Community Empowerment Through Tourism Village Development: A Case Study of Setopatok Village Tourism Potential

Abstract

Tourism village development is widely promoted as a local potential based strategy for empowering rural communities in a sustainable manner. This study examines the community empowerment process generated by tourism village development in Setopatok Village, Mundu District, Cirebon Regency, West Java, Indonesia, and identifies its social and economic consequences for local residents. A qualitative descriptive case study design was applied. Data were collected between June and August 2025 through semi structured in depth interviews with 12 purposively selected informants (tourism village managers, village officials, MSME actors, and participating residents), participatory observation, and documentation, and were analysed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model with source and technique triangulation. The findings show that the village possesses natural, cultural, and economic assets, including the Setupatok reservoir landscape, fishing based livelihoods, and household food processing, which function as capital for empowerment. Empowerment proceeded through three observed stages: raising residents' awareness of village potential, strengthening human resource capacity through training and mentoring, and consolidating local institutions, particularly the tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis). Residents reported the emergence of new culinary, handicraft, and visitor service enterprises, additional household income during weekends and holidays, and greater confidence and solidarity in managing village assets. Perceived barriers include limited human resource capacity, weak promotion, and reliance on external support. The study contributes a stage based empirical account of empowerment in a reservoir based tourism village and indicates that tourism village development can support community empowerment when it is participatory and sustained over time.