IRCS UNUD Journals, Vol. 1 No. 1, February 2017

77

THE VILLA’S STRATAGEM IN DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTUREBASED TOURISM IN UBUD, BALI

I Made Kusuma Negara1, I Made Adikampana2, and Saptono Nugroho3

  • 1Tourism Industry Program Study, Tourism Faculty, Udayana University

Jl. Dr. Goris 7, Denpasar, 80232

Telp/Fax : (0361) 223789, E-mail : kusumatourism@gmail.com

  • 2Tourism Destination Program Study, Tourism Faculty, Udayana University, Jl. Dr. Goris 7, Denpasar, 80232

  • 2Tourism Destination Program Study, Tourism Faculty, Udayana University, Jl. Dr. Goris 7, Denpasar, 80232

Abstract One of the favorite locations of villa in Ubud is the farm area that owned by local communities. It mentioned that the villa has consciously utilizing agricultural landscapes and their activities as a resource to attract tourists. But the existence of the villa has not been able to provide significant benefits for local communities, especially farmers. That can be observed by the emergence of resistance by farmers to the villa. This paper is addressed to the tactic or stratagem of villa in order to deal with of such resistance. The method is a qualitative approach. Data collected from observations and interviews with the villa management, local community representatives, and farmers. They were selected purposively, which they expected to provide comprehensive information about the villa and the local community. The data are grouped and then analyzed descriptively. The result of such analysis showed that the villa in maintaining its existence imposed some tactics or stratagems; the socio-cultural stratagem, economic stratagem, and political stratagem.

Key Words: Villa, farmer, tourism benefit, stratagems, Ubud

  • i.    Introduction13

The local community is an important component of the tourism product in a destination (Inskeep, 1991). Integrating local communities in the development of the tourism product into an absolute prerequisite of sustainability in tourism development such as integration may be created simultaneously when tourism is able to meet the desires and needs of local communities (Liu, 2003). In other words, tourism should be able to provide a variety of benefits, both social and cultural, environmental, and economic for local communities (Okazaki, 2008). The abandonment of tourism benefit distribution to the community will create problems and then become a barrier in sustainability of tourism development.

Barriers of the sustainable development tourism is also observed in Ubud, Bali. Ubud is a tourist area

that offers a life of rural communities that has religious agrarian culture. Base on these attractions, it can be stated that the development trend of tourism products including the components of Ubud accommodation leads to the rural areas. Nowdays villa has been develop as the accomodation types in Ubud. Most of the villa's area selection is in tourist area of Ubud around the agricultural land owned by farmers. Lod Tunduh is one of observed area that become villas development area. Lodtunduh is a village in the tourist area of Ubud which majority of the people working in agriculture by working on rice fields and farms. The management of farm community in this area is called Subak (irrigation system in Bali). an interesting about this area is the development pattern which is surrounding the agricultural areas. It can be said that the villa has consciously in utilize the agricultural landscapes and it activities as a resource to attract tourists.

The existence of these villas is influenced the farmers. Unfortunately, the development of villas around the rice fields has not been able to provide significant benefits. This is evidenced by the emergence of resistance by farmers toward the presence of the villas. Farmers are justify of their various activities that tend to pay less attention to the sustainable development of tourism in order to get the benefits of tourism. Based on this phenomenon, the study was conducted with the aim to study the response of villa namely the villa's stratagem toward the resistance of farmers in developing agriculturebased tourism.

  • II.    Research Methods

This study used a qualitative approach. This approach is discover the phenomenon in-depth based on the experiences and views of data sources. The data were collected by observation and interviews with managers of the villa, local community leaders, and farmers. They were selected purposively for knowledge, which is expected to provide comprehensive information about the villa stratagem against the resistance of farmers in the development of agriculture-based tourism. The collected data are grouped according to the research objectives and then analyzed descriptively.

  • III.    Results and Discussion

    • 3.1.    Result

There are differences in perspective between farmers and villas on agriculture. This is an inseparable of the dualism perspective villa and farmer about their landscape and its activities. Farmers undertake agricultural activities with awareness of agricultural production in order to meet the necessities of life. While the villa interpret the agricultural landscape as one of the attraction to appeal the lengt stay of tourist who stayed in villa. Thus occurred each interpretation of the agricultural which is affect the exclusive activity of the group, both farmers and the villa. Farmers exclusively do the agricultural process, from pre-production - production - and post-production. While the villa interprets farm as a tourist attraction that adds value for the existence of the villa.

It may be mentioned that Lodtunduh as a social space has been interpreted differently in accordance to its respective sphere. Farmers with agricultural sphere and the villa with tourism sphere. This dualism creates disharmonis relations between farmers and villas. It shows there is no similar perspective and in view to figure the agricultural activity as a base tourists

attractions (Marques, 2006). In other words, it uncreated yet the sphere between villas and farmer which in this study is called agrotourism. This condition is causing the benefits of tourism generated by the presence of the villa can not be enjoyed by farmers and institutions Subak. the emerging of farmer resistance is a form of disappointment expression in order to get the attention from the villa. The resistance motivation of farmers are to get the benefit from tourism.

