Adaptation Strategy of Tourism Industry Stakeholders During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Indonesia

Abstract

The objectives of this study are (1) to describe the changes in the tourism industry that have occurred due to COVID-19; (2) explain the adaptation strategies of tourism industry stakeholders to maintain the resilience of Tanjung Puting tourism destination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (3) explain the government's strategy in supporting tourism industry stakeholders to maintain the sustainability of Tanjung Puting tourism destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is qualitative research; data was collected through in-depth interviews and the collection of published documents or information related to the Tanjung Puting tourism destination. The data analysis technique used in this study was interactive analysis. The results of the study found that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the tourism industry to experience dormancy, tourism stakeholders who lost income, switched to other sectors and looked for other alternative jobs. Tourism workers are currently doing jobs outside the tourism sector to survive, but when tourism is running normally, will return to their main jobs. The strategy undertaken by the government is to build resilience at the meso level, focusing on tourism destinations. The findings of this study suggest that tourism industry players are required to be creative and innovative in facing this pandemic.

1. Introduction

The tourism sector in Indonesia until 2019 has become a mainstay of the country’s foreign exchange-earners. It was predicted that Indonesian tourism in 2020 will rank as the highest contributor to foreign exchange and producing jobs. However, it turned out that this could not be realized because of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Indonesia. The tourism sector is one of the sectors most affected by this pandemic.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (2020) states that the number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia as of July 2020 was 159, 763 visitors, a decrease of 89.12% from July 2019 (1, 468, 173 visitors). Cumulatively from January to July 2020, the number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia reached 3.25 million or decreased by 64.64% compared to the number of foreign tourists visiting in the same period in 2019, which was 9.18 million visits. The decline in the number of tourist arrivals has an impact on the tourism supporting sector, such as hotels. The occupancy rate of star classified hotel rooms in Indonesia, in July 2020, reached an average of 28.07% or decreased by 28.66 points compared to July 2019 (56.73%). The average length of stay for foreign and domestic guests in star-classified hotels during July 2020 was recorded at 1.66 days, which is a decrease of 0.14 points when compared to July 2019, which was 1.80 days.

This condition is not only affecting Indonesia but also throughout the world. In dealing with these conditions, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (2020), by comparing the previous and current crisis experiences caused by COVID-19, a synergy between tourism stakeholders is required. The crisis is an opportunity to rethink tourism for the future. Governments need to consider the longer-term implications of the crisis while capitalizing on digitalization, supporting and promoting the structural transformation needed to build a stronger, more sustainable, and resilient tourism economy. Managing tourism as a system that is affected by shocks, requires resilience thinking (Walker & Salt, 2006). This includes the qualities of persistence, adaptability, and transformation, which are dynamics to strengthen the system’s ability to remain relatively stable (Folke et al., 2010). The combination of adaptability, and innovation increases system capacity in the face of internal shocks such as social inequality, political turmoil, and external drivers for instance shifts in the global economic storm (Smit & Wandel, 2006; Hahn & Nykvist, 2017). Tourism destinations behave as dynamic evolving complex systems (Baggio, 2008; Schianetz & Kavanagh, 2008). When viewed from the perspective of the system (Meadows, 2008) it is in accordance with the resilience of thinking to measure the sustainability of tourism destinations. Sustainability is broadly defined as the capacity of a system to have adaptive capabilities that support opportunities and innovation (Holling et al., 2002).

Sustainable tourism is considered the most important aspect for the development of the post-pandemic tourism sector. The tourism trend will experience a shift, and demand for quality eco-tourism destinations will continue to grow as urban congestion, pollution, crowding, and concern for the natural environment all increase. Ecotourism is a form of sustainable nature-based tourism, focuses primarily on experience and learning about nature, landscapes, flora and fauna and their habitats, as well as the culture of the region (Dowling, 1997; Fennell, 1999). The leading eco-tourism destination in Indonesia is Tanjung Puting National Park. It is included in the National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN) in Kotawaringin Barat Regency, Central Kalimantan Province.

