Launching Guidelines For Implementing BGCE, Kemenparekraf: To Realize Quality And Sustainable Tourism

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/The Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf) collaborated with the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas) to launch guidelines for the concept of a blue economy, green, and circular or blue economy, green, and circular economy (BGCE) in the tourism sector.

Guidelines concern four main sub-sectors of tourism, namely hospitality, food and drink providers, transportation, and tourism areas.

Deputy for Industry and Investment of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Rizki Handyani, in the event "Launching and Kick Off BGCE Program in the Tourism Sector", Friday (18/10/2024) afternoon at Novotel Tangerang, said the guidelines for implementing the BGCE program in the tourism sector are part of the government's long-term plan to create quality and competitive tourism businesses by prioritizing sustainable tourism.

"The sustainable tourism development program with the application of the BGCE concept has been included in the draft Technocratics for the 2025-2029 RPJMN related to environmental degradation and local culture loss due to uncontrolled tourism and cultural acculturation from tourists. As well as the lack of tourism human resources skills and the low utilization of the tourism economy by the local community," said Rizki Handayani.

BGCE combines three major concepts. Namely a blue economy that offers the importance of balance between the economy and environmental conservation in the context of maritime and coastal areas.

Then the green economy, which integrates the environmental economy and social care and circular economy, is to integrate economic activity with environmental sustainability through material processes and turnover to maximize ecosystem functions and human welfare.

"BGCE outline is a form of Indonesia's commitment driven by big agendas that include climate change, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste management, biodiversity, and local economics and so on, all of which are closely related to the tourism industry," said Rizki.

Regarding greenhouse gas emissions, Indonesia has previously voiced a high commitment to its contribution. Indonesia was one of the first countries to sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions by 29 percent below any effort or business as usual (BAU) by 2030 and can be increased by 41 percent with international cooperation.

In addition, Indonesia through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has also signed The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism where Indonesia became the first country in ASEAN to sign this declaration.

"The tourism industry plays an important role in preventing climate change through the implementation of sustainable practice. By applying the BGCE principle, the tourism industry will not only be able to reduce the negative impact on climate, but also various functions on global solutions to achieve sustainable development goals," said Rizki.

Currently, said Rizki, there are quite a lot of tourism industries that apply the principles of sustainability, but of course it must be integrated and synergized between government programs and the application by industry.

"Through the adoption of the BGCE concept, of course tourism can contribute to creating positive impacts and long-term impacts on the environment and the local community. However, the main point of the problem is the alignment of the BGCE concept into each component of the tourism business so that it can be a comprehensive guideline and provide benefits and be widely accepted by the industry," said Rizki.

The Deputy for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, explained that one of the economic transformation agendas contained in Law Number 59 of 2024 concerning the 2025-2045 RPJPN is to make Indonesian tourism a sustainable and high-valued world-seeded destination. Namely by carrying out its operations by facilitating the principles of the blue economy, the green economy, and the circular economy.

"This RPJPN is a law, so it is mandatory to serve as a guideline for all of us and not only the government, because the law bounds all components of the nation," said Amalia.

The implementation of a national development strategy, one of which is supported by the implementation of BGCE in the tourism sector, is expected to be a driving force to achieve the vision of Indonesia Gold 2045.

"The target of the tourism sector is to increase the role of the tourism sector GDP to 8 percent by 2045. And we are also not only satisfied with 8 percent, but how tourism can contribute to producing foreign exchange so that tourism foreign exchange is expected to reach 100 billion US dollars by 2045," he said.

The implementation of BGCE in the tourism sector is also in line with the future tourism trend, both nationally and internationally. Where the future megatren leads to sustainability and community engagement as well as a transition to inclusive and sustainable growth.

"We have to catch those two points, don't let us be satisfied with the development of conventional and conservative tourism. We must be able to catch the trend of tourism and trends of global and domestic tourists, then we must improve ourselves quickly," said Amalia.

"Hopefully the guidelines that have been prepared and have involved various tourism stakeholders from ministries/agencies, business actors and associations in the tourism sector can provide guidance for all of us, provide guidelines, so that we can jointly implement them well," said Amalia.

Deputy for Tourism and Creative Economy of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Odo RM Manuhutu, appreciated the preparation of BGCE guidelines for the tourism sector by BAPPENAS and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. It is hoped that this guideline can have a positive impact on the tourism sector.

"We also appreciate that the sustainable tourism development program with the implementation of the BGCE concept has been included in the RPJMN technocratic draft. This will of course provide confidence that Indonesia's tourism development in the future will run in a sustainable, quality manner, by paying attention to environmental sustainability and cultural progress and disaster resilience," said Odo.