Indonesia Intensifies Global Collaboration to Boost Tourism Competitiveness

Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana stated that the government is massively forging collaborations with various parties around the world to strengthen the competitiveness and quality of Indonesian tourist destinations. “Our goal is clear, to make tourism a driver of economic growth, a creator of jobs, a source of foreign exchange, as well as a path towards equitable development and improving the welfare of the Indonesian people,” Widiyanti said in an official statement in Jakarta on Monday. She cited the state visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including his visit to the Prambanan Temple Complex in July 2026, as an example of such collaboration. The momentum was used to strengthen the promotion of Indonesian tourism in the Indian market through the Wonderful Indonesia channel, Indian media and international media, digital campaigns, and promotional collaborations with tourism industry players. “The high level of attention from the Indian public towards this visit is expected to increase their interest in coming to Indonesia, getting to know Prambanan, and exploring more destinations in various regions,” she said. The Ministry of Tourism is also strengthening collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to support the implementation of the Sekolah Rakyat (People’s School) programme. As a form of support, the Ministry of Tourism is providing land at the NHI Bandung Tourism Polytechnic for the construction of educational facilities. The cooperation also includes strengthening a tourism-aware curriculum, synchronising social welfare improvement programmes in tourist villages and destinations, and developing further education pathways for Sekolah Rakyat graduates. The Ministry of Tourism will also allocate a 20 percent quota for Sekolah Rakyat graduates to continue their education at Tourism Polytechnics through a scholarship programme. Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism is working to realise more equitable tourism development in Bali. A ministerial-level coordination meeting on the development of the Bali region was held, with a focus on dispersing tourists. As a follow-up, the government will prepare a masterplan for tourist dispersal to reduce the concentration of visits in South Bali while accelerating the development of destinations in North Bali, East Bali, and West Bali. This development will be integrated with improvements in connectivity, basic services, environmental management, and community empowerment. The Ministry’s support includes installing signage at priority geosites, organising international seminars, and providing bilingual information boards. The Ministry also launched the integration of Tourism Awareness Groups (Pokdarwis) through Village Cooperatives in collaboration with the Ministry of Cooperatives. This effort aims to strengthen the tourism village ecosystem, increase community business capacity, expand the marketing of local products, and ensure that the benefits of tourism are directly felt by the village communities. Further reviews were conducted in East Java at the Ijen Geopark in preparation for UNESCO Global Geopark revalidation, with the target of maintaining its green card status. The Ministry of Tourism continues to strengthen quality tourism development through various special interest tourism products. In the field of event organising, the Ministry supports 125 regional events included in the 2026 Karisma Event Nusantara across 38 provinces. As of the end of July, 61 events have been held. Of the 47 events that have been evaluated, 4.77 million visitors were recorded, with direct economic transactions reaching IDR 276.84 billion, involving thousands of MSMEs, arts workers, and labourers.