The tourism sector has become a leading sector in Kotawaringin Barat Regency and is this is evident in the increase in the number of tourist arrivals. The number of tourist arrivals in 2016 was 15.091 million visits, in 2017 it was 25.148 million visits, in 2018 reached up to 29.283 million visits, and in 2019 was slightly decreased to 25.489 million visits. The COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on the tourism sector in Kotawaringin Barat Regency. Since March 18, 2020, Tanjung Puting National Park, which is a major tourist attraction, has been temporarily closed by the local government and national park authorities. This shutdown raised a systemic impact because people who relied on their livelihoods from the tourism sector lost their jobs. Based on data from the Kotawaringin Barat Regency Tourism Office, it was recorded that 112 tourists’ boat (kelotok) owners, 191 tourist boat drivers, 14 tourist speedboat motorists, 165 tourist guides, 96 tourist cooks, and 25 local tour operators were affected.

Tourism destinations should increase their resilience to exogenous shocks and endogenous changes, which is a fundamental component of sustainability through the dynamics of resilience. From this perspective it is necessary to have adaptability (Folke et al., 2005), the opportunity to change (Carpenter et al., 2001), healthy social and natural capital (Walker & Salt, 2012), strong social networks (Olsson et al., 2006), the enthusiasm of local leadership (Mitchell & Reid, 2001), economic potential through diversification (Adger, 2000), and governance conditions (Christensen et al., 1996). A sustainable tourism approach needs to be accompanied by a tourism resilience approach as a way of balancing conservation and development (Cheer & Lew, 2017). Sustainable tourism drives destinations to prepare to face many and different potential crises for a variety of reasons. In terms of sustainable tourism destination management, participation from tourism stakeholders is required. Tourism stakeholders play a role in the vulnerability and resilience of a destination (Calgaro et al., 2014a, 2014b). This emphasizes the importance of tourism stakeholders in achieving sustainability (Waligo et al., 2015).

Programs are developed by both the central and local governments to address the affected tourism workers, namely, the Pre-Employment Card Program (Prakerja), the Ready-to-Eat Groceries Program (Balasa), Tanjung Puting Tourism Destination Rebound Program, Social Assistance Programs, as well as Training Programs. The programs that have been initiated and developed are expected to increase the resilience of tourism stakeholders to survive crisis conditions. It is not yet known when the COVID-19 pandemic will end; hence, tourism stakeholders in Tanjung Puting tourism destination are required to be adaptive.

Research that describes building the resilience of tourism stakeholders after a non-natural disaster such as the current COVID-19 pandemic is not yet available. This research will describe the changes in the tourism industry that have occurred due to COVID-19. Furthermore, this research explains the adaptation strategies of the tourism industry players to maintain the resilience of Tanjung Puting tourism destination during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research will also explain the government’s strategy in supporting tourism industry players to maintain the continuity of Tanjung Puting tourism destination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Sustainable Tourism

According to Swarbrooke (1999), sustainable tourism development can be divided into three, namely, environmental, economic, and social. The environmental dimension consists of nature, agriculture, and community development. Economic dimension includes new funds invested in local communities and profits local businesses derive from tourism activities. The social dimension encompasses the interaction between visitors and the community. Byrd and Gustke (2007) explained that the tourism stakeholders should first assess the extent of knowledge about the principles of sustainable tourism development before supporting it.

Prosser and Cater (1994), Nguyen (2020), and Lee and Kwag (2013) highlighted four strengths of social change that drive sustainability in tourism, namely, dissatisfaction with existing products, environmental awareness and cultural sensitivity, efforts from tourism destinations to the scarcity of their resources, and changes in the attitudes of tour operators. Sustainability is widely seen as a ‘vehicle’ to overcome the negative effects of tourism and to survive in the long term. This is supported by Bramwell and Lane (1993) who saw this as a positive approach to reducing the friction created by the complex interactions between the tourism industry, tourists, the environment, and local communities so that the capacity and long-term quality of both natural and human resources can be maintained. Cater (1993) and Lemy et al. (2019) identified three key objectives of sustainable tourism (1) to meet the needs of local communities to improve living standards, both in the short term and long term; (2) to fulfilling tourist demand; and (3) to safeguard the natural environment to achieve the two previous goals.

2.2. Resilience

Resilience is the ability of a system to absorb distractions and learn to adapt when there is turmoil to grow and become more dynamic (Holling, 1973, 1996). Resilience is the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events (Orchiston et al., 2016). Tugade and Fredrickson (2004) stated that resilience is the ability to effectively adapt and overcome difficult conditions. Masten (2001) revealed that business resilience is a business-wide term that comprises crisis management and business continuity and that represents the ability of organizations to rapidly adapt and respond to all types of risks. Resilience is a defense mechanism that enables individuals to develop in the face of adversity (Davydov et al., 2010).

