Jakarta — The Lecturer Team of the Tourism Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM), in collaboration with Bank Indonesia (BI), is formulating the Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism Village Business Models. This initiative aims to encourage the management of tourism villages in Indonesia to become more committed to sustainability. The program aligns with Bank Indonesia’s commitment to developing green, preserved, and sustainable tourism villages. The Tourism Study Program team is led by a lecturer from FIB UGM, Muhammad Rachmadian Narotama, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D.
During a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) for the Evaluation and Validation of Sustainable Tourism Village Business Models, it was revealed that there has been no systematic and applicable guideline to assess tourism village business models focusing on mainstreaming sustainability. The FGD was held on Friday (30/10) at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jakarta.
The Head of the Green Economy and Finance Group of Bank Indonesia, Kurniawan Agung, emphasized the importance of formulating these guidelines to help Indonesian tourism villages develop and map out potential markets, particularly international tourists who care about environmental preservation and sustainability. “The hope is that tourism villages can attract international tourists who care about sustainability, as the global market is increasingly paying attention to these standards,” stated Kurniawan Agung.
The guidelines are designed to map out and provide an assessment framework for tourism villages transition toward sustainable business practices. While the Ministry of Tourism, in cooperation with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), already possesses a set of sustainable tourism assessment instruments, the guidelines developed by UGM and Bank Indonesia focus specifically on assessing business practices using the Business Model Canvas (BMC) approach. Furthermore, the assessment standards, which previously utilized more than 100 parameters, have been condensed into 21 indicators that represent sustainability principles within the BMC framework. This guide is also expected to enrich existing assessment models.
The FGD at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Jakarta was attended by reviewers consisting of tourism village practitioners, academics, and industry representatives. Among them were Hannif Andy Al Anshori, S.Par (Director of the Tourism Village Institute), Danesta Febianto Nugroho, S.St.Par., M.A., M.E. (Head of the Tourism Awareness Community Development Division, Ministry of Tourism), Dr. Ahmad Hudaiby Galih Kusumah, MM., CHE. (Head of the Master of Tourism Study Program, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia), Sugeng Handoko, S.T. (Secretary of Nglanggeran Tourism Village), and Madeleine Sophie (Head of Public Relations of the Indonesian Travel Agent Association – ASTINDO).
The discussion revealed that tourism village business operations are quite complex, given that a tourism village is not a single corporate business unit. Instead, it must be viewed as a complex ecosystem where various components are interrelated and mutually influential. The guidelines book is expected to be launched soon as a quality control instrument for tourism villages assisted by Bank Indonesia.
Author: Popi Irawan
