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Banyuwangi to compete at ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award 2017
Apart from Banyuwangi, six Indonesian regencies and cities will also participate in the event, namely Surakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Singaraja, Batu and Semarang.
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Signature dance: A dancer performs the Seblang dance while in a trance as part of an annual ritual in Olehsari village, Banyuwangi, East Java. (JP/Aman Rocman)
T
he city of Banyuwangi in East Java has been selected by the Tourism Ministry to represent Indonesia at the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award (ACTC Award) 2017 slated in October.
Two tourist attractions in Banyuwangi that will compete with other Southeast Asian destinations are Bangsring Under Water (Bunder) and Grand New Watudodol (GWD).
Apart from Banyuwangi, six Indonesian regencies and cities will also participate in the event, namely Surakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Singaraja, Batu and Semarang.
Banyuwangi Culture and Tourism Agency head M. Yanuarto Bramuda said the agency is currently focusing on cleaning up and improving the two tourists attractions, including by removing street vendors (PKL) around GWD that frequently caused traffic congestion and accidents.
Yanuarto said Banyuwangi was chosen to compete at the event due to its concept of ecotourism and efforts in developing tourism based on environment, nature conservation, social and cultural empowerment and local economy.
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“With this concept, the number of tourist visit to Banyuwangi continues to increase; it went from 500,000 domestic tourists in 2010 to 4 million people in 2016. As for foreign tourists, [the number] went from 7,000 to 75,000. The number of passengers at Blimbingsari Airport also increased by 1,340 percent from 7,826 people in 2010 to 112,000 people in 2016,” said Yanuarto.
Banyuwangi has previously earned five Adipura awards for being a clean city. It currently has 620 daily freelance workers who maintain the city's cleanliness. Several CCTVs are also installed in some rivers to monitor people who throw rubbish into the river. Sluice gates across the city have also been revamped and renovated.
Among the criteria for a clean tourist city are environmental management, cleanliness, waste handling and raising the awareness of environmental preservation and cleanliness. Other determining factors are the availability of green rooms, safety, health, security and tourism infrastructure and facilities.
“Banyuwangi has applied all of these; what’s left now is monitoring and prepping for the assessment,” said Yanuarto.
In terms of accessibility, the Blimbingsari Airport now serves daily flights from Jakarta to Banyuwangi and strives to become an international airport by 2019. (kes)
