"Eco Deals is a program that provides opportunities to tourists to participate in promoting sustainable tourism," Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said in a press release received in Jakarta on Friday.
The program aims to expedite the process of digitizing the hotel industry and help big and small hotels in Indonesia market their services, he informed.
He further elaborated that the program has been launched to support the initiative of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to conserve seas and forests.
According to Minister Uno, in Indonesia, the 2023 Eco Deals Program will accord special focus to supporting efforts to restore the ecosystem in the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park in Sumatra.
In last year's edition of the program, the travel agent and the WWF managed to donate as much as US$150 thousand to 5 countries in the hopes of increasing awareness about responsible tourism and supporting the rehabilitation of marine ecosystems.
Gede Gunawan, a director of the travel agency, said that the program has drawn participation from numerous hotels and according to available data, the program has been received well by customers.
"Last year, we made a contribution of US$150 thousand in total. This year, we target to reach US$250 thousand. Moreover, we also increased the number of countries involved from 5 to 8. Hopefully, this program will help Indonesia," he stated.
In May 2022, the ministry and the online tourism and travel agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to designate the agency as one of the official co-branding partners of Wonderful Indonesia, the country's national tourism brand.
Through the MoU, the government invited the private agency to work together to support the recovery of Indonesia's tourism industry in the long term.
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Translator: Farhan A, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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