The Development Strategies on the Batik Creative Industry as an Enthralling Sector for Cultural Tourism in Bondowoso Regency, East Java

Abstract

The Bondowoso Regency has great potential to evolve into a center for the batik creative industry. However, there are still no batik products that demonstrate the uniqueness of the Bondowoso Regency. Several community groups in Suling Wetan Village, Cermee Subdistrict, Bondowoso Regency, have been running batik businesses as artisans since 2015. The community groups have had the basic skills to produce batik; unfortunately, they still do not give any impact to the growth of the cultural tourism destinations in Bondowoso. The old batik designs do not attract buyers, have limited color combinations, and only rely on synthetic batik dyes. Through the partnership service program that has been implemented, some of the batik community businesses can develop their products. This partnership service program is done by several activities, such as: socialization; workshops on batik design and the use of natural dyes; training on natural materials and batik coloring; procurement of gawangan1 , pendulum2 and accessories; training and mentoring techniques for making interesting batik motifs and coloring using natural dyes; and the dialogue to develop the creative batik industry. The results of this program are to develop not only the Suling Wetan Village but also make the batik community business in Cermee Subdistrict, independently grow as a creative batik industry. These improvements also captivate the cultural tourism in Bondowoso Regency.