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INDONESIA, through the Ministry of Tourism, is further exploring efforts to expand cooperation in tourism business development at a meeting and discussion with the United States-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) 2024 delegation at the Soesilo Soedarman Hall, Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (12/03), 2024.
In her opening remarks at the event, Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana provided an update on Indonesia’s tourism sector, the Ministry of Tourism’s quick win program, and the tourism sector’s target for 2029, which is to contribute 5% to the national GDP and generate US$32 billion in foreign exchange.
“Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia has managed to attract 10.37 million foreign tourists as of September 2024. This number has significantly increased by 20.28% compared to the same period last year,” said Widiyanti.
The event was attended by representatives of the US-ABC delegation to discuss several topics, namely the 2024-2029 Vision and Policy Priorities, US-ABC Sector Overview Report, Best Practice Sharing and Member Company Initiatives.
Minister Widiyanti said that the Indonesian government is committed to developing a sustainable tourism sector as stated in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).
“Our vision is to develop an industry that not only brings significant economic and social benefits, but also preserves the environment and cultural heritage,” she stated.
Widiyanti also outlined the Ministry of Tourism’s Quick Win Program to all US-ABC delegates attending the meeting. These include intensifying the Bangga Berwisata di Indonesia program, modernizing Indonesia’s tourism marketing through Tourism 5.0, reducing airfares, and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism sector.
She hopes that in the future, the meeting with the U.S. ABC delegation can bring real benefits to all parties involved, especially the community and local industries in Indonesia.
“I sincerely hope that our discussion today will inspire both parties to take concrete actions, strengthen our partnership, and provide sustainable benefits to achieve common goals, foster good partnerships, and provide inclusive benefits to our local communities and industries,” he said.
Widiyanti also shared the programs implemented by the Ministry of Tourism to develop sustainable and quality tourism in Indonesia.
“The Ministry of Tourism has implemented several programs related to sustainable and quality tourism, including the carbon footprint calculator and offsetting, the creation of a decarbonization roadmap, the creation of a blue-green circular economy roadmap in tourism, the certification of sustainable tourism, the design and implementation of sustainable tourism policies, and the implementation of campaigns to support sustainability (Every Step Matter Campaign),” she concluded.
On this occasion, US-ABC Indonesia Committee Chairman, who is also the CEO of Citi Indonesia, Batara Sianturi, expressed his optimism that the new government will bring extraordinary growth to Indonesia.
“We want to show our commitment, our response and our contribution on how to accelerate the tourism sector in Indonesia,” Batara noted.
The US-ABC is an advocacy organization for U.S. companies doing business in ASEAN and serves as the leading voice of the U.S. private sector in promoting mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between the United States and the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Currently, the US-ABC membership consists of 70 leading companies in the tourism and creative industries, including AirBnb, Boeing, Agoda, Expedia, Marriot International, Visa, American Express, Amazon Web Services, Bell Trexton, Citi, Diageo, IBM, Pepsico, Salesforce, Vriens & Partners, Google, Netflix, Facebook and others.
The event was attended by Citi Indonesia CEO and US-ABC Indonesia Committee Chair Batara Sianturi, US-ABC Indonesia Chief Representative Sinta Sirait, and representatives from US-ABC members. [traveltext.id]
