Ministry to Develop 561 Tourism Villages in 2014

Jakarta (Antara) - The Creative Economic and Tourism Ministry plans to develop 561 tourism villages in several provinces in Indonesia during 2014. According to the People Empowerment Director in the Ministry, Oneng Setya Harini, the first phase of creating the village will be carried out in 19 provinces. "We will improve the tourism services offered by the area¿s residents and conduct several training sessions," Oneng said here on Saturday. The Ministry will train people in foreign languages, art, as well as culinary and culture skills, Oneng said. The development program will be funded through the People Empowerment Independent National Program in the tourism sector. Oneng noted that each tourism village will receive funding ranging from Rp75 million to Rp100 million. The program aims to teach the public about the tourism potential in their villages, so they can preserve the area to be developed to attract tourism. There are several criteria which are considered when determining whether a village should be developed as a tourism village, such as having tourism potential and accessibility for tourists, as well as whether tourism will help low-income residents and the level of tourism activity in the village. "We will consider a village that can become a tourism village by observing the tourism potential in the area," the Director said. The Ministry will also develop a network of tourist villages to improve community-based tourism and specific cultures. The network will connect at least 1,400 tourism villages and the Ministry will seek to connect even more villages. This network will then allow the exchange of experiences and information, as well as provide options for tourists. (*)