T

he Association of Village Tourism has urged its members to obtain certification and technical assistance to help develop their ecotourism facilities in sustainable ways.

Association chairman I Gede Ardika, who is a former minister of culture and tourism, said that the concept of village ecotourism was developed to create a fair and just tourism industry, which, so far, benefitted only large-scale capitals.

“The village ecotourism concept will directly benefit the villages and their people from their eco-friendly tourism activities,” said Ardika, an Indonesian representative of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Organizations of village ecotourism must obtain certifications, which are effective for three years, to give them access to training and technical assistance to create standardized ecotourism facilities.

“A team of experts will come to their villages and will provide them with necessary skills and information on how to develop and operate village ecotourism.”

Bali has developed four village ecotourism areas in Tenganan Pengringsingan in Karangasem, East Bali; Banjar Kiadan in Badung regency; Sibetan in Karangasem and Nusa Ceningan in Klungkung regency.

The four villages belong to Bali Village Ecotourism Network (JED).

Ardika warned the province’s tourism industry and authorities to start limiting tourist arrivals to the island.

“Bali is a small island. Due to the island’s limited capacity, we cannot let the authorities try to increase the number of tourist arrivals,” he said.

Ideally, Bali must develop a quality and sustainable tourism industry, which maintains its culture, tradition and environment, he said.

“The authorities as well as tourist businesses mostly focus on how to increase statistics such as the number of tourist arrivals and how much money they spend during holidays,” he said.

Hengky Hermantoro, chairman of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s research and development, said Bali could become a role-model of village-based tourism development for other provinces.

“We will coordinate with the Public Works Ministry to create the four villages in Bali as national models for village ecotourism,” Hermantoro said.

He said 64 percent of Indonesia’s 240 million citizens lived in rural areas and were in the low-income bracket. “Tourism has to benefit people in the village.”

In Bali, village ecotourism is jointly developed by JED, Wisnu Foundation, TIFA and Village Ecotourism Association.

Bali tourism office head IB Kade Subhiksu said Bali would develop 60 more ecotourism villages.

“The Bali administration will fully support the program and will involve as many villagers as possible in the program.”