DPR Member Pushes for Social Media Utilisation to Optimise Tourism Promotion

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of the House of Representatives Commission VII, Hendry Munief, stated that technological advancements, particularly social media, present a significant opportunity to optimise tourism promotion more broadly and effectively.

“The utilisation of social media is one of the solutions to optimise tourism promotion across its entire ecosystem. This must be maximised to provide benefits to the community,” he said in an official statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

In connection with this, Hendry, together with the Ministry of Tourism, held a technical guidance session on Promoting the Wonderful Indonesia Brand Through Social Media in Bagan Siapi-api, Rokan Hilir, Riau, on Tuesday (5/5).

He explained that this technical guidance supports the Ministry of Tourism’s programme in marketing tourist destinations through digital platforms. The activity targets the younger generation as content creators.

“Content creators can serve as a bridge to publicise and promote Indonesian tourism, including in Rokan Hilir. Moreover, this also provides economic value to the creators,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Rokan Hilir Regency Tourism, Youth, and Sports Office, Hari Dharma Putra, explained that local tourism must be shared with a wide audience, including through digital media.

“Therefore, we hope that young people who become content creators can participate in promoting it,” he said.

According to Hari, digital promotion can be more effective than conventional methods because, with the right branding strategy, Rokan Hilir’s tourism potential can attract more tourists while driving regional economic growth.

“Today, friends are being taught how to promote the tourism in Rokan Hilir. It is not enough to just put it on billboards, not enough to just place it in print media, but this needs to be marketed through digitalisation,” he stated.

According to him, if managed and promoted maximally through digital media, the tourism sector can have a significant impact on increasing community income as well as reducing unemployment rates.