The paper is an empirical study examining the tangible and intangible culture
of rural tourism with a focus on rural transformation from daily local into
commercial behaviour due to presence of tourism activities. It explores the
process of commercialization of tangible and intangible culture. The case
studies of Brayut and Pentingsari rural tourism village are studied through
observation and interviews of physical and non-physical transformation with
community members and the rural tourism manager. Both villages are the
unique growing tourist village in Yogyakarta, but Brayut has a potential asset
of maintained condition traditional Javanese house in whereas Pentingsari
has an attractive natural of green village with the local cultural heritage. The
qualitative empirical research study was applied to explore the transformation
of cultural meaning by the locals before and after commercialization process.
Firstly, the study reviewed the original tangible and intangible culture before
transformation. Secondly, changes in cultural functions and meaning are
analyzed in the current situation caused by its transforming into commercial
activities. By examining the comparison of tangible and intangible culture in
the commercializing process is built to understand the relationships between
the two and the quality of its transformation.