Indonesia’s leading tourism officials recently outlined plans to implement a more sustainable, inclusive model for the sector. Devised in Bali and set to roll out nationwide, the new guidelines will provide a framework for development in locations such as Labuan Bajo, Lombok, Borobudur and Medan.
“Indonesia is no longer pursuing the number of tourist visits, but is rather focused on encouraging sustainable tourism,” explained Sandiaga Uno, who is the Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy, on 21 September.
The minister was speaking at the 40th anniversary of the State Polytechnic of Medan, which is at the centre of the government’s plans for development in the tourism sector. Nearby Lake Toba is one of Indonesia’s five destinations with ‘super-priority’ status, meaning they will receive special attention in the months ahead.
Looking to the future of the region, and the tourism sector as a whole, Sandiaga highlighted the importance of education and thought leadership to this vision. Addressing the staff and students at the Medan polytechnic, he said this human capital will be “a strength for our human resources to excel and be competitive, as well as create 1.1 million jobs in the tourism and creative sector by (the end of) 2022.”
On Wednesday (28/9), the minister went on to confirm that, following the meeting between G20 nations in Bali, Indonesia will publish a set of guidelines for the nationwide implementation of sustainable tourism. The move was confirmed following the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting (TMM) forum and World Tourism Day (WTD) 2022.
“The series of activities were successfully carried out and was attended by 150 delegates from 35 representatives of guest countries and international organisations at the Tourism Ministerial Meeting,” said Sandiaga during the weekly G20 briefing on Wednesday, 28 September. “We have reached a consensus agreement to support what we know as the Bali Guidelines,” he added.
The Bali Guidelines are expected to feature several primary action plans, covering areas such as human resource development; innovation and digitalisation for tourism management; the role of women and youths in tourism recovery programmes; and focusing on climate action, biodiversity conservation and support for circular economies.
Referring to the Bali guidelines, the minister expressed his optimism for the future, noting that the recent developments are a big step in the right direction. “For the first time,” he explained, “we have successfully offered an idea to bridge tourism and the creative economy.”
