Competitiveness Monitor in Measuring the Competitiveness Level of Tourist Villages in Indonesia

The tourism sector is expected to be the savior of the economy in Indonesia, amid the weakening rupiah exchange rate. This research was conducted with the aim to measure the level of competitiveness of tourist villages in Indonesia. This research is important because of the contribution it makes to the tourism village development which is one of the tools to alleviate poverty in rural areas. Tourism village communities are required to play an active role in the village tourism business, in order to improve their own welfare using their own potential and capabilities. The study was conducted in the village of Ngrawan, Semarang Regency, Indonesia. The Competitiveness Monitor, built by the World Travel and Tourism Council, is the analytical tool used to measure the level of tourism competitiveness in this study. The measurements used in the Competitiveness Monitor consist of the Tourism Participation Index, Purchasing Power Parity, Infrastructure Development Indicators, Environment Indicators, Technology Advancement Indicators, Human Resources Indicators, Open Indicators, and Social Development Indicators. These indicators are then used as the basis for mapping the tourist village competitiveness index. The results of the study indicate that the tourist village of Ngrawan occupies a top position, among other tourist villages. This is evidenced by its ranking position based on the tourist village attributes. These attributes include product services that affect customers. However, the products are not what customer's look for, so, customers tend to be dissatisfied. The attributes that are considered superior in the tourist village of Ngrawan, are the Openness Indicator and Social Development Indicator. Nevertheless, the village is low in value with attributes relate to Technology Advancement Indicator Attribute, Tourism Participation Index, Infrastructure Development Indicator and Environment. These attributes are related to indicators of competitiveness unlike to other tourist villages. This finding is the basic information that the Indonesian government can use to formulate tourism sector development policies so as to achieve success in developing tourism villages.