and witnessed by 40 attendants on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024.

Faradilla Saulina Febriani, the team leader, explained that the attendants consisted of the academic community, village council members, representatives from numerous agencies, SME owners, and representatives from the Youth, Sport, and Tourism Service. In addition to the launching, a ceremonial Agreement of Partnership was conducted between both Udinus and the Youth, Sport, and Tourism Service of Kendal Regency.

“We also provided a workshop with the help of our partners dedicated to the attendants consisting of partners and representatives from various agencies. The workshop aimed to educate the attendants concerning marketing, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE), as well as the usage of website,” she explained.

Furthermore, the Agreement of Partnership between the two parties was directly signed by Arief Cahyono, S.E., M.M., (the Head of the Marketing Division at the Youth, Sport, and Tourism Service of Kendal Regency) and Dr. Retno Indah Hernawati, S.E., M.Si., (the Dean of the Economics and Business Faculty at Udinus). The partnership, which was witnessed by delegates from every block in Ngesrepalong Village, is expected to be the bridge connecting both the village and partners in carrying out sustainable collaboration so that it will not only last until the launching event.

The dean hoped for the launching to be a perfect take-off for the village to be more properly structured. The workshop was also meant to improve the knowledge and capacities held by the locals.

“This PPKO program also allows students to hone their soft skills , which are unobtainable through conventional learning in classrooms. By learning these specific skills, students will be able to garner experiences for their careers upon their graduation,” Dr. Retno highlighted.

For additional information, the PPKO program is a community service and public empowerment program initiated by student organizations. The topic of the program conducted by the Student Executive Board of the Economics and Business Faculty is ‘Improving the Capacity of Locals to Form an Experiential Travel-based Digital Tourist Village Using the System of the Beautiful Tourism of Ngesrepbalong (Sailong).’