The Government of Indonesia has prioritized 10 tourism destinations across the country which is called “the next 10 Bali’s”. A large amount of government resources has been allocated to transform these areas to be world class tourism hot spots. In addition to developing the infrastructure such as roads, airports and ports, it is also the government’s priority to develop the capacity of local human resources and involve local communities in the tourism industry so they can benefit from tourism development through employment and business opportunities.

In light of the above, the ILO in Indonesia, together with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs (Kemenko Kemaritiman), organized a validation workshop on 29 April 2019 in Jakarta to examine the joint scoping mission conducted in Lake Toba and Lombok as the two of the priority tourism destinations in Indonesia. The workshop aimed to validate the proposed project concept that will contribute to the combined efforts to enhance tourism development in these destinations.

Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Minister of Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs, emphasized the commitment of Government of Indonesia in promoting tourism as the driver for economic growth and job creation. “The tourism sector has increased 7.8 per cent last year and the percentage is double the global average of 3.9 per cent. The tourism sector has grown faster than other economic sectors and has created 13 million jobs,” he said in his opening remarks.

He also highlighted the linkages among tourism, economy and employment as well as environment and waste management as two main challenges faced by the Indonesian tourism sector. Therefore, he encouraged the participating tourism stakeholders composed of local officials and tourism associations, as well as ministries and organizations relevant to tourism development to find and identify ways to better involve local communities in the tourism development, build the capacities of both local communities and authorities and develop an effective waste management system.

In addition to the keynote remarks, key updates and development on Indonesia's tourism industry and its current standing in the Asian and global markets were shared by Dr. Ir. Safri Burhannudin, Deputy for Human Resource Coordination, Science & Technology and Maritime Culture. Meanwhile the ILO, through the remarks of its Country Director in Indonesia, Michiko Miyamoto, emphasized the ILO's long standing partnership with the Government of Indonesia, particularly in supporting key sectors such as the tourism industry.

In the workshop, the ILO shared key findings from the joint scoping mission and the proposed project concept focusing on local economic development, skills development and protection of the environment. Feedbacks and additional inputs that were actively given by the participants were gathered and compiled for the finalization of the project concept.