Structural Model of Formation Factors of Tourism Policy in Nganjuk Regency: Tourists’ Perspectives

Abstract

Nganjuk is one among 29 regencies in East Java Province which has abundant tourism potential, in the form of both natural and man-made tourism objects. However, the number of both domestic and foreign tourists has not shown significant progress, as registered in the Statistical Data of Nganjuk Regency (2016). In addition, numbers of tourist decreased in 2014. As a consequence, this tourism sector has not made a significant contribution toward the local income of the regency. Based on that current situation, there are two main research aims for this study: (1) what are the influential factors toward tourism policy and (2) what are the interrelations between the influential factors toward tourism policy in Nganjuk Regency. There are three tourist destinations used as case studies, namely, Air Terjun Sedudo, Air Merambat Roro Kuning, and Air Terjun Singokromo. Input data was collected from 190 visitors and is analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM). The estimation results of the modeling indicate that there are four factors that could have a significant influence on tourism policy in Nganjuk Regency – infrastructure, motivation, society, and marketing mix.