POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF MANGROVE TOURISM IN RINDU RIVER, BABELAN DISTRICT AS A TOURISM DESTINATION IN BEKASI REGENCY

Abundant natural resources along with the inherent culture make Indonesia one of the places that are often glimpsed by both domestic and foreign tourists. One of them is in Bekasi Regency which is located in West Java Province. There are objects that have the potential to be developed as ecotourism objects, namely the Mangrove Forest located in the Rindu River, Hurip Jaya Village, Babelan District, Bekasi Regency. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential for Mangrove Ecotourism Development in Sungai Rindu, Babelan District, as a Tourist Destination in Bekasi Regency. This study uses a quantitative descriptive research method that is strengthened by Situational Analysis (SWOT). The data collection techniques used in this study were observation, interviews, documentation and literature studies to be able to determine the ecotourism potential and the potential of mangrove forests in the Rindu River by scoring at each point with each category to be able to produce appropriate data in the Rindu River. The results obtained show that the mangrove ecotourism object in the Rindu River has a lot of potential. In addition to tourism potential, this tourist attraction has economic potential, social and cultural potential. Processing of fish and shrimp can be made into shrimp paste, crackers and salted fish. Mangrove processing can be made into lunkhead, pudding and syrup. All of these potentials are factors that affect the attachment of tourists in general.