MARITIME TOURISM: BRAND COMMUNICATION OF MARITIME TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN LEBAK REGENCY

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world including Indonesia since the beginning of 2020 has had a signifcant impact on the tourism sector in Indonesia. Tourism in Lebak Regency is also among those experiencing the impact of the multiplier efect, abandoned tourist destination, business closing, economic income has decreases, which is caused by a decrease in the number of tourists to 83.57% in 2019. However, over time, tourist destinations in Lebak Regency have begun to reopen, with considerations based on vaccination achievements that have been above 50 percent and a commitment to implementing strict and frm health protocols. This policy certainly encourages the Lebak Regency Culture and Tourism Ofce to revive the nuances of tourism through programs to communicate tourist destinations. This study aims to describe the implementation of tourism communication within the framework of message construction on tourist destination brands. The paradigm of this research is constructivist with a case study method. Primary data will be obtained through interviews. The results showed that, in the frst stage of market search analysis and strategy recommendations, the Lebak Disbudpar conducted market analysis research before establishing the Lebak Unique destination brand and launching the Lebak Regency tourism vision and mission; the next stage is communicating the brand, Lebak Disbudpar optimizes planned website and social media media, event publications, and informative and educative message concepts; at the stage of implementing the brand, Disbudpar Lebak organizes events, especially in maritime tourism destinations, surfng events, sports events, and plans to hold a kite festival; At the evaluation stage, it is carried out by measuring the impact on tourists and the community, especially on the sustainability aspect, to fnd out the contribution of the event to the community’s economy