THE POTENTIAL of Indonesia’s religious tourism is very large, for that the importance of a storytelling approach to promote religious tourism in Indonesia becomes more attractive.
According to the Deputy for Tourism Products and Activities of the Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy, Mrs. Rizki Handayani Mustafa said, for example, tourism for the spread of Islam from Sabang to Merauke is packaged with storytelling and narration. We hope that the local government will be active and explore it, and we from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy are here to facilitate.
Rizki also mentioned the efforts of his ministry with a number of objects such as mosques that have high historical value in them, such as the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.
“There are several strategies that we are doing, such as collaborating with the Istiqlal Mosque on how to develop religious tourism, how Islam is not only for Muslims because there are many things that we can develop,” she said.
She explained that that was also why we collaborated with Istiqlal to create a narrative, because they have a history and an extraordinary diversity of tolerance. There are various forms of religious tourism. Starting from visiting places with Islamic nuances, pilgrimages according to Islamic sharia, halal tourism, to nature tourism that offers its own silence for visitors to get closer to the creator.
“Nature tourism – the silence of nature can be a religious moment too. And this, if you can make a story, in my opinion, has become part of religious tourism. How to make the trip fill the mind, because religious tourism is more to fill the mind and heart,” Rizki underlined.
She added that can only be done if we have the content, and there is a lot of it. Our tour operators make a lot of it, and it must be introduced. We urge religious tourism associations to start, because our potential is huge.
In addition, Rizki said that his party also carried out various strategies, including the development of events on religious holidays, to virtual traveling.
“We support local virtual activities, so that later they can increase movement between destinations. However, storytelling is still important. Making tour packages with stories, and we are currently pushing this,” she concluded. [special photo]