House Commission VII Member: Tourism Ministry Needs to Make Tourists Stay Longer

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Athari Gauthi Ardi, a member of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, stated that the Ministry of Tourism needs to create strategies to encourage tourists to stay longer, spend more nights, and increase their spending in tourist destinations that are not only concentrated in priority areas.

He said that the challenge for the tourism sector is no longer just about attracting tourist visits, but also ensuring even distribution and increasing economic contributions in various regions.

“It’s no longer just about attracting tourists and spreading them evenly to other areas, but also about how we can make them spend more time, spend more nights, and spend more money,” Athari said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to him, the government also needs to strengthen the capacity of tourism human resources.

He appreciated the Ministry of Tourism’s programmes in improving the quality of human resources, including through vocational education and tourism polytechnics (poltekpar).

However, he emphasised the need for a change in approach to human resource development, from being based solely on the number of trainings and certifications to being outcome-based.

“What is the outcome? Namely job absorption, improvement in service quality, and an increase in worker income,” he said.

To that end, he encouraged the implementation of a destination-based workforce placement scheme.

According to him, that scheme is important so that local workers can be directly absorbed into the tourism value chain, not only in tourist villages and priority destinations, but also in other areas with great potential.

“So that local workers can be directly absorbed into the tourism value chain,” he said.