JAKARTA - The government wants cultural assets to no longer be just a long list in the state cabinet. Minister of Culture Fadli Zon and Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana agreed to lock in a new cooperation, namely, the integration of data from the National Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage (WBTB) so that promotional and travel packages are sharper, measurable, and have an impact on visits.
The agreement was discussed in a meeting at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, Tuesday, February 24. The agenda worked on includes data integration, strengthening the cultural event ecosystem, preparing travel patterns, optimizing digital promotion, to cultural diplomacy at the international level.
"Culture and tourism have a very close relationship. This collaboration is the key to ensuring that our cultural potential really has an impact on increasing tourist visits," said Fadli.
Fadli revealed that the Ministry of Culture manages 313 National Cultural Heritage and 2,727 WBTB, including 514 new WBTB in 2025. He assessed that the potential has not been maximized to become a strength of cultural, historical, religious, and culinary destinations. The key, he said, is in a strong packaging and narrative - not flat promotion.
For priority sites, Fadli said Borobudur, Prambanan, Ratu Boko, and Plaosan were already in a management cooperation scheme with InJourney. The government also strengthened Dieng and Muara Jambi, including the construction of Kedaton Temple and Koto Mahligai, as well as plans to inaugurate the Sriwijaya Dharmakirti Museum next year.
Regarding Borobudur, Fadli assessed that the capacity of visits could still be optimized. Currently, the quota for visitors who can climb to the main structure is around 4,000 people per day. "The installation of chattra is expected to make Borobudur a living heritage that has spiritual meaning as well as global appeal," he said.
He also highlighted historical-archaeological destinations such as Banda Neira with the Spice Route narrative, colonial forts in Maluku, to the Leang-Leang area in South Sulawesi and Leang Metanduno in Muna which is said to be around 67,800 years old and has been published in international journals. According to Fadli, the big narrative of civilization needs to be strung together into a pattern of integrated tourist travel.
Widiyanti welcomed the synergy. He said the Ministry of Tourism focused on promoting and infrastructure destinations, including through the indonesia.travel.id platform which is equipped with artificial intelligence-based trend analysis. "We need data support and storytelling from the Ministry of Culture so that museums and cultural heritage can appear stronger on our digital platforms," he said.
Widiyanti added that the target of a 14 percent increase in visits with a target of 17 million foreign tourists requires experience-based promotion. The Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) program, which this year contains 145 events, is considered to be a space for the integration of cultural events so that the economic impact is wider.
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