Resilience is needed at all levels, the micro, meso, and macro. Resilience at the micro-level is associated with human resilience. Meso resilience is the resilience of the organization to understand its process at different levels. Macro resilience (societal resilience) focuses on policymaking with the aim of developing a resilient society. The foundations of a strong society are individuals, families, and communities. In consequence, motivating a personal desire among individuals to make investments in self- preparedness is a major challenge for future public leadership (Lindberg & Sundelius, 2013).

In the literature, tourism resilience is primarily considered to improve sustainability after an ecological or environmental disaster and offer alternatives to sustainable development (Lew, 2014; Dahles & Susilowati, 2015). Meanwhile, sustainable development aims to anticipate shocks in certain fields, while resilience provides solutions to shocks that lead to losses (Hallegatte, 2014). Cooper (2016) stated that resilience is a successful adaptation in the face of risk or difficulty.

2.3. Adaptation

Adaptation indicates the process by which individuals and communities create and implement decisions about the use of adaptive capacity to manage the risk of perceived or projected changes (Eakin & Luers, 2006; Füssel, 2007; Smit & Pilifosova, 2001). Psychological studies of adaptation focus on how people respond to stressors (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The Adaptation Level Theory (Helson, 1948), states that an individual’s basis of the judgment of a stimulus is based on their prior experiences as well as their recollections of how they perceived similar stimuli in the past. Wohlwill (1974) mentioned human’s response to stimulation as adaptation, whereas confirmation of stimulation to individual circumstances is an adjustment. Everyone has a certain level of adaptation to specific stimulation or environmental conditions. The reaction of people to their environment depends on the degree of adaptation of the person concerned. There are three categories of stimulation benchmarked in relation to the environment and behavior, physical stimulation that stimulates the senses (sound, light, and temperature), social stimulation, and movement stimulation.

Adaptation strategy is defined as a pattern of behavior or actions being planned by humans to meet the minimum requirements needed and to solve the problems faced (Putra, 2003). The adaptation strategy according to Suharto (2009) are basically coping strategies. In general, coping strategies can be defined as a person’s ability to implement a set of methods to overcome various problems that surround his/her life. Adaptation strategy is an attempt, or a premeditated act committed by individuals or groups to be able to tackle the problems faced by the circumstances surrounding the physical environment with the aim of meeting the needs and achieve the expected goals. According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), there are two types of coping strategies, defined as emotional-focused and problem-focused. Emotional-focused coping emphasizes efforts to reduce negative emotions when facing problems or pressure. While problem-focused coping is more about taking action to solve problems or seeking information that is useful in problem-solving.

2.4. Structural-Functional Theory

The AGIL paradigm is a scheme created by American sociologist (1970) in the 1950s. It is a systematic depiction of certain societal functions, which every society must meet to be able to maintain stable social life (Ritzer, 2011), namely, adaptation, goal attainment, integration, dan latency. To survive, the system has to carry out four functions: (i) Adaptation, or the capacity of society to interact with the environment. This includes, among other things, gathering resources and producing commodities for social redistribution (ii) Goal Attainment, or the capability to set goals for the future and make decisions accordingly. Political resolutions and societal objectives are part of this necessity (iii) Integration, or the harmonization of the entire society is a demand that the values and norms of society are solid and sufficiently convergent. This requires, for example, the religious system to be fairly consistent, and even on a more basic level, a common language and (iv) Latency, or latent pattern maintenance, challenges society to maintain the integrative elements of the integration requirement above. This means institutions like family and school, which mediate belief systems and values between an older generation and its successor

The four functions of AGIL break into external and internal problems, and further into instrumental and consummatory problems. External problems include the use of natural resources and making decisions to achieve goals, whereas keeping the community integrated and maintaining the common values and practices over succeeding generations are considered internal problems. Furthermore, goal attainment and the integral function belong to the consummatory aspect of the systems.

Parson’s work is based on his four action systems, Social system, Cultural system, Personality system, and Behavioral organism. Parson designed his AGIL scheme to be used at all levels in his theoretical system. The behavioral organism is the action system that handles the adaptation function by adjusting to and transforming the external world. The personality system performs the goal-attainment functions by defining system goals and mobilizing resources to attain them. The social system copes with the integration function by controlling its parts. Finally, the cultural system performs the latency function by providing actors with the norms and values that motivate them for action.