  • 3.2.    Discussion

In defending its existence, the villa made several efforts in the form of a strategy as follows:

  • 1.    Socio-Cultural Strategy

This strategy is conducted to maintain the continuity of villa business for the sake. The villa is utilizing social networks and culture in Lod tunduh. In the social context, the villa establishing guidelines patron-client relationships by recruiting employees from local communities, with the priority is landowners who rent their land to the villa investors. This step is supported by culture strategies such as an efforts to recruit one of the banjar's administrators either banjar dinas (an official administrator of Balinese village) or banjar adat (custom administrator of Balinese village) as the security of villa area. Employee recruitment patterns in these contexts conceive two dimensions at once, in socially context it embracing the recruitment of local employee particularly the land owner. in cultural context, banjar has important aspect as cultural relations between the villa and the local community. The utilization of sociocultural based network by the villa's because of an inability of local communities to identify the type of capital owned. This practice is to establish the patterns of patronage relationships by the biased understanding that economic capital is the main asset and its owner would be in a strategic social position. With this strategy, the villa gets two benefits at once in the form of security to run their business and have a representative in the activities of banjar.

  • 2.    Economic Strategy

The strategy carried out by the villa to maintain higher social position in the community. In other words, to reinforces the relation of patron-client. The villa contribution is donating and assisting to the village, banjar and subak (irrigation system in Bali) institution. based on it contribution villa has the highest status as patron. The practice of contributor and contribution in this situation emerge the charitability logic in tourism at Lodtunduh. This logic became the basis consciousness villa in tourism

practices, resulting from the inability of the local community (requesting donations) in recognizing the actual position of tourism domain. This evidence also seen awakened in patron-client relations system when the position of land hire become higher rather than the owner and it looks like the owner asking for a job opportunity. In addition, the behavior of community in asking for donations and assistance from villa strengthen villa's position as patron. This situation becomes more interesting phenomenon when there are villas that extend the contract with the local landowner. This means that as long as the villa operates both parties feel comfortable with the patronage relationship patterns. it caused a quasi-conscious existence of patronage-based economic capital owned by the villa. The emergence of quasiconsciousness will further the establishment of charitability logic in the form of contribute-contributed.

  • 3.    Political Strategy

This strategy made by the villas to get the support for its sustainable. The villa approachment to institutional and important figures in Lodtunduh used to support in organizing accommodation business. This condition makes the local people hesitate to do a conflict with the villa. The results show that the identification of the main institutions is supporting patronage patterns villa is the banjar where the villa took a place. This phenomenon can be understood because the banjar has authorized in the villa operation area .This indicates that the intensification of patronage with the charitability logic in Banjar. Banjar is a sphere or place to exchange the capital, with the apparent awareness that economic capital is the dominant capital. The question then, where the position of Subak? thus system actually placing the farmer in the weakness position because they relatively have no capital. It can be said Subak is alienated in it own place because it is not considered important in tourism development.

  • IV.    Conclusion

The contra-productive practices that have been mentioned previously influenced by the perspective of dualism. This perspective provides the foundation on its own interpretation toward agriculture, thus limiting the potential of local communities in tourism participation at Lodtunduh. The practice of contributed and contributing caused by the charitability logic mindset of the parties in Lodtunduh. Practice-based charitability logis is very plural persists today in the tourist area of Ubud even Bali.

The local community is actually the owner of area with all the capital in it,in contrary they are in a position to beg in their area.

The phenomenon is caused by the inability of local communities to locate and identify capital or resource owned. To enable local communities in identifying the capital, the important thing to do is create a sphere of tourism. Particularly in Lodtunduh case, it has been mentioned earlier that the ideal sphere of tourism is based on agriculture or meet the perspective of agrotourism. The sphere becomes important to bring the various interested parties or tourism actors with the composition in order to exchange and strengthen each other. In the context of reinforcing, it is necessary institutional agrotourism to regulate exchange mechanisms capital in a fair and reasonable way. this is aiming to create a synergy between tourism actors and not just provide space for future conflict.

Acknowledgment

This paper is one of the research output of decentralization grant competition in 2016. The author would like to thank to University of Udayana who have facilitated and provided funding for the implementation of this study. Hopefully this article useful.

References

  • [1]    E. Inskeep. Tourism Planning: An Integrated and Sustainable Development Approach.Van Nostrand Reinhold, USA. 1999.

  • [2]    Z. Liu. Sustainable Tourism Development: A Critique, Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 11: 2003. pp 459-475

  • [3]    H. Marques. Searching for complementarities between agriculture and tourism-the demarcated wine-producing regions of northern Portugal. Tourism Economics 12(1): 2006. pp147–      155.

  • [4]    E. Okazaki. A Community-Based Tourism Model: Its Conception and Use, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16: 2008. pp511- 529