ER
THE Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy appreciates the collaboration and support of various parties in developing tourism and the creative economy in Lake Toba, which is one of the five super priority destinations.
According to the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, said one of them was the support from PT Pertamina which helped build sanitation in 10 tourist villages on Lake Toba. Not only sanitation development in the form of national standard toilets, PT Pertamina in the Environmental Social Responsibility (TJSL) program also helps empower community independence for the management of 10 sanitation facilities in the tourist village by involving Village-Owned Enterprises. As well as a micro and small business funding program for 56 MSMEs to become Pertamina’s fostered partners through a partnership program scheme in the tourist area of Lake Toba.
“The President has given extraordinary attention and assigned me and other ministers to develop super priority tourism areas. And Lake Toba as one of the five super priority destinations, we encourage attractions, amenities and accessibility in it,” said Sandiaga Uno. when giving a speech at the handover ceremony for the PKBL Pertamina program assistance at the Lake Toba super priority destination online.
The existence of standard toilets that meet the aspects of cleanliness, comfort, and health will provide added value in the development of tourism in Lake Toba in particular, and Indonesia in general.
As is well known, based on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) data issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2019, of the 14 pillars that assess Indonesia’s tourism competitiveness, there are three pillars whose positions are above 100 out of 141 countries attention. Namely environmental sustainability, tourist service infrastructure, and health and hygiene.
The existence of toilets that meet national standards is expected to help improve the quality and competitiveness of Indonesian tourism in the future.
“I have visited Lake Toba three times in the last three months. I see the development of amenities, one of which the availability of toilets is an important point. Tourism will not be able to sell quality and sustainable destinations if the toilets are not of high quality. Destinations will not be a priority if the toilets are not quality,” Sandiaga said.
Another thing that is no less important is the management and maintenance of toilets so that they can be maintained. Sandiaga also appreciated PT Pertamina’s commitment in its TJSL program which will provide assistance for the next year in toilet management by involving Village-Owned Enterprises.
“People in the Lake Toba area are also expected to join forces to maximize and participate so that this toilet remains clean,” Sandiaga Uno noted.
A similar sentiment was conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan. Maintaining the sustainability and cleanliness of the toilets in the future must be a shared responsibility.
“It looks simple, but this is a very essential thing. If we can maintain the toilets properly, of course we can also maintain the sustainability of the others. I hope all of this can go well,” Luhut concluded. [traveltext.id]