2.5. Previous Research Findings

Shalih et al. (2019) conducted a study to assess disaster resilience in tourism areas with a case study in Pandeglang Regency after the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami. The results indicated that self-reliance and resilience of communities became the main indicator of the resilience of a region against the threat of disaster. In the context of sustainable tourism management, disaster resilience is one of the main keys. Dewi and Syarifah (2018) research results on tourism industry employees in Bali suggested that the innovative potential of employees can be increased through developing resilience capacity.

The resilience of a tourism destination is the ability of the stakeholders to accept shocks, which rely on planning, anticipation, and responsiveness. It is both a process of decentralization and collective response (Fabry & Zeghni, 2019). Setiawan et al. (2017) designated that social resilience will increase in communities that are able to access flexible social networks.

3. Research Methods and Materials

The method used is a qualitative approach, and a case study research. The case study research was chosen because there is a relationship between programs developed to deal with the impact of the pandemic and the resilience of tourism stakeholders to develop tourism with a sustainable approach. This research location is situated in Kotawaringin Barat Regency, Central Kalimantan Province.

The data collected is primary data and secondary data. In collecting primary data, researchers used in-depth interviews. In-depth interviews conducted in this study are semi-structured, where the interviews to be conducted are directed through guidelines that have been prepared. The points discussed in the interview are about sustainable tourism, the impact of the pandemic, post-pandemic resilience, and programs to manage because of the impacts of the pandemic. Secondary data collection is obtained through published documents or information related to the Tanjung Puting tourism destination.

The data sources were selected using the purposive sampling method. This technique is used to facilitate researchers in selecting informants by classifying job descriptions and their respective roles in contributing to tourism activities in Kotawaringin Barat Regency. This study involves seven informants consisting of two people representing local governments, three people representing tourism professional associations, and two tourism business owners.

The data analysis technique used in this research is interactive analysis according to Miles and Huberman (1984), consists of (1) data collection; (2) data reduction; (3) data presentation; and (4) drawing conclusions. In qualitative research, the validity used is data triangulation which utilizes something else beyond data for checking purposes or as a comparison to the data (Moleong, 2017).

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Tourism Industry Changes Due to COVID-19 in Tanjung Puting Tourism Destination

As a leading tourist attraction, Tanjung Puting National Park significantly contributes to the economic turnover that has an impact on the prosperity of the community. When viewed from the tourism life cycle, Tanjung Puting destination is at the development stage. The development stage is where the host country starts to develop and advertise the area. The area becomes recognized as a tourist destination. (Butler, 1980). Developed tourism activities have a control function for Tanjung Puting National Park, thus ensuring a sustainable economy. Sustainability is widely seen as a ‘vehicle’ to overcome the negative impacts of tourism and sustaining its viability in the long term (Prosser & Cater, 1994).

The implementation of the principles of sustainable tourism is considered appropriate in rebuilding tourism for the long term so that the community will gain the benefits for a longer period, and as a guarantee that tourism is conducted in line with the principles of economic and environmental sustainability. Effectively managed tourism has resulted in both economic growth and reducing negative impacts on the environment (Lee & Kwag, 2013). It raises awareness about the needs and issues in our environment. It makes efficient use of our natural resources. It promotes the development of new businesses in the tourism sector. It economically revives rural areas in places where tourism takes place. Bramwell and Lane (1993) saw sustainable tourism as a positive approach to reducing the friction created by the complex interactions between the tourism industry, tourists, the environment, and local communities so that the capacity and long-term quality of natural and human resources can be sustained.

Tanjung Puting tourism destination always strives to apply the principles of sustainable tourism. The benefits of implementing the principles of sustainable tourism include good destination management, emerging of cultural art groups, providing economic benefits, and increasing public awareness of environmental conservation to reduce destructive activities. The implementation of sustainable tourism principles needs to be followed up. The principle of the carrying capacity of the environment must always be considered, which implies, managing the numbers of tourist visits and tourist activities in line to acceptable limits both from the natural and socio-cultural perspective (Kristiana & Mulyono, 2016). This can strengthen the identity of the Tanjung Puting tourism destination as a leading destination, not only in Kalimantan but also in Indonesia.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted almost all sectors and the tourism sector is the most affected. The tourism situation in Kotawaringin Barat Regency too has been badly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially with the shutdown of Tanjung Puting National Park. Yomie, the owner of tourism business A, illustrates this situation as “Tourism in the Tanjung Puting destination is totally crippled due to the absence of tourist visits. People who depend on the tourism sector have lost jobs and are looking for other alternative jobs, this has brought negative impacts on the community’s economy.”

