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100 tourist destinations set to be digitally accessible by 2018
Creating a digital tourism database is crucial to be able to be globally accessible.
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The Prambanan Temple compound as seen from afar. (The Korea Herald/Won Ho-jung)
The management of at least 100 tourist destinations in Indonesia is set to be digitized to support sustainable tourism.
"We are targeting to have 100 digital destinations across Indonesia by 2018," said the Tourism Ministry's information technology and digital department special staff, Samsriyono Nugroho, during the Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA) Forum in Yogyakarta on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.
Sustainable tourism comprises three management aspects, said Samsriyono, which are economy, environment and community developments.
Established in 2013, MIKTA is a cross-country communication platform that involves Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey and Australia. This year Indonesia serves as the country coordinator for the forum.
Samsriyono says there are things to consider in order to boost tourism digitization, such as how to encourage tourism exchange, which involves ensuring all small and big tourism businesses have gone digital to open the market.
This tourism database is crucial to be able to be globally accessible.
Read also: Indonesia's tourism boom explained
Once connected, Samsriyono said the next step would be exposing in detail the richness of each destination, such as batik crafting spots, traditional cooking classes, mountain trekking and other localities that highlight tourist villages' characteristics sought after by foreign travelers.
"Exposing these locality details also encourages the residents of the destination to love their environment, local values and nature; hence we'll be able to reach the target of sustainable tourism" he added.
In addition to benefiting the market, Samsriyono said digital tourism could also help preserve the destination in collaboration with the locals. For instance, using social media, the downside of a destination could be immediately noticed and handled. For example, a dirty tourist attraction could be found quickly and reported to the management.
Meanwhile, for tourism businesspeople and the government, digital tourism can serve as a big source of data to map the tourism market based on destination interest, which will help put a focus on marketing plans. For example, European and Japanese tourists are known to prefer heritage destinations like Borobudur and Prambanan temples. Meanwhile, tourist markets like China are more interested in exploring the south part of Indonesia, which has many beaches. (kes)
