Expand Tourism, Ministry Of Tourism Explores Cooperation With United States-ASEAN Business Council

Kemenpar Jajaki Expansion Of Tourism Cooperation With United States-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) (Doc. Kemenpar)

JAKARTA - Indonesia through the Ministry of Tourism (Kemenpar) is exploring further efforts to expand cooperation in tourism business development at meetings and discussions with the United States-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) 2024 delegation at Balairung Soesilo Soedarman, Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (3/12/2024).

In his opening remarks at the event, Minister of Tourism (Menpar) Widiyanti Putri Wardhana conveyed the update of the Indonesian tourism sector, the quick win program of the Ministry of Tourism, and the tourism sector target in 2029, which contributed 5 percent to the national GDP and brought in foreign exchange of 32 billion US dollars.

"Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), until September 2024, Indonesia has succeeded in bringing in 10.37 million foreign tourists. This figure has increased significantly by 20.28 percent compared to the same period last year," said Menpar Widiyanti.

The event was attended by representatives of the US-ABC delegation to discuss several topics, namely 2024-2029 Vision and Policy Priorities, Overview Sector US-ABC Report, Best Practice Sharing, and Member Company Initiatives.

Menpar Widiyanti said the Indonesian Government was committed to developing a sustainable tourism sector as stated in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).

"Our vision is to develop industries that not only provide significant economic and social benefits, but also preserve the environment and cultural heritage," he said.

Furthermore, Menpar Widiyanti explained the quick win program of the Ministry of Tourism to all US-ABC delegates who were present at the meeting. These include the intensification of the Proud Travel program in Indonesia, modernization of Indonesian tourism marketing through Tourism 5.0, decreasing aircraft ticket prices, and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism sector.

He hopes that in the future, the meeting with the US-ABC delegation can provide tangible benefits for all parties involved, especially the local community and industry in Indonesia.

"I really hope that our discussion today will inspire both parties to take concrete actions, strengthen our partnership, and provide sustainable benefits in order to achieve common goals, foster good partnerships, and provide inclusive benefits to our communities and local industries," he said.

Menpar Widiyanti also conveyed the programs that have been carried out by the Ministry of Tourism related to the development of sustainable and quality tourism in Indonesia.

"Kemenpar has implemented several programs related to sustainable and quality tourism, including carbon footprint calculator and offsetting, creating decarbonization roadmaps, establishing green blue circular economic roadmaps in tourism, sustainable tourism certification, designing and implementing sustainable tourism policies, and implementing campaigns to support sustainability (Every Step Matter Campaign)," said Menpar Widiyanti.

On this occasion, the US-ABC Indonesia Committee Chair, who is also the CEO of Citi Indonesia, Batara Sianturi, expressed his optimism that this new government will bring tremendous growth to Indonesia.

"We want to show our commitment, response, and input in terms of how to accelerate the tourism sector in Indonesia," Batara said.

The US-ABC is an advocacy organization for US companies operating in ASEAN, which acts as the leading vote of the US private sector in promoting mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between the United States and the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Currently, US-ABC members consist of 70 leading companies from the tourism industry and the creative economy, including AirBnb, Boeing, Agoda, Expedia, Marriot International, Visa, American Express, Amazon Web Services, Bell Trexton, Citi, Diageo, IBM, Pepsico, Salesforce, Vrians & Partners, Google, Netflix, Facebook, and so on.

Present at the event was the CEO of Citi Indonesia and US-ABC Indonesia Committee Chair, Batara Sianturi; US-ABC Chief Representative of Indonesia, Sinta Sirait; and representatives of US-ABC members.

Also attending to accompany Menpar Widiyanti Putri, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ni Luh Puspa; Plt. Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Bayu Aji; Deputy for Resources and Institutions, Mikhap M. Paham; Deputy for Marketing, Ni Made Ayu Marthini; Deputy for Destination Development and Infrastructure, Hariyanto, and Director of Inter-Institutional Relations, Yulia.