Tanjung Bunga Village is one of the villages in Pangururan District, Samosir Regency, North Sumatra, which is currently in the development stage towards the Tourism Village concept. Its strategic location and the tourist attraction it offers, are the main goals of developing a tourist village there. There are a number of tourism potentials owned by Tanjung Bunga Village, namely the Pusuk Buhit Climbing, Raja Uti Cave, Aek Tala-tala, Aek Tada-tada, and Bukit Zion Garden of God.
In the development of tourist villages, the quality of human resources, namely local residents, is the most important element that must be improved and equipped with various knowledge related to tourism. Therefore, the Community Service Team (Pengmas) for the Vocational Education Program (PPV) of the Universitas Indonesia (UI) provides education related to the development of tourism villages and environmental conservation through improving the quality of human resources to the residents of Tanjung Bunga Village. The community service activity which was held on February 14-16, 2022 was chaired by Ir. Antony Sihombing, MPD., Ph.D., lecturer at the UI Faculty of Engineering.
This Community Service is a collaboration program between Vocational UI and industrial partners Perum Jasa Tirta I (PJT I) and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum). This year is the second year of UI Vocational community service collaboration funded by PJT 1 with the theme “Community Service and Improving the Quality of Human Resources”.
In its implementation, the Universitas Indonesia Vocational Community Service team provided various materials, namely Tourism Village Branding Through Storytelling which was filled by Melisa Bunga Altamira, M.Si; The Importance of Branding through Packaging by Tamia Sheira Bagasta, M. Ars; Branding for Tourism Villages by Dr. Poeti Nazura Gulfira; Toba is Clean, Healthy, Friendly, and Beautiful/GREAT by Faizah Abdullah, M.Biomed; and a Healthy and Safe Climbing Guide by Muhammad Abror and Ilham Indra Cahya (Mapala UI/ Nature Lover Student Community).
In addition to educational materials, the team also provided training related to coffee processing delivered by the Samosir Coffee Synergy Community. Not to forget, for the children, the team provided education related to environmental conservation and tourism awareness through the snake and ladder game which was designed in an educational and interactive waw.
The Director of PPV UI, Padang Wicaksono, S.E, Ph.D, responded to the activity, saying, “The community service activity in Tanjung Bunga Village is a contribution from the University of Indonesia, especially Vocational Studies, to the country’s development through improving the quality of human resources.”
Head of Service Subdiv ASA V/1 PJT 1 Mahendra Sitinjak said this cooperation program is expected to increase the awareness and desire of people from all generations to carry out conservation in Lake Toba so that the sustainability and water discharge of Lake Toba can be maintained. “We from PJT 1 certainly hope that this development activity will continue and our cooperation program will continue to be established,” said Mahendra.
On the same occasion, the Head of Tanjung Bunga Village, Lasper Sitanggang, enthusiastically welcomed the implementation of the education and training that had been delivered. “We thank you for the education provided and the training opportunities provided to us. The whole series of activities went well and I hope that all the materials and training delivered can be useful for the development of the Tanjung Bunga tourist village,” said Lasper.
Writer: Melisa Bunga | Editor: Maudisha AR
