Cognitive Dissonance of the Pangandaran Tourism Subjects in the Pandemic Time

Abstract

Pangandaran Beach, one of holiday destinations in West Java, was closed for three months in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. After the government decided to reopen the area in June 2020, Pangandaran restarted the business with a new normal condition, in a strict protocol. The managers had gradually lessened the strictness of the protocol. This study employed a phenomenological approach. The informants in this research were the Secretary of the Pangandaran Regency Office of Tourism and Culture, lodging entrepreneurs, transportation agencies, and tourists who visit Pangandaran in a regular basis. The study indicates that the informants made difficult decisions before they accepted tourists to enter Pangandaran. The dissonance that arise was the fear of being infected while they are really expecting guests, the fear of being raided that made them complied the health protocols, and the decrease of the work spirit as well as morale while they urged to work for their income. Meanwhile, the cognition carried out by the tourism subjects was based on the search for proper and official information issued by the government, social media, friends, as well as relatives who have just returned form Pangandaran. This cognition was used to strengthen decision-making on how the lodging places, transportation services, and tourists must act. In addition, the sincerity of law enforcement by the authorities became another cognition that made them more confident in managing their tourism business.