Bogor, West Java (ANTARA) - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno is targeting to create as many as 6,000 tourism villages throughout 2024 to boost national economic growth.

Uno, after delivering a public lecture on Blue Ocean Strategy Fellowship (BOSF) in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, on Sunday, explained that out of more than 80 thousand villages in Indonesia, there are around 7,500 villages that have tourism potential.

"Villages that have tourism potential are around 7,500 and we must reach 80 percent of them, around 6,000," he said.

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The minister explained that those 6,000 tourism villages would be able to contribute 4.5 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP).

He explained that when the target of 6,000 tourism villages is realized, it would create 4.4 million jobs in the creative economy sector.

"Because, in villages, our younger generations create innovations, including creative products that will increase the opportunities of those tourism villages," he remarked.

The development of tourism villages is carried out because there has been a positive growth of 30 percent in the visits to tourism villages after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

There have so far been two tourism villages in Indonesia that are considered the best at the global level -- Nglanggeran Tourism Village in Yogyakarta and Panglipuran Tourism Village in Bali.

"The achievements like these will be pushed forward," he remarked.

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Translator: M Fikri, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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