THE INDONESIA Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s biggest Islamic organisation, is working together to develop pilgrimage tours.
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Jero Wacik, and NU Chairman Said Aqil Siraj signed the MoU yesterday. The ministry will be conducting training for NU members on tourism, especially ones related to the Muslim sites.
Wacik said: “We have had the Trail of Civilisation, a cooperation between countries with historic Buddhist historic sites, Indonesia with Borobudur, Cambodia with Angkor Wat. We are now developing the Muslim pilgrimage tours.”
Through the cooperation, the ministry also expects tour operators to develop related package tours.
This is not the first time that the ministry is working with NU, according to Wacik. Earlier, they organised the Sunan Gunung Jati cultural performance in Cirebon, West Java, where they renovated some of the graves of the wali songo – leaders who spread Islam in Indonesia, especially in Java.
Siraj said: “We support tourism. The Koran teaches that Prophet Muhammad’s followers should travel and visit different countries and nations. (Pilgrims can) learn about the history of Islam in Indonesia through the wali songo who succeeded in using art, cultural the and humane approach (in spreading Islam), for example.”
He added that Middle Eastern countries have developed their tourism, which means that Muslims were open to travelling.
