Sustainable Tourism Development in Indonesia

Project completed

Indonesia has the potential to develop a world-class tourism industry, because the country has many natural and cultural tourism assets. The World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Indonesia 42nd (out of 141 countries). Despite this potential, Indonesia faces serious sustainability challenges.

Country/region Period Budget
Indonesia
01.11.2017 - 31.12.2022
CHF  11’750’000
Background

Already today, Indonesia lags behind other countries on indicators, such as enabling environment, infrastructure and environmental sustainability. This is why the Government plans to accelerate the development of ten priority tourism destinations in a sustainable manner. SECO supports the Government in this endeavor with a program that focuses on three pillars: i) at the macro-level dealing with framework conditions- ii) at the meso-level focusing on skills development in the tourism sector and iii) at the micro-level working directly with the tourism sector in selected destinations.

Objectives

SECO has designed a comprehensive program for sustainable tourism development in Indonesia, to support the country in developing a high quality tourism industry and to leverage its rich tourism assets in a sustainable manner. The overall goal of the program is to contribute to increased sustainability in targeted destinations by improving competitiveness and sustainability of destinations, and by refining a skilled workforce.

Medium-term outcomes

Pillar 1: Framework conditions for sustainable tourism are improved by strengthened conditions and capabilities for coordinating, planning and monitoring of sustainable tourism development

Pillar 2: Better qualified workforce with relevant skills suits better the demand of the Indonesian tourism sectors.

Pillar 3: The supported destinations are competitive and good examples for sustainable and inclusive tourism development.

Results

Expected results:  

Pillar 1: Coordinating agencies to manage sustainable tourism development are strengthened- drafts of sustainable tourism plans for the 3 destinations are developed- local agencies responsible for monitoring sustainable tourism development have strengthened capacities and are supported by an expert panel.

Pillar 2: The tourism school in Lombok (school management and teachers) offers relevant training for the industry- relations between the training institution and the private sector is strengthened- members of the network of Indonesian tourism education institutions conduct joint workshops and studies.

Pillar 3: Local stakeholders are assisted in developing sustainable tourism development plan in line with ITMP and sustainable destination standards- backward linkages at the destination level and local skills within the sector is strengthened through pilot projects- annual exchange among key stakeholders takes place.


Results from previous phases:  

The first phase supported the development of destination management organizations in Flores Island and resulted in very good achievements. Visitors increased significantly, their average daily spending and length of stay also grew, despite a prolonged economic crisis. During the second phase, support was extended to three additional destinations. Destination management bodies have been set-up and tools for marketing and branding have been promoted. Despite geographical variation in scale, the trends in results achievement observed in the first phase continued (increased national and international tourist arrival, increased average tourist spending and length of stay, increase overall satisfaction rates). Moreover, nine vocational schools have been strengthened with capacity building activities for improved school management and strengthened teaching capacities.


Directorate/federal office responsible SECO
Credit area Development cooperation
Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    11’750’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    0 Budget inclusive project partner CHF    12’000’000
Project phases

Phase 1 01.11.2017 - 31.12.2022   (Completed)