Menparekraf Berharapkan Banyuwangi Jadi Destinasi Penopang Capaian Target Parekraf Nasional Pada 2023

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno hopes that Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, can be one of the regions that supports the achievement of national tourism and creative economy targets by 2023.

Menparekraf Sandiaga said the target for achieving the tourism sector and the national creative economy in 2023 will increase from the 2022 target. One of them is domestic tourists who reach 1.2 billion-1.4 billion movements.

"This year (2022) the target is only 700 to 750 million, right, (increase) twice. If we look at some of the mainstays that can be used as development, one of them is Banyuwangi," Sandiaga said in a written statement, Friday, December 30.

In addition to domestic tourists, Sandiaga said, his party also targets foreign tourist visits to increase from 3.6 million in 2022 to 3.5 million-7.4 million visits in 2023, so tourism foreign exchange increases to 2.07-5.95 billion US dollars.

"Hopefully Banyuwangi can contribute to achieving parekraf targets in 2023," he said.

Sandiaga is also optimistic that Banyuwangi can support the achievement of this target because the district, which is at the easternmost end of Java Island, has various potentials, one of which is holding events that last throughout the year.

"In my opinion, this is an inspiration for other regions to present events, such as the Gandrung Sewu Festival, Banyuwangi Ethno Carnival, and others," he said.

"I hope that in the future it can continue to develop into international events, so that these tourists also come to see world-class events," he added.

Based on Grab Indonesia data from 2019-2022, an average of 98.5 percent of tourists present in East Java are domestic tourists.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the number of foreign tourists who came to East Java rose 5.6 times compared to 2021 and contributed to the economic impact by 68 percent.

Banyuwangi, which is known to have superior destinations as well as creative economy products, must be able to have competitiveness, not only for domestic tourists as well as foreign tourists, such as fashion products that already have advantages, so that they can become products that have added value.

Furthermore, Sandiaga said, his party will continue to prepare programs to support tourism development and the creative economy in Banyuwangi, such as the Beli Kreatif Tourism Village (BetiDewi) and the Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI), as well as creative economy support through facilitation of creative actors, intellectual property facilitation, Indonesian Creative Appreciation (AKI), Programograms, and onboarding creative actors in the marketplace.

"I want to prepare creative economy and tourism actors in Banyuwangi to welcome 2023 which is full of opportunities. We must fight so that new job opportunities are created to improve people's welfare," he concluded.