Pentahelix driven digital system development in the tourism sector of Indonesian villages

Village tourism sector has become a leading strategy in recent years. However, the sustainability often presents challenges for managers, including several tourism villages in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS/BTSNP) area. The development of digitalization in tourism villages in TNBTS area was carried out to support the sustainability of tourism sector and the local economy. Therefore, this research aimed to examine pentahelix approach with 5 related actors, including the government, academics, private sector, community, and media, in the development of digitalization in tourism villages of TNBTS area. A descriptive qualitative method was used, and the data were obtained from primary and secondary sources. The results showed that pentahelix, with collaboration and synergy between the government, academics, private sector, community, and media, supported the development of digitalization in tourism villages in TNBTS area. This digitalization was through the application of mixed reality (MR) technology equipped with augmented reality (AR)-based tourism village tracking system. This system was called Digitree application, which was accessed by scanning QR code on important assets of tourism villages to obtain more in-depth information and education. The appeal of tourism villages for TNBTS was enhanced by the combined efforts of stakeholders in developing the Digitree application. In a practical and conceptual context, this research suggested that policymakers created a collaboration in developing village tourism.