SURVEI DAN PEMETAAN PRODUK PELANCONGAN SEJARAH DAERAH KUALA MUDA, NEGERI KEDAH DARUL AMAN

SURVEY AND MAPPING OF HISTORICAL TOURISM PRODUCTS OF KUALA MUDA DISTRICT, KEDAH DARUL AMAN

Abstract

The historical tourism sector of Kuala Muda district first received attention when the Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex was recognized as a National Heritage site since 2012 and later as the oldest civilization site in Southeast Asia since 2016. This recognition allows for more proactive research to be conducted which has mapped 59 archaeological sites and 24 historical sites in this district of Kuala Muda. This study is generally conducted to complete the data related to the location of iconic and byproduct for the historical tourist products in the district that allows the development of tourism packages to be carried out. To achieve this goal, qualitative method were used such as survey and product mapping activities were conducted from 2019 to 2021 using tools such as global positioning system (GPS), google earth and software such as coreldraw X7 (64 bit) for the purpose of documentation of the observed data. The results or findings of the study enable seven iconic tourism packages of the district such as Package 1: Kuala Muda Tourism Interpretation Center (PIPKM), Package 2: Puncak Jerai, Package 3: Kuala Muda Waterfall Recreation, Package 4: Kuala Muda Minerals, Package 5: Old Kedah, Package 6: Sungai Merbok Mangrove and Package 7: Tsunami Gallery and Pasar Bisik were established to strengthen the tourism sector in Kuala Muda district with the Kuala Muda Tourism Interpretation Center (PIPKM) being made a one-stop tourism center for the district. This clearly shows that the Kuala Muda district has great potential to be developed sustainably in the country's historical tourism sector for the purpose of strengthening the local economy.      

Received: 17 June 2021

Reviewed: 17 September 2021

Accepted: 6 December 2021