Contributions of local guide for the sustainable tourism development in mangkunegaran palace

Oleh :
Ratna Dewi - C9310064 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

Tourism is now a part of life. Mangkunegaran Palace is one of tourist destinations in Surakarta that offers good experience to the tourists by giving the tourism products and service. The products are the palace and the souvenirs. Meanwhile, the service is guiding that is led by a tour guide. Realizing the importance of giving the good experience to the tourists, Mangkunegaran Tourism Bureau attempts to give the best service and to preserve the heritage by applying the sustainable tourism development. It involves managing the assets, attracting the tourists, and hiring competent local guides. To accomplish it, the role of local guide is very crucial as the front liner that interacts directly with the tourists. Thus, the local guide can give the important contributions for sustainable tourism development which consists of economic, environmental, and social dimensions. The final projects is accomplished by collecting, analyzing, concluding the data. The data were acquired by doing observation in Mangkunegaran Palace, interviewing with some local guides and staffs, and library study that was conducted by looking for the written relevant sources. The results from the analysis show that the local guide does give the good contribution in economic, environmental, and social dimension. The economic dimension is the local guide functions as the person who promotes the souvenirs and the special events to the tourists. The environment dimension is the tour guide plays the roles as the environment observer by assisting the tourists and preventing the damage that might be caused by the natural or human damaging. The social dimension is the local guide acts as the local ambassador that represents the institution of Mangkunegaran and Surakarta, especially when the special events held. The suggestion may be given to the institution in terms of improving the professionalism of the tour guides and continuing the tradition of Mangkunegaran