Jakarta. The new capital Nusantara will adopt sustainable tourism and a creative economy, according to Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno.

Sandiaga recently said that Nusantara would embrace green tourism. 

“Preliminary studies were recently carried out regarding the potential for developing sustainable seamless travel in Nusantara. The city’s tourism will not adopt a large resort model, but we are leaning towards ecotourism and glamping. Nusantara’s tourism and creative economy trend will embrace the quality sustainability concept,” Sandiaga said.

To this end, the ministry has prepared a series of initiatives. This year, the ministry will hold four of the so-called “tourism awareness movement” activities around East Kalimantan. There are also a number of initiatives related to human capital development.

"This starts from technical guidance, certification, and competency in the hotel and restaurant sector. [There are also initiatives related to] competency in the video animation sub-sector, and also culinary training. We have done [the training] for baristas,” Sandiaga said.

The government is also working on spurring what Sandiaga called “tourist villages” as well as “creative regencies/cities”. The ministry has also allocated funds to support priority tourism destinations for 2023 and 2024.

"We are also encouraging the process of sampling or self-assessment of Indonesian creative districts/cities in Samarinda. And hopefully, other cities across East Kalimantan can have one [creative district/city]. We want to strengthen the destination governance network implemented in Balikpapan and Kutai Kartanegara," Sandiaga said.

Nusantara has secured investment deals worth a total of Rp 5.3 trillion in the creative economy sector. About Rp 5 trillion will come from Pakuwon Group and Rp 300 billion from Jambuluwuk, according to Sandiaga. The ministry will hold the International Tourism Investment Forum (ITIF) this June to attract investors to Nusantara for sustainable and quality tourism projects.

"We will help with preparing tour packages including the Tapak Raja tourist village package, and promotions in Bali and Jakarta for trips to Maratua (Maratua - Kakaban - Derawan). We will also hold the Nusantara Expo," Sandiaga said, commenting on the government’s plans to attract tourists to the new capital.

The ministry has also promoted Nusantara at various international exhibitions, including the 2024 Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin, and the 2024 Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai. As well as the World Travel Market event which will be held on November 5-7 in London.

The Tourism Ministry will also encourage holding events at Nusantara, including the Independence Day celebrations. According to Sandiga, the president, vice president, ministers, state officials, and representatives of friendly nations will be in attendance.

The ministry will prepare tourist destinations around the city to welcome the tourists with the Karisma Event Nusantara. They are also planning to prepare a study to map the MICE potential in the city.  

"We also need to support international scale events to be held at IKN such as World Walking Day 2024," Sandiaga said.

In 2024, the ministry will hold BEKUP (Baparekraf for Startups); Voice Over Indonesia Academy; Intellectual Property Class; Monthly Film Festival; Grip (Go Register Your IP!); and Creative Talk to support the new capital’s digital and creative economy.