Sandiaga Uno Wants Foreign Tourists Visiting Bali Not To Create New Problems

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Economy Sandiaga Uno wants foreign tourists visiting Bali not to create problems such as traffic jams, garbage and pollution.

"We want Bali to become a tourist destination that prioritizes quality, sustainable and community-based tourism," he said in a virtual weekly press briefing, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, June 21.

He submitted a report that foreign tourists gave a very positive response after visiting Bali.

As of today, 30-40 percent of foreign tourist visits to Bali are higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

For domestic tourists, it reached 70 percent (compared to before the pandemic)," said Sandiaga.

His party will encourage a number of destinations, including tourist villages and sport tourism to ensure Bali as an icon of Indonesian tourism.

One of the new breakthrough programs being pushed is famtrip or travel to introduce tourism potential in Indonesia to domestic tourists (wisnus).

"We just brought a motorcycle group from the Vespa World Day event to the Penglipuran Tourism Village in Bali. They were amazed by the customs and tourism products in Penglipuran Village apart from the beauty of the architecture of the tourist village and its cleanliness," he said.

In addition, there is also the Pemuteran Tourism Village in Buleleng which will serve as the venue for the International Conference of Ecotourism in 2023.

The government chose Buleleng as the location for the event because the area is located in North Bali, which is currently being promoted to balance it with the South Bali area, which has long been the center of various events on the Island of the Gods.

"Tourism villages such as Pemataran, Penglipuran, and Carangsari are the champions that we will propose to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) in the best tourism village event this year. Our programs are also integrated, there is the Indonesian Tourism Village Award, but there are also famtrip to sell destinations that have not been the main choice of tourists," said the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy.