Place Branding: An Alternative Model for Empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

In the era of globalization, the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia experienced several obstacles including the limited human resources in mastering technology. However, this does not mean that SMEs stop growing, because there are still other ways to empower SMEs through place branding. Place branding can elevate local culinary to become famous as a food tourism destination. Malang City is one of the cities in East Java, Indonesia which has many SMEs. One of Malang City’s efforts to empower SMEs is to make a place branding Tugu tourism market. This study aims to (1) describe the implementation of place branding on Tugu tourism market (2) analyzing the effectiveness of SMEs empowerment through Tugu tourism market (3) analyzing the process of developing place branding becomes a destination branding. Research design is a qualitative case study. The research subjects were SMEs in Tugu tourism market, tourism office and Trade and Industry office. The research instrument uses interview guidelines, observation sheets and documentation. Data analysis is based on stages (1) data condensation (2) display data and (3) conclusion drawing. The results showed that (1) Tugu tourism market in the city of Malang was able to accommodate as many as 459 SMEs, which were all based on local wisdom. (2) The effectiveness of place branding can be seen from the increase in SMEs income to 150%, and its contribution to Regional Original Income reaching IDR 120,000,000 per year (3) The process of the Tugu market from place branding to being a destination branding requires a very long time. Advice for SMEs joining the Tugu market is not to stop innovating in order to increase competitiveness and attracting tourists’ attention. The implication of this research is the need for clear regulations regarding the location, beauty, comfort and safety of Tugu tourism market.