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THE2024 ASEAN Tourism Forum which is currently taking place in Vientiane, Laos, the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is actively participating in a series of ATF 2024 events, one of which is by attending the NTO’s (National Tourism Organization) Media Briefing of the 2024 ASEAN Tourism Forum.
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has the opportunity to convey a number of steps to accelerate the development of sustainable tourism implemented by the Indonesian government in an effort to maintain environmental sustainability as well as traditions and culture which are the main attraction of the tourism sector in the country.
According to Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, while attending the NTO’s Media Briefing ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024 in Vientiane, Laos, Wednesday (24/1/2024) said that developing inclusive and sustainable tourism is a priority for the Indonesian government.
“Various efforts were presented, including launching programs, strategies and policies to realize green tourism. For example, implementing a levy policy for foreign tourists by paying an obligation of IDR150,000 or US$10,” she said.
She explained that the fees charged to foreign tourists are costs for cultural preservation, environmental sustainability and waste handling at tourist destinations in the Bali region. This policy will be implemented in the Bali region, Indonesia starting February 14 2024.
“This effort is implemented so that foreign tourists visiting Bali can contribute to efforts to preserve our culture, nature conservation, and also environmental and cultural conservation,” said Ni Made.
Furthermore, Ni Made said that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is also preparing sustainable tourism villages, implementing CHSE standardization and certification, zero waste, _no plastic, and carbon footprint calculation and offsetting campaigns as well as implementation and joint action plans for the sustainable tourism industry in Indonesia.
“Because in realizing inclusive and sustainable tourism we need to embrace various parties. Apart from that, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has also created guidelines for tourists, especially foreign tourists, regarding what tourists can and cannot do when visiting destinations and centers. creative economy in Bali,” she remarked.
Ni Made added that we must convey this traveling guide do’s and don’ts to tourists visiting Bali. That when going on a tourist trip, of course there is wisdom and respect for local regional customs that we need to obey.
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy also created a policy that can be a basis or reference for implementing sustainable tourism, namely Permenparekraf No. 5 of 2020 concerning Guidelines for Managing Plastic Waste in Marine Tourism Destinations. Then, Minister of Tourism & Creative Economy Regulation (Permenparekraf) No. 9 of 2021 concerning Guidelines for Sustainable Destinations.
“People and the planet are two things that cannot be separated. A sustainable environment is very necessary for human survival. Therefore, it is important for us to protect it,” Ni Made noted.
On that occasion, Ni Made also conveyed the achievements of the Indonesian tourism sector throughout 2023. Where 2023 is a year full of challenges because only in the middle of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared over and entered the endemic phase.
As for the achievements of the tourism and creative sector in 2023, she said that the tourism foreign exchange value from January to June 2023 was US$6.08 billion. Then the export value of creative economy products from January to June 2023 was US$11.82 billion.
The number of foreign tourist visits in January-November 2023 was 10.4 million foreign tourist visits. For domestic tourist trips in January-October 2023 there were 688.78 million trips.
Meanwhile, the targets for Indonesia’s tourism and creative economy sector in 2024 are tourism foreign exchange value of US$7.38-13.08 billion, export value of creative economy products US$27.53 billion, number of foreign tourist visits of 9.5-14.3 billion. million, and the number of domestic tourist trips was 1.25-1.5 billion trips.
“Hopefully we can achieve these targets in 2024 better than in previous years. Of course, for the welfare of the people who depend on the tourism sector and the creative economy for their livelihoods,” concluded Ni Made.
Apart from participating in the NTO’s Media Briefing ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024, Indonesia through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy brought 13 representatives from travel agents/tour operators to participate in Travex 2024. These representatives came from the Bali, Bandung, Jakarta, East Nusa Tenggara and Riau Islands regions.
In Travex 2024, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is presenting the Wonderful Indonesia pavilion with Borobudur as the main theme and Candirejo Tourism Village as the main destination that will be offered to buyers. [traveltext.id]
