City tourism branding resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The New Normal Era needs future adaptation, in order to ensure cities still have competitiveness and resilience in the tourism sector during the pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the implementation of the Smart Tourism Branding concept in Bantul city, Indonesia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a quantitative study, using the random sampling method to obtain data from 230 respondents through a questionnaire, which was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). During the initial stage, a statistical test on each question?s validity and reliability in the questionnaire was conducted, after which data analysis was carried out. Before performing multiple linear regression analysis, several assumptions were fulfilled, including data normality and multicollinearity. The results showed that the evaluation of smart tourism branding provides an overview of people?s understanding and satisfaction level with regard to tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jelajah Bantul application, which is a smart tourism branding instrument, supports Bantul City?s ability to compete in attracting tourists and investment globally. In addition, the city?s tourism management and branding identity can be facilitated and strengthened when the synergy strategy of the community and city stakeholders is appropriately regulated.