Communication Strategy in Promoting Cultural Tourism Destinations in Semarang City

The Semarang City Government seeks to raise awareness about Semarang City with a variety of marketing communication programs related to the tourism sector. This paper discusses the various communication strategies used, and the issuance of the decree of the Minister of Tourism Number KM.38 / UM.001 / MP / 2017 concerning the 10 (ten) Branding Logo of Indonesia’s Tourism Destinations. The government has set the branding logo for Bali, Bandung, Banyuwangi, Jakarta, Bunaken-Wakatobi-Raja Ampat, Yogyakarta-Solo-Semarang, Lombok, Makasar, Medan, Riau Islands tourism destinations. At the primary level of communication is an act of government policy (government / regulator) in disseminating and facilitating infrastructure and access to tourism, urban planning, culinary tourism zone policy and public areas. Furthermore, this primary communication the government (in this case the tourism office) has a role as the initiator of city branding and digital marketing. Secondary communication are carried out by stakeholders, in this case business people as enablers, local communities as accelerators, academics as conceivers in the context of city branding. Tertiary communication is related to interactions between layers of society and is strengthened by the media as a catalyst. Tertiary communication uses a forum or media involving stakeholders from the public, private and community dimensions systematically and sustainably, so that it is an implementation that can be realized in promoting culinary tourism destinations in the city of Semarang. The research method uses descriptive qualitative with SWOT analysis. Data collection techniques with interviews. Secondary data were obtained from the official website of the Semarang Regional Government, the official website of the Semarang Regional Tourism Office, the economic growth report from Bank Indonesia, the Semarang Regional Statistics Agency report. The study concludes that local governments metamorphose into balanced local governments that are customer-oriented and accountable to all stakeholders. City branding can be seen as a communication policy, because it is carried out by the government and with regard to public affairs. The communication strategy used by the Semarang City Government more specifically refers to the marketing communication strategy. Keywords: communication strategy, promotion, travel destinations, culinary..dance, paser tribe, treatment, mulung, magical