STRATEGI PROMOSI EKOWISATA MANGROVE

Abstract

Coastal area has various potencies and natural resources, so that it should be optimized to fulfill the
needs of local community and improve their welfare. One form of its use is as an ecotourism area.
Ecotourism is a product of tourism that combines the responsible travel and adventure. Riau Province
has many mangrove ecotourism. One of them is located at Mengkapan Village, Siak District. This
mangrove area could be optimized as an ecotourism spot. However, the weakness of local people and
its management in promoting this area made it less known by the potential tourist market. Thus, this
research tends to formulate a comprehensive promotion program for Mengkapan Mangrove Ecotourism.
It focused on personal selling training program done in groups by local community as tourism service
provider in order to gain market segmentations. This program includes some activities, such as
conducting training to make sales support and tour packages. At last, this program seeks to explore
community initiative in gaining their welfare according to their local wisdom.