Jakarta (ANTARA) - The residents of Kubu Gadang tourism village, Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, have successfully united to innovate and adapt local wisdom for tourism, according to Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno.

"The people of this village have succeeded in adapting the local wisdom of Minangkabau traditions into art, culinary (items), games, and traditional arts tour packages," he said on Saturday.

Uno listed some Minangkabau traditions, such as randai theater and martial art silek lanyah, as well as other traditional dances.

He said that the harmony and mutual cooperation of Kubu Gadang tourism village could create job opportunities for locals in Padang Panjang and surrounding areas.

"Hopefully, Kubu Gadang village and other tourism villages can make a breakthrough to (help reach) the target of (creating) 4.4 million new jobs by 2024," he added.

The Mayor of Padang Panjang, Fadly Amran, expressed his gratitude to the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the 2023 Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI) jury for choosing Kubu Gadang.

"I know the struggle of these village administrators, and their spirit was extraordinary," he said.

In March, Minister Uno started a series of visits to 75 tourism villages that successfully passed the 2023 ADWI curation process.

The visits are part of the promotional activities for the top 75 ADWI tourism villages to increase the number of visits and the communities' income from selling creative economy products.

In 2023, the ministry implemented the ADWI program through collaboration with several strategic partners to encourage the development of tourism villages.

The ADWI program aims to encourage village communities to develop world-class, competitive, and sustainable tourism villages.

Uno also expressed hope that West Sumatra could set an example for developing tourism villages in other regions of the country.

"Hopefully, West Sumatra will be a leading model for tourism village development," he said in Padang on Friday (March 31).

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Translator: Sinta A, Kenzu
Editor: Anton Santoso
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