Pacitan is Being Promoted to Become a National-Class Incentive Travel Destination

Pacitan Regency, East Java, is being urged to move beyond being just a short-stay tourist destination. With its abundance of beaches, caves, rivers, and tourism villages, Pacitan is considered to hold strong potential to be developed into a national-class incentive travel destination.

Novita Hardini, member of Commission VII of the Republic of Indonesia House of Representatives (DPR RI), put forward this initiative during a workshop themed "Optimising Local Tourism Potential as an Attraction for Incentive Travel Destinations", held at Ngiriboyo Beach and Sendang Tourism Village, Pacitan on Wednesday.

According to Novita, Pacitan already has an established sizeable tourist market. Data from the local Tourism Office recorded approximately 1.3 million visitor arrivals in 2023. In 2024, arrivals stood at around 1.14 million domestic visitors alongside 324 international tourists.

These figures confirm that tourist interest in Pacitan is already well formed. The next challenge is to encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more money within the region.

Pacitan Must Not Remain Only A Transit Stop

Novita assesses that the incentive travel model could be one approach to increase the economic value generated from tourist visits.

Incentive travel is typically provided by companies as both a form of reward and motivation for employees.

For this reason, travel packages cannot simply bring participants to visit one tourist attraction, take photographs, then return home immediately.

"Imagine a company bringing its top performing team to Pacitan. They spend the morning enjoying the beach, run group bonding activities at midday, explore rivers or caves in the afternoon, then gather for dinner in the evening featuring local MSME food offerings and cultural performances. The next day they leave carrying souvenirs, social media content, fond memories, and stories about just how remarkable Pacitan really is," she stated.

With this concept, tourist destinations do not operate in isolation. Beaches, tourism villages, culinary offerings, accommodation, transport services, cultural attractions, and local MSME products must all be integrated to create one cohesive full visitor experience.

Four Strategies To Upgrade Pacitan's Tourism Standing

To strengthen Pacitan's position as an incentive travel destination, Novita proposed four core action agendas.

First, local authorities and tourism industry actors must develop ready-to-sell travel packages. These packages can be designed for 2-day, 3-day or longer durations, combining tourist sites, accommodation, transport, culinary experiences, group activities, cultural programmes and local MSME offerings.

Second, service quality must be improved. Tour guides, destination managers, hotel operators, restaurant owners, transport providers, and souvenir vendors all form part of the visitor experience, and represent the public face of Pacitan tourism.

Third, cross-stakeholder collaboration must be strengthened. Regional government, the Ministry of Tourism, the House of Representatives, industry operators, travel agencies, accommodation providers, community groups, MSMEs, tourism village management and local youth must work together within a single integrated ecosystem.

Fourth, promotion strategies must be transformed. Pacitan can no longer rely only on marketing photographs of beaches and natural scenery. Instead, promotion must highlight the tangible immersive experiences that visitors can live.

"Pacitan's young people have incredible content creation skills. Stop just sharing pretty pictures of our beaches. Let us promote the experience: what it feels like to watch the sunrise here, taste our local specialities, cruise along the Maron River, explore Goa Gong cave, and build shared bonds during a trip that cannot be replicated anywhere else," Novita said.

Integrating Tourism Potential With Local Economic Growth

The incentive travel model is considered to deliver wider benefits, as groups visiting for corporate or community programmes are far more likely to stay for extended periods.

The longer visitors remain in the area, the more local sectors benefit from circulating economic activity, ranging from accommodation and transport services, to culinary businesses, tour guides, MSME product vendors, and cultural performance groups.

Within this framework, tourism villages play a critical role. Visitors are not just brought to view an attraction, but are given the opportunity to interact with local communities and experience daily life in the area.

Pacitan possesses the natural and cultural assets required to implement this model. Ngiriboyo Beach can form part of coastal experience itineraries, while Sendang Tourism Village can anchor community-focused tourism offerings.

Major attractions including the Maron River and Goa Gong Cave can also be incorporated into extended travel itineraries, giving visitors clear reason to extend their stay in Pacitan.