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Holistic herbal healing helps attract tourists, hopefully
The Wellness and Jamu (herbal medicine) Tourism initiative is one of four health tourism initiatives that the government is developing under the Health Tourism Road Map
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Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto (‘center’) and Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio (‘right’) talk to the press after the launch of the Wellness and Jamu Tourism initiative on Tuesday. (The Jakarta Post/Riza Roidila Mufti)
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n addition to promoting new tourist destinations outside of Java and Bali, Indonesia is also introducing a wellness and herbal tourist initiative to attract foreign tourists to the country.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry and the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry set out guidelines for the Wellness and Jamu (herbal medicine) Tourism initiative, a new official tourist designation to attract visitors seeking wellness experiences.
Home to at least 200 types of herbs, Indonesia is a prime location for herb-based wellness treatments and jamu – a word for both local medicinal wisdom and a traditional herbal health beverage. Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said jamu and other traditional Indonesian wellness practices have the potential to attract foreign tourists if they are packaged better. The practices remain principally local, beyond most tourist itineraries.
“Wellness and jamu tourism is something we have to make more popular because we actually have a great jamu industry, but we rarely talk about it. For example, we have tongkat ali (longjack leaves) and purwaceng (traditional herbal aphrodisiac). I believe if we package it well, it will attract the interest of foreign tourists,” he said during the launch of the Wellness and Jamu Tourism initiative on Tuesday.
Tongkat ali and purwaceng are types of jamu known principally for their anti-impotence effect. Terawan said Indonesia had many other interesting traditional alternative medicines such as kerokan (alternative treatment where skin is covered with oil and scraped by coins, believed to help circulation). Indonesia also has traditional massages known as pijat, which Terawan believed would attract foreign tourists.
The launch of the Wellness and Jamu Tourism initiative is part of Indonesia's efforts to develop health tourism. Terawan said Wellness and Jamu Tourism was one of four health tourism initiatives that the government wanted to develop under the Health Tourism Road Map.
“There are four clusters [of health tourism] in the roadmap, namely Medical Tourism, Wellness and Jamu Tourism and Sport Tourism, all of which support health. The last is Medical Scientific Tourism,” said Terawan.
