Udayana University Tourism Faculty Students Hold Field Research on Lombok Island

Lombok, 29-31 May 2024 – Students from the Tourism Study Program, Faculty of Tourism, Udayana University carried out Field Research 1 (Field Research) on Lombok Island. Dr. Nararya Narottama, SE., M.Par, revealed that this activity was part of a course designed to provide students with direct learning experiences (experiential learning) about tourism phenomena in the field.

This field research consists of several activities, namely preparing a research proposal, opening and debriefing, data collection, field data testing and report writing. This event was officially opened by the Tourism Study Program Coordinator, Gde Indra Bhaskara, M.Sc., Ph.D., and was attended by 98 4th semester students as well as 18 accompanying lecturers and teaching staff.

In carrying out the research, students were divided into 18 groups, each of which would research certain topics in 18 different locations on Lombok Island. This year's research theme is "Exploratory Study of Community-Based Tourism Development on Lombok Island, NTB Province."

The event began with an opening and discussion regarding the dynamics of tourism on Lombok Island. There are various strategic issues related to NTB tourism, such as the visit target which has not yet reached 5 million people in 2023 and the length of stay of tourists which has only reached 2 days from the target of 4 days. Apart from that, issues related to tourism human resources (HR) in NTB are also still a challenge.

"We hope that with this Field Research 1 activity, students can provide useful input and recommendations for the progress of NTB tourism," said Izzudin Mahili, S.STP, MM. Expert Staff to the Governor of NTB.

Also present as resource persons in this activity were I Nengah Gusia, S.E., Middle East Tourism Planner for NTB Province, who conveyed the NTB tourism policy from the NTB Tourism Office, as well as Plt. Head of BRIDA NTB Province, Lalu Suryadi, S.P., M.M., from the Regional Research and Innovation Agency (BRIDA) who discussed the potential and impact of tourism in NTB. The activity was guided by Tourism Study Program lecturer I Gusti Agung Pradnyadari, S.Pd., M.Sc.

It is hoped that Field Research 1 will not only provide practical insight to students, but can also produce findings that are useful for the development of community-based tourism on Lombok Island.