Exploring the potential of cultural villages as a model of community based tourism

The purpose of this paper is to provide better understanding of the potential of cultural villages as a model of Community Based Tourism. The research was held in Buleleng regency, North of Bali, where the tourism is growing in this area. A qualitative research had been applied and data was collected through in-depth interview with informants from the community who directly involve in the tourism businesses. Observation and document review were also utilized. Data was analyzed in qualitative manner following Miles and Huberman method: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing. Four villages that won the Anugerah Desa Wisata award were selected as the cases namely Pemuteran Village, Munduk Village, Sambangan Village and Kalibukbuk Village. The findings revealed that those four villages have its own uniqueness and strong points to attract tourists. Pemuteran village has strong point on under water attraction and preservation of coral reefs. Munduk village relies on nature scenery, agro-tourism and traditional game as tourist's attraction. Sambangan village is famous of waterfalls and adventurous activities. Kalibukbuk village depends on black sandy beach with dolphin watching as the main attraction. It is also apparent that the local community is actively involved and gets benefits from the tourism businesses.