Collaboration Challenges in Helping the Rural Creative Tourism Sector to Recover During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the challenges faced by the rural creative tourism sector in recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, this sector was well-developed and provided many contributions to the local economy. However, the pandemic has badly inhibited the development of the rural creative tourism sector. This study used a post-positivist qualitative approach in which the researchers collected the data based on the formulated cross-sector collaboration theory or conceptual framework, which was then reconfirmed. Interviews with several informants consisting of creative tourism actors and regional tourism officials were conducted to identify the challenges in cross-sector collaboration. The research findings showed that cross-sectoral collaboration was required to figure out the impacts of activity restrictions on the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the limited government budget and the absence of appropriate empowerment strategies for rural creative tourism were obstacles faced by the creative tourism sector in trying to recover from the impacts of this pandemic. We can conclude that an effective collaborative strategy model should build on the assets of local village communities and other strategic sectors, such as education, media, technology and business. This could be adaptively performed through local government support and village government policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by maintaining opportunities to help the creative tourism sector in rural areas to recover.
 Keywords: rural creative tourism, COVID-19, cross-sector collaboration, pandemic

Institutional resilience of tourism villages against the Covid-19 pandemic in the Special Region of Yogyakarta

“…This finding is in line with previous research that the community needs to be retrained to be able to cope with the impacts that arise from Covid-19 [7]. This collaborative effort among various parties is consistent with previous research highlighting that collaboration among these actors can increase the resilience of tourism sector actors, enabling them to survive, adapt, innovate, and share the same goals for tourism revival [11,12]. The training and assistance in adopting technology in tourist villages during a pandemic also supports previous research.…”

“…Good leadership encourages the emergence of innovations. These innovations encompass increased collaboration and cooperation, the development of tourism products, enhanced marketing efforts, empowerment of younger generations and the community through education and training, improved agricultural sector profitability, and greater use of technology [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. These innovations are essential for tourism village communities to thrive during a pandemic and subsequently create new potentials and opportunities to boost tourism [3,6,[13][14][15][16].…”

“…As a result of the pandemic, the communities have learned to be more careful in the use of reserve funds and recognize the importance of disaster mitigation, which should be prepared for future disasters [7,11,13,19,20]. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of collaboration among tourism actors in tourism villages, which must be supported by adaptive policies from local governments [12]. In addition, the integration of technology and smart solutions into community management practices is IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1263/1/012004 3 important to increase institutional efficiency and overcome the limitations caused by large-scale lockdowns [21][22][23].…”

Analysis of the Synergy of the Penta Helix Model in Handling COVID-19 at the Pekanbaru City Level

“…Community elements can also come from pressure groups or community organizations. Then, the media elements can come from print media or digital media that are not affiliated with the government (Kurniasih et al, 2022;Kurniawan et al, 2023;Sari et al, 2022). However, in implementing the synergy of the Penta Helix model, the problem of dominance and structural dynamics in the partnership or collaboration that is built requires a comprehensive solution so that each party can have a balanced role to create ideal conditions in the new order in the new normal era.…”

“…Covid-19's synergy with the Penta Helix model is affected by several aspects, including the role of government, equality amongst actors, cooperative decision-making processes, formal structure, consensus, and collaborative problem-solving (Amin et al, 2021). It is also imperative that post-COVID-19 industries receive strategic strategies through impact studies and more comprehensive rehabilitation plans (Amin et al, 2022;Kurniasih et al, 2022). Research into the synergy of the Penta Helix model between government and non-government entities, as evidenced in several of the literature studies above, is crucial since it can provide the foundation for any government-run COVID-19 management programme (Caraka et al, 2021;Kurniawan et al, 2023;Sari et al, 2022).…”