Cumulative Failure and Functional Conversion in Agritourism: A Case Study of Agrowisata Sodong, Semarang City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62951/momat.v3i4.725Keywords:
Agritourism, Cumulative Failure, Destination Sustainability, Early Detection, Farmland ConversionAbstract
The agritourism literature is dominated by studies of successful destinations, while destinations that fail are seldom examined systematically, even though these hold the clearest evidence of the minimum conditions agritourism must meet in order to survive. This study aims to explain the process of functional conversion at Agrowisata Sodong in Semarang City, which ceased operating as an agritourism destination in 2023 after shifting into a water-park-based recreation area, and to formulate an early detection model usable by destinations still in operation. The approach is qualitative, applying Straussian Grounded Theory procedures to a single case. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with three key informants — the site manager, an officer of the sub-district community empowerment institution, and a sub-coordinator of the Semarang City Tourism Office — complemented by observation and document tracing, then analysed with NVivo 14, producing 89 substantive notes. The findings show that the failure was caused neither by limitations of land potential nor by accessibility, but by the sequential collapse of five foundations: conservation of productive land, farmer empowerment, participatory governance, innovation of the offering, and social philosophy. The process was cumulative and mutually contagious, with no single decision identifiable as the cause. On this basis the study formulates the Agritourism Foundation Erosion Model, a diagnostic instrument that maps the five foundations across four stages of erosion and sets a warning threshold for managers of destinations still in operation.
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