Strategi Competitive Advantage untuk Membangun City Branding Kota Batu Sebagai Kota Wisata

Globalization led to tough competition among cities around the world to win the competition to attract visitors and increase investment. Therefore, not only the company, the cities are also struggling to create uniqueness to gain an advantage in competition. It is very important to communicate the competitive advantages owned by these cities to the public and all parties to ensure the achievement of objectives. City branding is a method used to re-brand the city is identification which is expected to reflect the advantages as well as its uniqueness. Therefore, in 2013 shining Batu was introduced as a city brand wich expected to be reflect the competitive advantage of Batu City. The purpose of this study is to reveal aspects of a competitive advantages Batu City: strategies that are used in communicating it: as well as how big the impact of the communication strategy for the visitors Batu City. The paradigm of this research is qualitatively by case study design. Data were obtained by interview and documentation. The result showed that the Batu City has three interrelated aspect superior to one another that support the creation of competitive advantages.: geographic and agricultural sectors are packed in the development of the tourism sector. At the same time, the government developed the program as a means of communicated through various forms of promotion that utilizes a wide variety of communication tools; a variety of Tour Package; and held a variety of routine and incidental events. Questionnaire showed that aim to dominate the number of respondents traveled, which consist of a visitor, where recreational tourist attractions types over a favorite choice than any natural attractions. Hotel is a top choice for a place to stay. Most visitors make a visit to Batu City more than once