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COVID-19 pandemic has made tourism object managers closer to the digital world so that the digitalization program can be accelerated. Previously people were still unaware of and indifferent to digitization.
According to the Director of Nature, Culture and Artificial Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Alexander Reyaan, said digitalization is a program that has been echoed by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy for many years. This digitization is more directed at the consumer’s process when traveling, from placing orders for transportation, staying overnight to ordering admission tickets to tourist attractions.
“To this day, for reservations using digital, for example airlines, or any other transportation model, and hotels, restaurants have become something commonplace. To enter objects, entrances to objects (tourism), only a few objects have implemented it,” he said.
Therefore, the government in the future continues to encourage managers of tourist objects in various destinations to utilize digital technology to facilitate operations. He gave an example, purchasing tickets to tourist attractions online made it easier for managers to monitor conditions and implement health protocols during a pandemic more easily.
“When visitors order tickets online, managers can monitor visitor capacity limits more easily, especially during a pandemic, there are restrictions in order to maintain safety and comfort. By digitizing it, we can actually carry out restrictions which are usually called carrying capacity,” he noted
Through a system that makes it easier, tourism managers can implement other strategies if the maximum capacity of visitors when the pandemic is full, for example by diverting other tourists to different entry hours.
The more users and managers who take advantage of digital access, the more information data will be collected for future tourism development. Digital media is also a means of finding tourist information, not only through travel agents or travel books.
That is the reason why the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has worked with young people in various destinations to help popularize new tourist destinations. Recently, more and more young people independently upload interesting photos or videos from various tourist attractions that attract the interest of others.
In addition, the government also collaborates with influencers with a large number of followers to help promote tourism, especially through their respective social media channels.
In this case, said Alexander, influencers are invited to work together to promote more pre-existing holiday destinations, not completely new places. But not just influencers are invited to work together. They are usually looking for influencers who have an emotional attachment to the place.
Influencers are not the only option in promoting tourism. For special interest tours where the market is narrower, for example mountain climbing tours, promotion through the community can be more effective because it is more targeted.
“Vacations are a necessity for the community, so tourism interest remains high, but is constrained by the pandemic. As long as the pandemic is not over, people are predicted to be looking for a safe vacation spot that is not too far away so that it is easier to reach, as well as choosing times where there are not too many other visitors,” Alexander concluded. [photo special]
