As part of the Banyumas society as well as the academic community, members of GAMAS ITB are moved to spread benefits to their hometown. One of which is by becoming a catalyst for the development of Tourism Village digitalization in Karangsalam Village, Banyumas, Central Java. This is also in accordance with the third Higher Education Tri Dharma, namely community service.

Deni Marsel Susanto, the head of this community service programme, stated that Karangsalam Village is one of the tourist villages in Baturaden District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java. However, this village currently does not have a platform to ease communication between tourists and local residents. Reflecting upon these potentials and problems, GAMAS ITB then took the initiative to digitise tourism in Karangsalam Village.

In this community service, eighteen ITB students came directly to Karangsalam Village for three days, from June 16 to 18, 2023. During this activity, ITB students were guided by Alhilal Furqan, M.Sc., Ph. D., one of the ITB lecturers. As the home campus of GAMAS ITB, Institut Teknologi Bandung supported the event fully, both in terms of programmes and funding.

Digital training is the main component of the community service that GAMAS ITB members bring to Karangsalam Village in Banyumas. The main targets of this digital training are the community, entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SME), tourism managers, and local stakeholders.

"In this digitization training, the community will be equipped with knowledge about social media administrators, the digital economy, such as making QRIS, as well as website creation training," said Deni, who is also a 2021 student of Regional and Urban Planning (PWK).

During the community service programme, GAMAS representatives collaborated with the IT Incubator and succeeded in creating a website to develop tourism in Karangsalam Village, Banyumas, namely www.wisatakarangsalam.com.

In addition, they also succeeded in helping 8 local SMEs make QRIS to apply the digital economy concept and optimise payment methods. Training related to social media administrators was also carried out for the community and tourism managers. The goal of the training is to promote Karangsalam Village so that the presence of tourism in Karangsalam Village can be increasingly known by many people.

"After carrying out this community service, it is hoped that the community can apply the knowledge related to digitalization so that tourism in Karangsalam Village, Banyumas, can be better known by the people of Indonesia, thus boosting the regional economy," Deni concluded.

Reporter: Angra Eni Saepa

Translator: Ayesha Lativa Mafaza

Editor: Anggi Nurdiani