Badung, Bali (ANTARA) - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno affirmed that he is directing his ministry to focus on tapping into Indonesia's sustainable tourism potential in 2024 in keeping with the growing international popularity of green tourism.

"To that end, collaboration among all relevant stakeholders is essential to ensure quality and sustainable tourism in Indonesia," Uno stated in his opening speech for the Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference in Badung District, Bali, on Thursday.

The minister encouraged domestic tourism actors and regional governments to pay close attention to three popular tourism trends to help the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry optimize Indonesia's sustainable tourism potential.

Uno further elaborated on the tourism trends, saying that one of them is related to natural tourism activities based on the concept of ecotourism.

To promote the trend, he said, tourism actors can start promoting the use of electric vehicles as well as offering green energy-powered accommodations.

Meanwhile, the second and third trends pertain to cultural tourism and adventurous tourism activities that can proffer tourists with distinct and remarkable experiences, he added.

"We have been promoting the three latest trends in various tourism destinations," he noted.

Uno expressed hope that Indonesian tourism players would make the most of business-matching activities to develop sustainable tourism in the country.

He then expressed belief that sustainable tourism would highly benefit about 46 million tourism actors in Indonesia and create new job opportunities this year.

"I hope that all parties will collaborate to make the year 2024 a successful year for tourism and contribute to the efforts in achieving the target of opening 4.4 million new job vacancies," he remarked.

Last year, Indonesia recorded a total of 11.5 million foreign tourist visits, exceeding the initial target of 8.5 million visits, with Bali Province contributing around 50 percent to the total figure.

In 2024, the government is targeting to draw 14.3 million foreign tourists to visit Indonesia.

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Translator: Dewa K, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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