TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - Yogyakarta has started to see a normal trend in tourist visits, especially during this Ramadan, as COVID-19 cases are sloping. Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X wanted this momentum to be utilized by making four strategic steps to accelerate the recovery process of the regional tourism sector.

“The first step is to reformulate products,” said Sultan in his statement in the discussion of the Road to Yogyakarta as a Responsible Tourism in Yogyakarta, Tuesday, April 12.

In the forum held by the Representative Office of Bank Indonesia DIY and the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) DIY, Sultan explained that product reformulation could be applied by creating more activities or events. “Especially for thematic tourism festival events,” he added.

As for the second step, Sultan encouraged the existence of a shared perspective or framing of tourism development in the province as an industry. “By doing horizontal integration between business sectors,” he said.

The third step, said Sultan, is to strengthen the partnership between tourism players. “It is necessary to build a network of cooperation between object managers, travel agencies, inter-provincial tourism offices, and other tourism people,” he remarked.

In the fourth or final step, Sultan HB X encouraged intensive marketing of tourist objects that are designed by adopting the spirit of co-opetition and co-creation in a network of strategic alliances. “Yogyakarta is a cultural city in which there is tourism potential, so culture and tourism in DIY cannot be separated,” he underlined.

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PRIBADI WICAKSONO (CONTRIBUTOR)