Garut Tourism Dongkrak, Menpar Expects Skin Crafts Center To Bring Attractiveness

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism Widiyanti (Menpar) Putri Wardhana hopes that the Piazza Firenze skin craft center can be an attraction for tourism and boost tourist visits in Garut, West Java.

Menpar Widiyanti while attending the 'Opening Ceremony Piazza Firenza', at the Piazza Firenza Garut Building, Wednesday (15/1/2025), appreciated the collaboration carried out by the Founder of the Poppy Dharsono Foundation, Cooperatives and the Garut Regional Government through the Tourism Office, Cooperatives Service and the Garut Industry and Trade Office, in strengthening Garut's reputation as a center for leather crafts in the world.

Garut Regency has long been a favorite tourism option in Indonesia and continues to show positive developments. This is reflected in the number of tourists who come and explore this Garut Regency," said Menpar Widiyanti.

Widiyanti explained, until November 2024 the number of domestic tourists recorded to come to West Java reached 150 million visits, and of this number, Garut Regency contributed 3.3 million tourist visits. This figure illustrates the potential for large economic developments.

According to Menpar Widiyanti, the Piazza Firenze Skin Craft Center is not only designed as a modern public space, but also as a new tourist destination to strengthen promotion and develop the potential of Garut skin products that are widely known to Mancanegera.

"I hope that Piazza Florence will not only be a place where traditions and innovation can also boost tourist visits to Garut, as well as make a real contribution to the community's economy," said Menpar Widiyanti.

Support The Fashion And Culinary Industry

Menpar Widiyanti also supports the fashion and culinary industry to continue to grow. According to him, local Indonesian products have quality that is no less good than foreign products.

"I appreciate and invite tourists to visit Garut to shop for skin products made in Indonesia. Just shop in Indonesia and take a walk in Indonesia," he said.

Menpar explained, fashion and culinary are industries that will be supported as events.

"We want to create MICE events that invite foreign tourists to come to Indonesia, to enjoy Indonesian culinary delights and shop for Indonesian products," said Widiyanti.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Joko Juliantono, said that Garut contributed 25 percent of skin products nationally. Therefore, Ferry hopes that the inauguration of Piazza Firenze can empower the community more in producing skin crafts.

The Ministry of Cooperatives also supports the Indonesian skin artisting industry. We have agreed to contribute to waste management, this will help the management process so that the waste products do not pollute rivers, so they also support ecotourism," said Ferry.

The founder of the Poppy Dharsono Foundation, Poppy Dharsono, said that Garut has a cultural heritage in the form of skin craft expertise that has decreased for more than 100 years and has become an attraction for domestic and foreign tourist visits.

As an initiative of the Poppy Dharsono Foundation and Korem 62 Tarukanagara, supported by developer partners Spinindo Group to rebuild Garut, the Garut Piazza Firenze, which is an Italian Piazza-style leather center, was built in collaboration with Garut skin craftsmen to produce international quality fashion products equivalent to Florence.

"We have also brought well-known skin artist experts here to train to improve the quality of the products they produce," said Poppy.

There are a total of 56 kiosks occupied by skin craftsmen that have been curated, including the Food and Beverages kiosk in Piazza Florence.