Potensi Kabupaten Simalungun dalam Menerapkan Konsep Smart Tourism melalui Infrastruktur TIK

Abstract

The advantages of the tourism sector are currently experiencing expansion and ongoing consideration compared to the manufacturing sector. In the current tourism development, various regions offer advanced and innovative services through the application of the so-called Technology and Communication for tourists who often use Smart Tourism. Currently, the implementation of the Smart Tourism platform is mostly applied in urban tourist areas that have complete basic infrastructure, a good transportation system, the availability of adequate Information and Communication Technology infrastructure, and a comprehensive service system. This surely makes the concept of Smart Tourism is still rarely applied in the Regency area which has great potency and attractiveness. The study is designed to identify the potency of Simalungun Regency in implementing smart tourism in terms of ICT infrastructure. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with interview data collection techniques, observation and documentation studies. From the results of the study, it was found that the tourism ICT infrastructure of Simalungun Regency is still not well developed in applying the concept of smart tourism. Simalungun Regency has only used QR codes, social media, and a recommendation system for tourists in the classification of smart tourism technology