Tourism Ministry to Award Volunteer Groups Promoting Indonesian Tourism
Jakarta. As part of a government-led drive to boost Indonesia's tourism industry, the Tourism Ministry will award volunteer groups who have already played a key role in promoting tourist attractions in Indonesia.
"We have around a thousand volunteer groups all over the country which have been promoting tourist attractions in their areas. We want to show our appreciation for these groups," Dadang Rizky Rahman, the deputy head of destination development and tourism industry at the ministry, said on Sunday (02/04).
The ministry is developing several new programs for the volunteer groups, which are called Pokdarwis, an acronym for "Kelompok Sadar Wisata," or Tourism Awareness Group.
One of the programs is a set of awards for the best-achieving groups. The ministry is currently selecting judges who will choose the award winners.
"The winners will be announced during World Tourism Day on 27 September 2017," Dadang said.
Oneng Setya Harini, the deputy assistant of destination governance and community empowerment at the ministry, said local Pokdarwis groups have been told to nominate their programs for award selection.
The judges will choose twenty finalists from the submissions they receive. The submission deadline is April 7.
Pokdarwis is a unique initiative currently being run in every province in Indonesia. The goal is to encourage local communities to promote tourist attractions in their area and attract local and overseas tourists.
"Pokdarwis has an important role to develop tourism in Indonesia. They're our partners at the grassroots level," Oneng said.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the award for the Pokdarwis is a good way for the government to show their appreciation and to encourage the groups to even greater achievements.
“Pokdarwis have the potential to be ambassadors for Indonesian tourism," Arief said.
According to Arief, these volunteer groups can help create community-based tourism all across the archipelago.
"Mayors and district heads will play a key role at the community level in this program," Arief said.
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