COVID-19 has generated hibernation in the tourism industry, tourism workers have lost income, switching to other occupations, and seeking other forms of employment. During this pandemic, jobs in the tourism sector, such as tour boat rents, tour operators, and tour guide services, have been temporarily ceased. Saptuyah, chairman of tourism professional association A stated that “There are no tourists, so there are no longer cooks on tour boats.” Juandi, Chairman of tourism professional association B also supported that “In this pandemic condition, we use boats to load fertilizer, cement, and other purposes. We also do odd jobs such as construction workers and others.” This shows that the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector in the Kotawaringin Barat Regency has been enormous.

This temporary suspension of the tourism sector had also affected the supporting sectors, such as the accommodations, transportation, performances, arts and culture, souvenir, and culinary industries. The COVID-19 outbreak caused an economic crisis in both the short- and medium- term, and tourism is one of the sectors most affected in terms of income and employment (Del Rio-Chanona et al., 2020; Fana et al., 2020). The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that the impact of the global economy on the tourism industry will be more than five times greater compared to the impact of the global financial crisis in 2008 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2020).

Although tourism activities currently have not returned to normal, what must remain is the resilience of tourism industry stakeholders against this pandemic. Cooper (2016) stated that resilience is a successful adaptation in facing risks or difficulties. The main factors of resilience are adaptation and innovation. The innovation and creativity in Tanjung Puting tourism destinations are supported by information technology. The Tanjung Puting National Park Office developed an information system called SITANPAN. This system is Web- and android- based. The information, usability, mobility, and empathy of the tourism information system had a significant effect on satisfaction (Cho, 2019). Resilience is an important concept for tourism organizations, communities, and tourism destinations. Consequently, tourism industry players are required to establish creative and innovative tourism businesses and products that are sustainable and able to maintain their attractiveness.

4.2. Adaptation Strategy of Tourism Industry Stakeholders to Maintain Resilience and Sustainability of Tanjung Puting Tourism Destination in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Tanjung Puting National Park has been closed since March 18, 2020. Michael, the owner of tourism business B, stated that“Tourism actors who have skills in other fields (academic, creative, other expertise) are relatively more able to adapt to several occupations. Meanwhile, those who do not have other skills outside their main job tend to have no choice but to work based on physical activities. When tourism is getting back into normal, will return to work in the tourism sector.”

Attitudes that must be encouraged in carrying out post-pandemic tourism activities include obedience and discipline to regulations and health protocols, positive minds, enthusiasm, and toughness. It is believed that this can develop resilience. Resilience means the ability to recover quickly from difficulties, to spring back, or recover from misfortune or disaster (Orchiston et al., 2016). Masten (2001) revealed that resilience is a concept related to the pattern of positive adaptation on an individual’s ability to overcome adversities. Resilience is a defense mechanism that allows individuals to thrive in the face of adversity (Davydov et al., 2010).

Projected post-pandemic tourism activities will be closely related to restoring trust to both the public and potential tourists, so it requires strong commitments from all tourism stakeholders to support each other and stick to regulations. Trust is related to integrity, reliability, and competence (Wang et al., 2015). Lau and Lee (1999) stated that trust is a person’s willingness to rely on other parties with certain consequences. Trust can be gained if tourists expect and believe that the deeds of service providers would bring positive impacts for the tourists themselves.

Tourism stakeholders engage an important role because the resilience of a tourist destination is a manifestation of the ability of tourism stakeholders to accept shocks, by relying on planning, anticipation, and responsiveness (Fabry & Zeghni, 2019; Lemy et al., 2020). The local government and Tanjung Puting National Park authorities decided to start tourism reactivation by October 6, 2020. On October 8, 2020, it received tourists at one location, Camp Tanjung Harapan, booked through an online reservation system, limited by a 30% quota of visitor capacity, and implementing health protocols. Efan, a staff of local government A, said that “If the visiting condition progressively returns to normal, there won’t be no problem to evaluate the improvements, not only about the number of opening sites but also the capacity. Future development will be carried out in strict accordance with regulations that follow health protocols. By the reopening of Tanjung Puting National Park for tourism activities, it is hoped that tourism workers can gradually return to work in the tourism sector. Self-resilience is needed in facing a pandemic as the ability to adapt in various circumstances becomes the key through dynamic conditions.”

