Minister of Culture and Tourism, from the Palace to Sport Tourism

JAKARTA - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon encourages the development of culture not to stop at preservation. The direction that is targeted is to enter into tourism, creative economy, to sports based on culture.

The idea emerged when Fadli received Sapta Nirwandar, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy for the period 2011-2014, at the Ministry of Culture Office, Jakarta, Monday, April 13. The two discussed the development of the cultural sector from upstream to downstream, including opportunities to expand it to sports tourism and international collaboration.

Fadli emphasized that culture, tourism, and creative economy intersect so that they require connected steps. One of the highlighted focuses is the strengthening of cultural tourism, including the improvement of historical areas such as palaces and palaces in various regions.

"We work upstream, middle, to downstream. Tourism should pass through us. Therefore, we want to fix various cultural potentials, including palaces and palaces throughout Indonesia," said Fadli.

He also emphasized the importance of the utilization of intellectual property in the management and commercialization of cultural heritage. According to Fadli, Indonesian cultural wealth can be developed into high-value derivative products, without giving up authenticity and preservation ethics.

"If we can develop derivative products of culture with high quality, this is not just a regular souvenir, but is reproduced professionally by involving local artisans, so that it provides economic added value while expanding public access to cultural heritage," he said.

In the discussion, Sapta Nirwandar encouraged international cultural collaboration based on common traditions, one of which is bamboo-based handicrafts. According to him, bamboo is not only related to the preservation of nature and culture, but also has industrial value that can be further developed.

"In addition to being part of nature and cultural preservation, bamboo also has great potential as a raw material for creative industries. Various innovative products have been produced in various countries, ranging from musical instruments, furniture, to functional products such as bicycles and other instruments based on bamboo," said Sapta.

In addition, the two discussed the development of tourism and creative economy based on religion and culture, such as Borobudur and Prambanan. The cultural space is also considered to be expanded into a tourism sports stage, with examples of Tour de Singkarak and Borobudur Marathon.

The meeting was closed with an agreement to continue discussions to find a more appropriate formula, so that cultural potential can be connected with tourism and creative economy in a more targeted manner.