Indonesian opens 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum

Yogyakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin officially opened the 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum, themed “ASEAN: A Journey to Wonderful Destinations,” in Yogyakarta.

At the opening ceremony in Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta, Amin expressed hope that the forum would accelerate regional tourism recovery and serve as a medium to discuss and improve tourism policies.

“I hope this forum will bolster the spirit of tourism recovery in ASEAN, besides becoming the medium for discussion and formulation of policies and real programmes on tourism development that will be more practical, direct, and orientated to the future,” Amin stated.

Tourism ministers of ASEAN countries and representatives from partner countries, including the ASEAN Plus Three — China, Japan, and South Korea — as well as India and Russia, participated in the ceremony.

“Welcome to Indonesia. Welcome to Yogyakarta, the City of Culture. I convey warm greetings from Mr President, who, unfortunately, cannot open this ceremony because of his official agenda,” the vice president stated.

Amin said that Indonesia is optimistic that the tourism sector would help to develop ASEAN as a stable, peaceful, and dignified region that upholds humanity and supports global economic stability.

“I also encourage all of us to develop sustainable and inclusive tourism with the involvement of micro and small enterprises, the women, and the younger generation,” he remarked.

Amin stressed that now is the time to improve the competitiveness of the tourism sector through innovation and creativity and transformation to the digital sector to realize a productive tourism sector that could contribute to the regional economy.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, in his remarks, introduced his three mantras on his crusade to develop tourism in Indonesia.

“First, we call it gercep, quick action. The second, we need to develop collective action or geber, and the third, we need inclusive action for all vocational potentials, we can call it gaspol,” Uno expounded.

Gercep for gerak cepat, Indonesian for “quick action”, can be realized through the provision of relevant assistance to the tourism and creative economic sectors nationwide, particularly during the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery, he remarked.

Meanwhile, the minister said that geber for gerak bersama, can be translated to “collective action”, means to collaborate with all stakeholders and realize an inclusive sector by diversifying tourism development, for instance, by developing ecotourism, halal tourism, and health tourism.

“We are optimistic that the diversification will not only open new jobs but also increase the added value of tourism and give tourists a greater number of choices,” Uno stated.

Uno also noted that his ministry’s three priority agendas are recovery and reconstruction, digital transformation, and sustainable development.