Resilience implemented in tourism is the ability of social, economic, or ecological systems to recover from adverse conditions (Tyrrell & Johnston, 2008). Resilience aims to provide solutions to shocks that lead to losses. This is supported by Yohanes, secretary of tourism professional association C, who stated that “Resilience will be very important to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.” This implementation will form a destination image, in which Tanjung Puting will be a tough destination, able to adapt, creating values, and revive from challenging conditions. This may deliver impacts on tourist visits which in turn can generate interest in visiting repetitions”. Kang et al. (2019) stated that the level of revisit is increased by increasing the elements of experience value.

Tourism workers are optimistic that tourism activities in Tanjung Puting destination will rebound and projected to be able to become one of the leading tourism destinations in Indonesia, considering that Tanjung Puting National Park is gradually reopening to welcome visitors again. Tourism is believed to be getting better by encouraging local tourism, as well as implementing new normal adaptations. In line with the statement of the International Labour Organization (2020) claims that domestic tourism will recover faster when compared to international tourism.

4.3. Government Strategy in Supporting Tourism Industry Players to Maintain the Continuity of Tanjung Puting Tourism Destination Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

The central government’s strategy in dealing with the impact of the pandemic includes developing a Pre- Employment Card Program. It is designed as a training fee assistance program and incentives for workers, job seekers, micro and small business owners who have lost their jobs and/or experienced a decrease in purchasing power due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is also used by the workers of the tourism sector. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy provides social protection programs such as the Ready-to-Eat Groceries Program (Balasa) and Tanjung Puting Tourism Destination Rebound Program.

At the regional level, the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government through the Regional Government Budget (APBD) I, granted social incentives or stimulus to tourism workers. Kotawaringin Barat Regency Government also provided a social assistance program funded from the Regional Government Budget (APBD) II by distributing food supply for tourism workers, issued certificates to businesses that demonstrated safe practices to protect against COVID-19 infection, and convincing the central government for tourism reactivation to drive local economy operations. This is supported by Michael, owner of tourism business B, who stated that “The regional government is also being proactive to reassure the Central Government to be able to reopen the tourism sector so that the economic activity involving the tourism industry can resume.” Training programs have also been encouraged by the Tourism Department of Kotawaringin Barat Regency for tourism workers, including tourism destination management training, tourist guide training, homestay management training, conducting online business development, and provide marketing support.

The local government as the stakeholder who has high interest and influence, especially in tourism activities of the region, needs to continue cooperating to generate good performance. The local government may also use a variety of influential strategies and formulating decisions by considering priorities. The strategy undertaken by the government to develop resilience is at the meso level, which focuses on tourist destinations that emphasize taking action to solve problems or seek useful information in problem- solving (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Wahyudi, head of local government B, explains that “Local government support is in line with central government policies. Tourism reactivation in Kotawaringin Barat Regency has started on August 1, 2020. Tourism business owners and destination managements that have validated in implementing health protocols are given a COVID-19 safety certificate, so that consumers may have a higher level of trust in their products and services.”

Business strategy can be understood as the course of action or set of decisions that assist the entrepreneurs in achieving specific business objectives (Guth & Tagiuri, 1965). Strategy formulation is an activity to design or create a future. Osborne and Gaebler (1992) stated that the strength of government organizations that are driven by vision and mission is better than those driven by formal rules. Therefore, it is very important to develop a strategy to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the possible spread and to save the economy.

However, the existing government strategy is still considered to be lesser optimal in supporting tourism industry stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are personally more active in adapting and responding to solutions during a pandemic. It needs improvements from the government, especially the regional government so that it can support the resilience of tourism destinations.

4.4. Structural-Functional Theory

The Structural-Functional theory introduced by Talcott Parsons is a theory that understands society exists in a social system (Ritzer, 2011). In this context, Tanjung Puting tourism destination is unitary of a social system, which requires the involvement of all tourism stakeholders. In building the resilience of nature-based tourism destinations, stakeholder involvement is the essence of maintaining long-term survival (Pyke et al., 2018). A system must be able to perform the four functions of AGIL, adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency.

