Cisanti Lake, also known as Kilometer 0 of the Citarum River, is one of the tourist attractions of Tarumajaya Village, Kertasari Subdistrict, Bandung Regency. Not only does Situ Cisanti offer natural beauty, it also has its own historical story. Apart from Cisanti Lake, there are a number of other potential tourism spots owned by Tarumajaya Village, namely Bukit Paesan, Bongkor Forest, TaWiDes (Village Educational Tourism Park), Pakawa (Paniisan Karuhun Wah Yang), Tugu Lima Helm, and Curug Lodaya. Each of these tourist areas also has its own historical story which is a specialty and advantage to be explored and told further.
The uniqueness and excellence of these tourist destinations encouraged the UI Vocational community service team to provide podcasting and audio storytelling training to the Tarumajaya Village Smart Community Information Group as a promotional effort through optimizing the historical stories of each tourist destination. Currently, content in audio format is becoming a new medium for delivering information, especially during this pandemic. Information distributed through podcasts is very diverse, ranging from news, entertainment, education, and even tourism. This background is the interest of the service team to share knowledge about how to make podcasts, especially those with historical tourism themes.
“Along with the development of these tourist destinations, of course I have to prepare social media facilities that can promote these tourist destinations,” said Ahmad Iksan, Head of Tarumajaya Village who welcomed the training program provided by the UI Vocational community service team. With a number of potential tourist destinations, it is undeniable that social media currently plays an important role in promotional efforts, including for tourism promotion, especially historical tourism.
This community service was held on Saturday (04/12) and the training was divided into three sessions covering the introduction to the mastery of podcast production practices. The material presented included training on Podcasting skills by UI Vocational Multimedia Broadcasting lecturer Peny Meliaty Hutabarat M.S.M and material related to Podcast introduction by Melisa Bunga Altamira, M.Si. Both materials explain the importance of writing skills, natural script development, and storytelling skills. The presentation was then closed with a practical session on mastering podcast production delivered by a team of UI students, Rahmadiyanti Alivia (Vocational UI), Khalisha Shafa Fawzya (FEB UI), and Aulia Azzahra (Vocational UI).
One of the participants in the training, Gus Kamajaya, expressed his pleasure at being able to take part in the training. She realized that the skills she had shared, such as writing and storytelling ability, were necessary in putting together an engaging podcast. “Thank you, we have been given new knowledge related to this podcast from the UI Vocational team. Please continue to assist us until we become a digital-based tourism village,” he said.
This community service program is carried out as a form of UI’s contribution to state development through improving the welfare of the community. Deni Danial Kesa, Ph.D, Manager of Human Resources, Research, and Community Service of UI Vocational School, as well as the service team. Delivering that UI Vocational School, together with Universitas Indonesia, is committed to presenting sustainable community service programs so that the benefits can be felt and independence can be formed.
“In the second year of this development, Tarumajaya Village has arrived at the promotion phase so that podcasts are one of the promotional channels that we want to become a characteristic of this region. Previously, coaching for Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDES) had also been carried out. Having lecturers and students with various scientific backgrounds so that the program can be carried out in synergy and sustainably. The existence of this podcast is expected to be a good start in creating digital-based tourism village promotions,” said Deni.
In line with what Deni said, “Podcasts will be very effective in attracting tourists’ interest because the stories are arranged to build more curiosity so that potential tourists are encouraged to visit and experience firsthand. Podcasts are also not widely used by tourism developers so that it will be the advantage of this village. After the training, the community will be given assistance in producing the Tarumajaya Village Podcast as a historical tour,” said Peny, the head of the community service team.
Ahmad as the Head of Tarumajaya Village also expressed his gratitude for the podcast and audio storytelling training. “We thank you for the training opportunities that have been given to us. This must go hand in hand as we build, the podcast must also help and support us, our team must also be ready to all support our program, so that our community will be more prosperous, advanced, and independent,” Ahmad said.
