Adoption and Barriers of Social Media Marketing in Community- Based Tourism (CBT) Destination Development: A Case Study of Belitar Seberang Tourism Village

Abstract

This article explores how social media is adopted and the particular obstacles encountered by actors of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) in Kampung Wisata Belitar Seberang, Indonesia. Digital marketing is celebrated as fostering rural tourism, but when used in resource-deprived environments specific challenges emerge. Applying a qualitative descriptive model, this research employed in-depth interviews with tourism managers (Pokdarwis) and document analysis to attain empiricaldepth.Theresultsdemonstrate adistinctive“low-resource,high-impact” adoption trajectory centred around viral User-Generated Content (UGC) distribution through the platform TikTok to achieve impact despite resource constraints on content production. The research reveals substantial obstacles to sustainability, however. Domestically, the shift from a rural agrarian society to a digital service based one demands rapid literacy adaptation which conflicts with immediate operational responsibilities and instant digital response. Outside the country, the major challenges are those of “digital-physical gap,” as large digital visibilitydoesnotcommensuratewithpoorphysical infrastructurelikeroadaccess and persistent destination stigma (in terms of safety). This study suggests that social media in this context, despite its promotional warrant, is operating as a medium of social resilience by strategically resisting pejorative stereotypes and pressuring for structural policy support in the world without infrastructures. This study contributes to the literature on technology acceptance in developing contexts by introducing the digital-physical gap and low-resource adaptive strategies.