TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Digital adoption will boost tourist industry, govt says
A member of the ministry’s strategic management special team, Priyantono Rudito, said that since Indonesia had the largest digital population in Southeast Asia, it had the potential to compete globally.
Change Size
Jumbo wash: An elephant sprays a tourist with water in Tangkahan, northern Sumatra. Local tourist spots, including those like Tangkahan that have seen success, must be willing to embrace digital tourism to avoid falling behind on the times. (Courtesy of Tangkahan Community Tour Operator/-)
T
o help the tourist industry develop digital tourism, the government has come up with programs that aim to strengthen human resources, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said at a press conference Thursday.
“Under one of the programs, we will enrich the curriculum at schools for tourism by adding a digital competence course and upgrade the learning systems by developing infrastructure with digital devices,” he said.
He said the government had also prepared a capacity-building program in the form of comprehensive training for about 10,000 students in the schools to enhance their digital competence and prepare them for the industry.
A member of the digital curriculum preparation team from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Wawan Dhewanto, said Indonesia, with the largest digital population in Southeast Asia, had a large number of digital-based travelers.
“Indonesia is at the top of the chart with a total of 132 million internet users and 130 million social media users, followed by the Philippines with only 67 million internet users and 67 million social media users,” he said.
“About 62 percent of travelers usually do research first before traveling either through online reviews, travel videos or travel blogs. About 76 percent of them take part in post-travel activities through digital platforms, posting photos, making blog reviews and commenting on tourist sites,” he added.
In addition, Arief said he hoped players in the industry, including conventional travel agents and hotel businesspeople, could adjust to the changing Tourism 4.0 market.
