Local newswires are reporting on a recent visit to Bali by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, who said about 90 percent of tourists who come to Bali are interested in ecotourism or environmentally friendly tourism. In addition, 86 percent of them are willing to carry out activities to offset their carbon footprint.
As a response to this, and from data from Kemenparekraf and booking.com research, the Minister is preparing ecotourism packages with support from digital platforms to attract tourists.
The results of the study of 29,000 respondents from 30 countries led to collaboration between the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the carbon footprint accounting platform, Jejak In.
Sandiaga also launched the “Towards Climate Positive Tourism Through Decarbonization and Ecotourism” Program or efforts towards a positive tourism climate through decarbonization and ecotourism.
“This aims to increase self-awareness, if we move there will be an impact on the ecosystem. For that, we must do something more than discourse, which is more towards collaboration and action,” said Sandiaga at the West Bali National Park.
Apart from Jejak In as a service provider that is able to calculate carbon emissions through the “carbon footprint calculator,” the former deputy governor of Jakarta also inaugurated five locations that became destinations for this program. The ecotourism destinations are Plataran Menjangan in West Bali National Park, Berau Tembudan Mangrove in East Kalimantan, 3 Colors Beach (Clungup Mangrove Conservation) in Malang, Peramun Hill in Bangka Belitung, and Klawalu Mangrove Tourism Park in Sorong.
Sandiaga sees that the recent trend of tourist visits is no longer just a group looking around, but tends to seek experiences and memories. He calls it “quality and sustainable tourism”.
In the future, he said, his party admitted that they would direct other destinations in the same direction. This is a form of government commitment, which is currently successful in making Indonesia the first country in ASEAN to have a “Net Zero” commitment in the tourism sector.
Source: Republika