In the adaptation function, the system must address situational needs that come from outside, the system must adapt to the environment, and adapt the environment to its needs. In the adaptation process, all stakeholders study the conditions that have occurred due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this pandemic, the community must be able and accustomed to applying health protocols in their daily life and then in the tourism sector. The results of research by Kristiana et al. (2020) had implications for tourism destinations to improve products and services that prioritize cleanliness, health, and safety factors. Pandemic conditions have led to requirements of a guarantee of a healthy situation for tourists when they can travel again. In the tourism sector, health protocols based on CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability) were formulated.

The achievement of goals is in which the system must define and achieve its main objectives. The goals must be related to common interests and not personal or group interests. The new normal adaptations targeted at reducing COVID-19 cases and the consistency of the community to jointly comply with and adhere to health protocols indicate that awareness is emerging to achieve common goals to be achieved.

With this awareness, tourism in Tanjung Puting destination can immediately rebound. The integration function is that the components in the system must interact, and the system must regulate the connection between parts that formed the components. Integration must have the ability to enable all tourism stakeholders to work together and avoid potential conflicts that may arise. The interactions that happen in Tanjung Puting tourism destination are when communicating the impact of the pandemic that has occurred. Tourism stakeholders in Tanjung Puting tourism destination have agreed to refuse to spread stories about the suffering of tourist workers due to the pandemic. This is considered not the right way to restore the image of the destination.

In the latency function (maintenance of patterns), the system must complement, maintain, and renew individual motivations and cultural patterns that create and maintain those motivations. Latency points to the needs of tourism stakeholders to maintain values that exist in their social environment. In this function, all the stages carried out in the new normal adaptation will undergo an evaluation process. Education and socialization must continue to be able to encourage confidence to tourists to reconsider traveling to Tanjung Puting destination. Maintenance of patterns is needed to reduce the infection rate of COVID-19 so that tourism can start to revive, and economic activities may resume. This must be done to achieve functional tourism stakeholder functions.

There are four components in the Parsons Action scheme, the first the actor that may be associated either individually or collectively. The actors of Tanjung Puting tourism destination are collective, namely, all tourism stakeholders (Penta helix) consisting of the local government, academics, business owners and workers, society or community, and the media. The second component is the goal to be achieved, it is usually in line with values that exist in society. The goal to achieve by Tanjung Puting tourism destination is to develop the resilience of the tourism industry players that generates community resilience and to revive tourism by implementing new normal adaptations. This is to create a trust for tourists in the frame of sustainable tourism. The third component is the situation: actions to achieve this goal usually take place in situations that cover infrastructure and conditions. In chasing the objective, the obstacle at the beginning of the implementation of health protocols is that not all people would adhere to the protocols. As a solution, constant socialization, and education about the importance of implementing health protocols are required. The fourth component is normative standards: to achieve goals, actors must match several standards or regulations. Tanjung Puting tourism destination carries out an adaptation process to maintain its reliability and continuity by following applied regulations. The regulations applied in conducting tourism activities during this pandemic are the CHSE-based (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability) protocols. Based on the results and discussions the research finding models are as follows:

Figure 1: Research Findings Model

5. Conclusion

The results of the study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the tourism industry to undergo hibernation, tourism workers who lost their income were pushed to switching jobs to other sectors, and seeking other alternative occupations. Albeit tourism activities currently have not yet returned to normal, what must remain is the resilience of tourism industry players to adapt to changes and facing this pandemic. Besides, tourism industry players are required to be creative and innovative. Tourism industry players are adapted to maintain the resilience of Tanjung Puting tourism destination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism workers who have skills in other fields are relatively better adjusted to several occupations. Meanwhile, those who do not have other skills outside their main job tend to have no choice but to work with physical activities. Many tourism workers are currently doing jobs outside the tourism sector to survive the situation, but when tourism is running back to normal, they shall return to their main jobs. The strategy undertaken by the government is to build resilience at the meso level, is focusing on tourism destinations by providing social assistance and developing various programs to equip tourism industry players to be ready to receive tourist visits.

Future research can be carried out in different types of tourism destinations, such as cultural tourism destinations. This is expected to provide more comprehensive perspectives on the resilience of tourism stakeholders in various types of tourist destinations. Suggestions on Tanjung Puting tourism destination for the tourism industry players is to continue to innovate producing tourism products to match expectations of tourists and changes in post-pandemic trends. The government is still considered far below the lines on supporting tourism industry players during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a new strategy from the government is critically required to dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector.