Through BBWI, This Is The Target For Tourist Visits To Lampung Province

Social Media Activist Rulli Nasrullah (left), IKPM Director of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics Septriana Tangkary, and Head of the Lampung Provincial Tourism Office Bobby Irawan at the GenPosting webinar. (IST)

JAKARTA - Through the Proud Travel Movement program in Indonesia (BBWI), tourist arrival targets can reach a figure of 1.4 billion movements. The target in the tourism sector is challenging to realize. Lampung Province with a number of tourist destinations is expected to contribute.

To further introduce the potential for Lampung tourism to the wider audience, a strategy and optimization is needed through social media. In particular, as a form of support for the BBWI program which wants to achieve the target of 1.4 billion movements.

The Directorate of Information and Communication of the Economy and Maritime Affairs, Directorate General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kemkominfo) is in line with organizing a GenPosting (Posting Generation) webinar with the theme Optimizing Lampung Tourism Through Social Media in Bandar Lampung.

"BBWI is a program adjacent to the Proudly Made in Indonesia (BBI) program which is expected to be able to activate, encourage the mobility of Indonesian tourists and grow creative economic centers in tourist destinations in Indonesia," said Director of Information and Communication of the Economy and Maritime Affairs, Septriana Tangkary.

The BBWI movement, which was inaugurated on December 13, 2022, was explained by Septriana, aimed at moving the community with the #DiIndonesiaAja holiday program to spur the revival of the regional economy. Indonesia has natural beauty and diversity, customs, culture, and creativity so that people can support and be proud to travel in Indonesia alone.

Lampung stores various tourism potentials that are interesting to visit. Starting from the Way Kambas National Park, Tegal Mas, Krakatau Nature Reserve, Pahawang Island, as well as various beaches that can be a vacation option for tourists. Lampung province BPS data recorded 1,730,095 foreign and domestic tourist visits in 2022 with an average length of stay for guests (RLMT) at star hotels in October recorded 1.60 days. In order to be increasingly recognized by tourists, the potential for Lampung tourism still needs to be promoted, especially through social media. Marketing Director of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Dink Haridjati, said that the use of social media as a promotional medium is an important point for all parties to increase tourism in Indonesia, especially the Lampung province.

"Why social media? Because more than three-quarters of internet users in Indonesia are social media users with an average use of more than 3 hours a day. Apart from YouTube, what is often used are WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, and Telegram, with the most users around the age of 1834 years", said Dinkes while inviting social media drivers such as bloggers, YouTubers or Lampung travelers to promote tourist destinations with the hashtag #DiIndonesiaAja.

Many efforts to improve infrastructure and collaboration have been carried out by the provincial government to attract tourists to come to Lampung. The head of the Lampung Provincial Tourism Office, Bobby Irawan, explained that tourist destination attractions are currently being developed and strengthening the promotion of Lampung tourism. In addition, improving the quality of human resources is also carried out on the apparatus and tourism business actors.

"The strength of social media can indeed provide extraordinary legacy and influence on Lampung tourism in promotional efforts so that many new tourist destinations have emerged," said Bobby. He also emphasized honesty in providing information so that tourists know in detail the beauty of tourist attractions, the conditions of the terrain, and also the costs that must be incurred. This can screen tourists according to the segmentation of their respective tourist attractions.

Today's session was also attended by Social Media Activist Rulli Nasrullah. He talked about the current landscape of social media users who are more interested in added value information from a tourist attraction such as culinary information that can be obtained, vehicle parking comfort, photo spots that can be visited and other things that are attractive to tourists.

Tourism is something unique because when people are disappointed, they won't come back. However, if the person is happy with the place, they will recommend a lot of things to others," Rulli explained.

He added that in developing branding on social media, tourist attractions can rely on tourists, influencers or social media drivers who come can share their experiences on social media so that they can reach a wider audience.

The GenPosting event took place in a hybrid manner and was attended by more than 200 participants, including active social media activists in Lampung. The hope is that it can foster and increase feelings of pride in Indonesia's tourism wealth to be able to move people to travel in Indonesia alone.