Ari Sony
Semarang Regency holds a strategic geographical position as a transit hub along the Semarang–Solo–Yogyakarta corridor, supported by diverse tourist attractions and strong economic performance. Despite recording 744,659 domestic tourist movements in March 2026 based on Mobile Positioning Data, the regency failed to enter the top ten most-visited destinations in Central Java during the 2026 Lebaran holiday, with only 139,816 visits recorded at its ten leading attractions. This yields an indicative conversion rate of approximately 18.8 percent at the Lebaran peak, meaning more than 80 percent of movements passing through the regency did not translate into recorded tourism visits. This study employs a descriptive quantitative method supported by explanatory qualitative analysis (sequential explanatory mixed methods), triangulating four secondary data sources to identify the competitive gap, analyze conversion disparities, and formulate improvement strategies toward Lebaran 2027. Findings indicate that the primary drivers of low conversion are the transit-only behavior of the majority of visitors and accessibility constraints at the Bawen–Ambarawa–Bandungan corridor. The study recommends four priority strategies: integrated single-window digital data management via Application Programming Interface; private-vehicle-based traffic and access management; four anchor-themed festival clusters across 14 sub-districts; and the formalization of Pangsar Sudirman Night Market and Kuda Lumping Festival as official tourism events. Achieving the minimum target of 203,458 visits to enter the top ten requires an increase of at least 63,642 visits (approximately 45 percent above the current recorded baseline).