UNAIR NEWS- Students of Universitas Airlangga have once again shown their brilliance in the national competition. This time, two students of International Relations (HI) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) won 1st place in the national scientific writing competition (LKTIN). This achievement was achieved through their research on the tourism potential and the creative economy optimization in the Kenjeran region of Surabaya as East Java Cultural Park.
The idea was proposed by Bhaskara Chandra and Ananda Amalia in the 2021 LKTIN organized by the Student Association of Development Economics Study Program, Universitas Negeri Malang. Their work came out on top of more than a hundred abstract titles from other national competitors. The class of 2019 HI UNAIR students proposed the idea of an urban tourism area for Kenjeran coastal area.
In their research, they built a scheme that could bring together the Government of Surabaya (Pemkot) and investors to work together to develop the region’s potential. The plan is to develop tourism in the area and empower the community of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the creative economy on Kenjeran coast.
Ananda Amalia or Lia explained that the idea emerged from their experience in community service activities by the Department of HI UNAIR. During these activities, they saw that many MSMEs and creative economy practitioners had difficulty finding a market for their goods.
“Furthermore, many of them are not yet technologically literate. Even though technology such as online shopping sites can be a valuable capital to improve their business during the pandemic,” added Lia.
Through the empowerment of MSMEs, hopefully, the idea of East Java Cultural Park can emerge as a market and a center for creative economy tourism that can improve the image of the Kenjeran area. Because although the development continues, there are still many illegal racing activities, and the potential of the Kenjeran area has not been fully optimized.
Both also hope that the idea can be an input for the Government of Surabaya. Even though the tourism sector is experiencing a slump, they believe that now is the right moment for the government to rebuild its tourism.
“The pandemic period must be used as a time to clean up and prepare. Hopefully, when the pandemic is over, the MSMEs community and the creative economy sector will be ready to bounce back and participate in developing the tourism sector,” said Lia.
The idea convinced the 2021 LKTIN judges and came out on top of nine other scientific works in the final round. The formulation of the idea was done online through the guidance of one of the lecturers of HI UNAIR, Citra Hennida, S.IP., M.A. Despite being a first-timer in participating in a scientific writing competition, they succeeded in formulating ideas that were believed to be appropriate and needed by the City Government (of Surabaya, ed) and the community. (*)
Author: Intang Arifia
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
