The Effectiveness of Virtual Tour on Media Social Youtube as an Alternative Tourism During the Covid-19 Pandemic in East Nusa Tenggara Province

Abstract

Virtual Tour is one of the new concepts for the world of tourism and is predicted to be a safe alternative for tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As we know, tourism is a sector that has experienced a significant impact due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the world today. The implementation of social distancing for people around the world forces us to stay at home and prohibits us from traveling. The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Kemenparekraf made a breakthrough by holding virtual tour activities 3 times and lifting every tourist destination in Indonesia. One of them is a tourist destination in East Nusa Tenggara Province. The tourist destinations appointed by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in NTT Province are Labuan Bajo, Wae Rebo Tourism Village and Alor Island. This Virtual Tour activity was uploaded on the Youtube platform with the Toutube Channel Wonderfull Indonesia. Seeing the above phenomenon, here the researcher is interested in conducting a study and raising the topic of the Effectiveness of YouTube Social Media Virtual Tours as Tourism Alternatives During the Covid-19 Pandemic Period in East Nusa Tenggara Province. (Case Study: Video Youtube Channel "Wonderfull Indonesia").The method used in this study uses a qualitative method with an entography approach. Where this method this method can be used in photographing the phenomenon of society that is in the realm of cyberspace. The location that will be taken in this research is based on the youtube analysis chosen by the author, namely the Wonderfull Indonesia channel which is located in East Nusa Tenggara Province.The results of this study are discussed based on indicators of effectiveness such as 1. Program success 2. Target success 3. Satisfaction with the program 4. Input and output levels 5. Achievement of overall goals. As a result, the success of the virtual tour on the Wonderful Indonesia Youtube Channel during the COVID-19 pandemic in East Nusa Tenggara, it can be said that it went well and on target so that it produced its own satisfaction for the viewers/netizens. However, there are still some obstacles caused by other social media promotions on the existence of virtual tour videos held by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy through the wonderful Indonesia youtube channel.