Asian Journal of Media and Communication E-ISSN: 2579-6119, P-ISSN: 2579-6100 Volume 1, Number 2, Oktober 2017 Intercultural Communication Based on Local Wisdom That Made the People of Bali Reject Sharia Tourism Dewi Sumiati Faculty of Communication, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta, Indonesia, 081905221856, [email protected] Abstract Bali is one of the provinces in Indonesia which is very popular among domestic and foreign tourists. On December 2015, there was an idea of developing sharia tourism in Bali which has strong culture based on Hindu religion. The idea is being opposed by the Balinese people and it resulted in many negative response as the idea is contradicted with Regional Regulation of Bali regarding Culture Tourism. The formulation of the problem in this research is to find out how intercultural communication based on local wisdom that made the people of Bali reject sharia tourism. This study uses a case study with qualitative descriptive approach. Data collected by in-depth interview and observation as the primary data, while the study of literature, internet, and documentaries as secondary data. This study found that there is a positive intercultural communication between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Bali. The Muslim community who lived in Bali also rejected sharia tourism being developed in Bali. Based on these results, the author concluded that positive intercultural communication combine with strong tradition of local wisdom will form an integrated culture. Keywords: intercultural communication, local wisdom, sharia tourism, integrated culture 1. Introduction furthermore, it becomes a tradition and is strongly attached to local community life. Indonesia is an archipelago country that has diverse ethnic groups with many variety of Bali is one of the provinces in Indonesia customs. Ethnic, race, and religion spread all over which is very popular among domestic and Indonesia. This cultural diversity is a social foreign tourists. As a tourist destination, Bali phenomenon that is not likely to change since the consistently implements the concept of cultural people of Indonesia have heterogeneous cultural tourism which upholds the local wisdom of backgrounds. Therefore, cultural differences Hinduism. Every action done by the people of become the basis of intercultural communication. Bali cannot be separated from local wisdom and Culture is part of the communication behavior, culture of Bali. and communication also helps to develop and As the number of Muslim tourists in the transmit culture. The embodiment of culture world grows, the Ministry of Tourism and applied by groups of people in social life will Creative Economy started to develop sharia form into local wisdom within a long period of tourism. In the era of President Susilo Bambang time. Local wisdom gives value to the community Yudhoyono, the idea to include Bali along with twelve other provinces in Indonesia as sharia 137 Volume 1, Number 2, Oktober 2017; (137-146) tourism destination point is developed by Culture can be defined as the whole symbol, Ministry of Tourism. This idea was rejected meaning, metaphor (image), structure, rules, immediately by Senate of Indonesia’s Regional customs, values, information processing and Representative Council, or DPD RI, Arya transfer of patterns convention thoughts, words Wedakarna which is part of the Committee III and actions were distributed among the members DPD RI Tourism Sector. On May 2015, Arya of a social system and social groups in a society. Wedakarna asked the government to review the Culture is generated by a sense of commitment decision to include Bali as a sharia tourism point that was built by the whole social system because because Bali has had its own tourism of the intimacy of a reciprocal relationship, characteristics inspired by Hinduism. In addition, solidarity, hospitality, a family of small groups, many tourism stakeholders in Bali disagree with ethnic groups, organizations and even by the the concept of the tourism. In consideration of entire community (Liliweri, 2011: 4). the proposal from Arya Wedakarna, the Ministry According to Koentjaranigrat (1990: 80), of Tourism eventually exclude Bali as one of the based on the opinions of other anthropologists sharia tourism destination point. including C. Kluckhohn, mentioned that there After the statement by the Chairman of are seven universal elements of culture in all the Islamic Economic Society (MES) Bali regarding nations of the world: language, system of the plan to implement sharia tourism in Bali knowledge, social organization, system of appeared, the issue began heating up again in technology and equipment, livelihood system, November 2015. Many people in Bali opposed religion system, and the art. According to the plan and responded negatively. The plan was Koentjaraningrat (1990: 253-254), acculturation considered to have been misplaced and should be happens when a group of people with its own held outside Bali because it is contrary to the local culture faced to elements of foreign culture and it culture and has the potential to cause anxiety to will gradually be accepted into the local culture the people of Bali. A number of religious leaders, without losing its own indigenous culture. traditional leaders, Hinduism Organizations and Intercultural communication is one of the the Balinese people directly convey their study fields of communication. According to opposition through social media, online petition, DeVito (2001: 53), intercultural communication billboard and demonstration. is communication between people of different The formulation of the problem in this cultures. Meanwhile, according to Charley H. research is to find out how intercultural Dodd (in Liliweri, 2003: 12) intercultural communication based on local wisdom that made communication includes communication the people of Bali rejects sharia tourism. The involving participants representing private purpose of this study is to discover the communication, interpersonal, and group, with intercultural communication between Hindu and an emphasis on differences in cultural Muslim in Bali based on local wisdom in rejecting backgrounds influence the communication the application of sharia tourism in the province behavior of the participants. of Bali. The benefits of this research are to Everett Rogers and Lawrence Kincaid (in contribute to the development of science Liliweri, 2003: 228) says that an effective communication, as well as a reference material intercultural communication occurs when there and consideration for Bali local government are mutual understanding. According to policy-making, especially with regard to tourism Schramm quoted from Liliweri (2011: 171), to in Bali. achieve the effective intercultural 138 Dewi Sumiati, Intercultural Communication Based on Local Wisdom That Made the People of Bali Reject Sharia Tourism communication, there are some things that need patterns between humans and humans or our attention, are: (1) respect members of other humans and the environment. The patterns of cultures as a human, (2) respect other cultures as interaction that has been designed is called it is and not as desired, (3) respect the right of setting. The setting of life that has been formed members of other cultures to act differently from will directly produce values. Those values will be how to act, and (4) cross-culturally competent the reference for their relationship and behavior. communicators must learn to love to live with According to Hery Sucipto & Fitria people from other cultures. Andayani (2014: 33), tourism is travel-related Intercultural communication is also an activities for recreation, vacation, or traveling. interpersonal communication at the individual One form of tourism activity, namely cultural level of the members from different cultural tourism. According to Pitana (2009: 74) the groups. The effectiveness of intercultural motivation of travelers wishing to travel cultural communication is the same with the effectiveness tourism is their desire to see the way of life and of inter-personal communication. DeVito (in culture of other people in the world and a desire Liliweri, 2011: 171) states that 5 conditions are to learn about the culture. According Warpani important to achieve effective communication: (2007: 51), the area of cultural tourism is an area openness, empathy, supportiveness, positivity, in which there are historic buildings and activities and equality. of the local community as the main potential to attract tourists to the region with the aim of In the perspective of communication study, expanding knowledge, have fun and recognize perception is the process of uncovering the the value of the local culture. So that cultural meaning of social objects and events that we tourism is a tourist activity that aims to attract experienced in our environment. Each person tourists with a way to enjoy the results of the will have a different perspective of the reality culture of ethnic or nation, cultural events, and around them. Social perception, which appears in learn about the daily life of local communities in a communication containing some important order to provide the knowledge, understanding principles (Mulyana, 2003), namely: (1) and introducing the diversity of local culture perception based on experience, (2) perception is which aims to support conservation the culture selective; (3) perception is alleged; (4) perceptions and its surrounding environment. are evaluative, and (5) the perception is contextual.