Reconstruction of Cultural Regeneration through Tourism: Transformation of Gandrung Terracotta Park as the Center of Banyuwangi's Gandrung Identity

Abstract

This study stems from the problem of the crisis of Gandrung cultural regeneration amid the intensification of tourism commodification and accelerated development in the Banyuwangi region. The transformation of culture into a tourism product has the potential to reduce symbolic meaning and weaken the transmission of values between generations. This study aims to reconstruct cultural regeneration strategies through tourism by analyzing the transformation of the Gandrung Terakota Park as a center for the transmission of Gandrung values and identity. The main statement of this study asserts that monumental symbolic spaces in tourist destinations can function as a medium of regenerative communication that integrates cultural policies, visual representations, and social participation in maintaining the sustainability of local identity. The research uses a descriptive qualitative approach through literature study, contextual socio-cultural analysis, and reading of Banyuwangi tourism development policies, with a theoretical basis of cultural identity, symbolic interactionism, heritage-led regeneration, tourism communication and place branding, as well as regenerative tourism. The findings show that Gandrung Terakota Park serves as a collective symbolic space that represents the Osing identity and acts as a mechanism for transmitting values through cultural visualization, festivalization, and policy narratives. In conclusion, tourism in Banyuwangi is not only economically oriented but also functions as a cultural communication system that supports the intergenerational sustainability of the Gandrung identity.