Human resources and digitization are the keys to reviving the tourism and creative economy sectors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno.
“This pandemic has compelled us all to adapt to digital transformation, pushing us to continue upscaling, upskilling, and rescaling, right from the workforce to the marketing of tourism and creative economy products being purchased and sold through social media, e-commerce platforms, and digital wallets,” Uno noted during a virtual discussion on Thursday.
The minister opined that the notion aligned with the measures to restore the creative economy and Indonesia’s tourism, so that it would remain sustainable.
“We focus on human resources, starting from those for reskilling and upskilling to competency certification, as well as mentoring and entrepreneurship of human resources for the creative economy,” the minister elaborated.
The next step is the revitalization of tourism destinations and creative economy infrastructure that encompasses strengthening the management and governance of destinations, developing tourist villages, as well as developing or revitalizing eco-friendly destinations and/or facilities.
Boosting business resilience and competitiveness that entails the provision of incentives and access to capital, business standardization and CHSE certification, and business reactivation are also crucial.
The fourth step is the recovery and expansion of the market, which includes garnering interest of Indonesian tourists through the #DiIndonesiaAja and #inDOnesiaCARE movements; marketing creative economy products through the National Movement of Proudly Made in Indonesia, #BeliKreatifLokal, and #AdaDiWarung; and preparations for the gradual opening of borders for foreign tourists.
“The last is product and service innovation that includes quality tourism products, facilitating product and service development, protecting intellectual property rights and digital transformation, and lauding Indonesian creations,” he elaborated.
According to Minister Sandiaga, technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), had significantly influenced the way of life and interactions in addition to improving experience and convenience to support contactless and seamless tourism.
“AI can also help the creative economy sector in marketing and monetizing intellectual property,” he stated.
“We also use big data to enable all tourism activities to be recorded digitally for the purposes of ecosystem development, both digitally and through regulations presented by the government,” he affirmed.
Source: Antara News