Several astronomical events in the past have shown their potential to attract tourists. This motivates some astronomers and tourism activists to create tourism related events when an interesting astronomical phenomenon occur. The most attractive recent astronomical phenomenon for tourists was the solar eclipse as was proven during the total solar eclipse of March 9, 2016. Similarly, other phenomena such as the lunar eclipse, meteor shower, Mars Opposition have some potential to be exploited as events to attract tourists. Belitong Geopark had organized a sky observation event, for example super blue blood moon event on January 31, 2018 and Mars opposition event on July 21, 2018. It successfully drew attention far and wide, but it needed more effort and creativity to make these events more attractive and marketable. Other cultural heritage sites which contain inherent astronomical tie-in knowledge, such as Borobudur Temple, are also strong prospective to be developed for astro-tourism destinations. In the future, astro-tourism permanent facilities may be developed, for example, sky observation facilities for amateurs in Dark Sky National Park, near Mount Timau National Observatory in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province.
The small and medium-sized food industry (SMFI) has a great opportunity to meet domestic market demand during the Covid-19 pandemic but there are various obstacles. This paper aims to present the constraints faced by SMFIs, especially concerning raw materials and marketing, in taking advantage of domestic market opportunities, and proposes alternative solutions. The study was conducted on four SMFIs that produce functional food in Malang Regency. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. The results showed that the demand for functional foods such as garlic, ginger, turmeric and fruits increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, which seemed to be related to public awareness about increasing immunity. However, the obstacles faced by SMFIs were the high price of raw materials due to limited supply, and limited marketing because they did not have distribution licenses from BPOM. Information about the process and BPOM’s distribution permit requirements was very limited for SMFI managers, and large capital was needed to fulfill the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practices. Therefore, SMFIs should have long-term cooperation with farmers to ensure the availability of raw materials; build networks and maintain cooperation with customers; and utilize credit for MSMEs in the economic recovery program provided by the government to meet the GMP requirements in BPOM’s distribution permit. The government should conduct intensive outreach to SMFI managers about the process and requirements for distribution permits from BPOM, credit facilities, and other policies related to economic recovery during the Covid-19 pandemic. Keywords: small and medium food industry, domestic market, Covid-19 pandemic, BPOM
Small and Medium Food Industries (SMFIs) play an important role in the national economy but its competitiveness is low due to the limited innovation applied by business managers. Current innovation research is partial and excludes disruptive innovation and sustainable competitiveness. This research fills the gap by developing a model for increasing the competitiveness of SMFIs based on disruptive innovation and identifying constraints faced by SMFIs if the model is implemented. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and surveys using questionnaires. With a model framework approach, the model is composed of six subsystems, namely input, production process, post production, marketing, and supporting institutions. The potential for disruptive innovation lies in the quality of functional food products and low production costs because resources are available locally. However, the potential for disruptive innovation has not been utilized optimally by SMFI due to various obstacles. The role of government is very important to optimize the competitiveness potential of SMFI.
Small and medium food enterprises (SMFEs) have the potential to increase sustainable competitiveness through innovation. Previous research proves that one of the factors that hinder the implementation of SMFE innovation is the limited capability of entrepreneurs to manage their human resources. Research on human resources in SMEs is more focused on employees and the relationship with company performance but is still very limited on the capabilities of SMFE entrepreneurs. This research fills the gap by improving the capabilities of SMFE entrepreneurs in managing human resources (HRM) through training. Before the training, there was a training need analysis (TNA) through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the head of the processed food section of the Malang Regency Industry and Trade Office and five SMFE representatives. The output from TNA is the acquisition of 14 training topics. Participants of the training were 35 SMFE entrepreneurs in Malang district that were selected purposively. Data were collected using a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 5 (score 1 for strongly disagreeing and score 5 for strongly agreeing on statements from 14 training topics) before and after training. The data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics (Wicoxon Rank Sign Test) because it was not normally distributed. The findings of the study were the knowledge of SMFE entrepreneurs increased significantly for all topics related to HRM after training. The greatest increase in knowledge was how to build a good working relationship with employees. Two other indicators that also highly increased were the process of selecting new employees and motivating employees, the facts of which were carried out simply and not systematically.
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