"Around 90 percent of them are interested in knowing more about ecotourism and 86 percent of them are willing to carry out activities to balance out their carbon footprint," he said.
Taking note of data obtained by the ministry from Booking.com’s research, Uno observed that ecotourism is a large market. Therefore, the ministry will prepare ecotourism packages and digital platform support to attract tourists.
The result of the research, which involved 29 thousand respondents from 30 countries, drove the cooperation between the ministry and carbon footprint calculator platform Jejak.in.
During his visit on Thursday, Uno also unveiled the ‘Towards Climate Positive Tourism Through Decarbonization and Ecotourism’ program.
"This aims to raise personal awareness, namely if we move, there will be an impact on the environment. To this end, we need to do something more than discourse, namely collaboration and action," he remarked.
Uno also inaugurated five destinations that will be covered by the program. The ecotourism destinations comprise Plataran Menjangan in West Bali National Park; Tembudan Berseri Berau Mangrove in East Kalimantan; Clungup Mangrove Conservation in Malang, East Java; Peramun Hill in Bangka Belitung; and Klawalu Mangrove Tourist Park in Sorong, West Papua.
The recent trend among tourists is to not just look around, but also seek experiences and build memories, the minister noted. He then dubbed it quality and sustainable tourism.
In the future, other destinations will tread the same path, he added.
This is a form of the government's commitment that has made Indonesia the first country in ASEAN to have a net-zero commitment in tourism.
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Translator: Ni Putu Putri M, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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