"We have submitted the names of 15 new tourism villages to the ministry. Our 15 tourism villages will compete with 1,831 other tourism villages nationwide to rank among the top 50," Bulukumba District Tourism Office Head Muh Ali Saleng stated in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi Province, early this week.
He currently awaits the ministry’s announcement for the nominations for the top 50 tourism villages and is optimistic that the 15 tourism villages, proposed by his office, will be selected among the top 50.
"We have properly evaluated the proposed 15 tourism villages before submitting their names to the ministry. We are optimistic that our villages would rank in the top 50," Saleng noted.
Two of the 15 tourism villages, proposed by Bulukumba, are the Luppung Mangrove Forest Tourism Village and Bulupadido Rubber Forest Tourism Village. Both villages have local natural beauty as the main attraction for tourists, he revealed.
By proposing the names of tourism villages to the ministry, Saleng expects the Bulukumba District to offer more tourist attractions to visitors.
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The tourism office also encourages residents to be more innovative to develop their villages by utilizing local resources and village funds allocated by the district authority, Saleng noted.
Meanwhile, Luppung Mangrove Forest Tourism Village Deputy Head Arman Jaya believes that collaboration among the government, village residents, and village-level businesses would help develop the Luppung tourism village.
"Residents' skills and innovation for the tourism village advance once we received support and assistance from the tourism office and the related authority," Jaya pointed out.
Apart from improving tourism facilities in the village, the residents of Luppang Village have also begun producing locally made milkfish floss and deboned milkfish products to improve the village economy, Jaya noted.
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Translator: Suriani M, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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