Tourism Minister Plans to Build Borobudur Highland

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said his ministry plans to build Borobudur Highland in Purworejo Regency. The plan is in line with the reconstruction of the popular tourist destination in the region, the Borobudur Temple.

The minister explained Borobudur Highland will become an integrated destination comprising a number of tourism villages. "Tourism villages will be involved," Sandiaga said in a written statement on Saturday, March 13.

Borobudur Highland covers the 309 hectares of Manoreh hills tourism area in Purworejo, located 12 kilometers from the Borobudur Temple to the west.

Therefore, the center of tourist destination will no longer be at the Borobudur Temple. Meanwhile, the government will limit tourist visits to the temple as the capacity is overloaded.

According to Sandiaga Uno, Borobudur Highland will open business opportunities for the locals. The project development will be based on the augmented reality and virtual reality technology.

"It will offer a more personalized, customized, localized, and smaller in size tourism," he said.

The development of the integrated tourism villages is expected to be able to absorb human resources in a large number as tour guides.

Previously, the Indonesian Maritimie Affairs and Investment Minister  Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan revealed that there is a big pressure against the structure of Borobudur Temple due to the increase of visitors. In 2019, more than 3.3 million people visited the temple, or around 8,000 people per day.

Meanwhile, based on the study of Borobudur Conservation Agency, the ideal number of visitors at the Buddhist temple is only 128 people per day. Therefore, the government plans to reconstruct the Borobudur Temple with the main focus on increasing the potential for quality destination.

Read: Govt Builds 4 Iconic Gates to Borobudur Temple

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA