Development of Religious Tourism in Bekasi: As a Means of Emotional Healing and Recreation

Abstract

Religious tourism has its own position apart from being a recreational medium, but also a medium for reflection and getting closer to God. Thus it is important to research further and identify the potential for religious tourism in Bekasi as a means of deepening religious knowledge, emotional healing and recreation. So this study aims to examine the opportunities for developing religious tourism in Bekasi. This research took place in Bekasi, West Java, especially areas that have religious sites. The forms and strategies used in this study are descriptive qualitative. Sources of research data are in the form of: 1) Archives and documents: such as research results, articles and books related to religious sites in Bekasi; 2) Informants: The technique used in determining the informants is purposive sampling, namely the caretakers at religious sites, culturalists, historians, community leaders around religious sites, and the community around religious sites; 3) Event Place can be used as a data source because it is directly related to the object to be studied. So based on the research, it can be concluded that Bekasi has quite good development potential when viewed from its population. However, management that is unprofessional and not profit-oriented makes the appearance of tourist sites less attractive, so that a centralized, monitored and evaluated management is needed by the government so that the existing potential can be developed for the better.