Community Service: Increasing Promotion Of Marine Tourism At Pokdarwis Podipo Kahyapu Village, Enggano Island, North Bengkulu Regency, To Improve The Coastal Community’s Economy
The community service team for the Marine Science Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Bengkulu University carried out community service activities for the coastal community of Kahyapu Village, Enggano Island, with the theme Increasing Promotion of Marine Tourism at the Podipo Pokdarwis Kahyapu Village, Enggano District, North Bengkulu Regency. This activity is one of the village programs supported by the Marine Science Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Bengkulu University on Enggano Island. As a coastal village, Kahyapu Village has extraordinary natural beauty, namely the potential for beach, mangrove, island, and underwater tourism. Kahyapu Village has Pulau Dua, Pulau Bangkai, and Pulau Merbau as marine tourism destinations that offer beautiful beaches and the beauty of the diversity of organisms and underwater habitats. The marine tourism potential in Kahyapu Village is managed by the Podipo Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis), which has been established since 2021. Although this group has been managing the marine tourism potential on Enggano Island for a long time, it has yet to be optimally utilized. This activity aims to increase the knowledge and abilities of the Pokdarwis Podipo community to increase marine tourism in Kahyapu Village. The face-to-face activity contains theory and practice with materials covering the development of potential coastal village areas in Kahyapu Village, types and characteristics of marine tourism in Kahyapu Village, branding of marine tourism villages, counseling regarding promotion, and building group-based businesses. This activity is carried out by delivering material and practicing and evaluating the material that has been delivered. Counseling related to promotion includes:
- Material related to maps of marine tourism distribution locations.
- Branding marine tourism.
- Preparing marine tourism packages.
- Preparing leaflets/flyers as promotional media.
The results of service activities show that marine tourism marketing in Kahyapu Village is still limited to person-to-person promotions. By understanding the preparation of marine tourism strategies through leaflets/flyers, the promotion of marine tourism in Kahyapu Village increased. Pokdarwis Podipo is focusing on developing mangrove tourism by creating tracking routes. Preparing marine tourism leaflets/flyers provides marketing opportunities for each marine tourism potential in Kahyapu Village.
