GIANYAR CITY IN THE HEIRLOOM CITY NETWORK AS INDONESIAN DIPLOMACY MEDIA IN THE GLOBAL AREA AS EFFORTS TO PROTECT LOCAL CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Bali’s tourism development contributed to the increasing of regional revenue, job opportunities and well being of the societies. But tourism could also create a negative impact for the environment like land function change and create conflict for local culture. This happen because on one side, tourism spreads a modern value, but on the other side societyin the region still need to maintain local wisdom including culture as a tourism commodity. Tourism that emphasizes the economic approach tends to give a central role to the government and capital owners in fulfilling their needs or interests, therefore societies in the region have minimal initiative and only serve as an object.

Developing culture-based tourism needs an awareness that culture is a process of internalizing values that has been going on in the societies for a long time. Therefore, tourism actors must be aware that tourism itself not only become a commercialization of cultural values only for the sake of profits.

Gianyar regency contributes in inspiring cities. Gianyar city has a long history as a root culture of Bali. All this time, Gianyar regency has an important role in carrying out culture-based development which is rarely owned by other nations. The support of the local government has a great contributionto introduce local culture of the society, preserving nature and cultural uniqueness of the city. Even the regent of Gianyar became one of an active regent in inviting scholars, private sectors and local society in utilizing the regional assets to maintain and take care of the cultural heritage and ancestral heritage such as subak, Balinese dance and many other cultures. This then made Gianyar become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC). OWHC became a forum for mayors and regional heads of heirlooms with condition that one world heritage site in the minimum has been recognized by UNESCO. From around 280 heritage cities in the world, Gianyar is one of the three heritage cities recorded in the OWHC. On one side, Gianyar has earned another trust which put forward a policy that favor the sustainability of the city’s long history amid in the middle of many destructions and disfigurement of cultural heritage in other cities. Through a qualitative descriptive method study, therefore author see the entry of Gianyar in the OWHC became Indonesia’s diplomacy media in introducing uniqueness and local wisdom in the region in facing global challenges like commercialization of cultural values due to tourism development. The results of this study will be published on national seminars and loading of articles in accredited national journals.