Government Encourages Sustainable Tourist Villages

HUMAS KEMENTERIAN DESA PDTT

Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government through the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry has encouraged the development of tourist villages under the framework of environmental sustainability. This way of development is expected to allow tourist villages to thrive in order to bring long-lasting welfare for the community.

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"The establishment of a tourist village is not [the end of] a goal, but how it can have an impact on the community and the rural environment," Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar said during the opening of the Kompas Travel Fair 2022 at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (9/9/2022).

They come from conventional travel agents, travel agents for halal tourism, airlines as well as 10 tourist villages under the patronage of the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry.

The three-day Kompas Travel Fair 2022, which will take run until 11 Sept., is displaying travel products and necessities by 76 exhibitors. They come from conventional travel agents, travel agents for halal tourism, airlines as well as 10 tourist villages under the patronage of the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry.

Environmental sustainability

Abdul Halim said the more sustainable the environment was, the better and more comfortable the tourist village would be for tourists to enjoy. “Don’t ever build [a tourist village] like a manufacturing site with negligence toward nature. It will not last long. So, we hope that the competition will be more of a movement to preserve the environment," he said.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar accompanied by Deputy General Leader of Kompas Daily Budiman Tanuredjo looks at the exhibition booth at the 2022 Kompas Travel Fair at the Jakarta Convention Center Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (9/9/2022).

He also called for a better-arranged narrative and promotion of tourist villages that could attract visitors.

To help promote tourist villages, the ministry has set up the Nusantara Tourism Village application, through which prospective visitors and travel agents can access information on rural tourism, including contact numbers of tourist village operators. "To improve the quality of service to visitors, local businesses owned by tourist villages have been given hospitality training," he said.

He singled out a coffee firm owned by a tourist village as an example of a thriving business with a turnover of around Rp 1 billion per year.

Abdul Halim expressed his optimism about the prospect of tourist villages, saying that the income would continue to increase given the rising popularity of rural tourism. He singled out a coffee firm owned by a tourist village as an example of a thriving business with a turnover of around Rp 1 billion per year.

Agus Hendra Purnama, PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk vice president for credit cards division, urged the private sector to step up to help develop tourist villages, for example, by engaging themselves in promotion. He said Bank Mandiri offered various transaction conveniences to customers who wanted to visit tourist villages.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Senior Vice President of PT Bank Mandiri Agus Hendra Purnama delivered his remarks at the opening of the 2022 Kompas Travel Fair at the Jakarta Convention Center Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (9/9/2022).

On a separate occasion, Cipto Gunawan, an economic advisor to the Kerthi Bali Research Center at the Indonesian Hindu University, said that attracting domestic and foreign tourists posed different challenges, with the former requiring tourism village managers to pay more heed to developing unique attractions to their tastes.

(This article was translated by Musthofid)