Developing Tourism Potentials: Evidence from Semawis Night Market

Abstract

This article describes potential strategies to develop community empowerment, and proposals for the economy, based on the local knowledge of the Semawis Night Market stallholders. The study focused on the disparity between the existing, unique, ethnic-based tourism sector and initiatives to preserve their heritage, amid massive development in the area to capture the phenomena of the night market. The approach used to devise the strategies was to map internal and external factors and conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. Results of this analysis revealed that the most effective strategies for developing economic activities in Semawis Night Market are funding, bureaucratic support for development, efficient digital-based promotion and marketing, and empowerment of the community. The community empowerment strategies address three areas: creating a conducive climate to develop communities, encouraging the existing potential, and protecting the less fortunate. The results of this study can be used as a reference for regions wishing to develop their ethnic-based tourism sites while preserving their heritage.