Kulon Progo Regency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is stepping up its game to attract more visitors by upgrading its tourism villages to reach a premium level.
The upgrade includes developing homestays, more live-in activities, and experiencing life with the local community.
Kulon Progo Regency is hoping to draw more crowds with travel packages with activities like packrafting, pictured
Speaking at a recent media fam trip in conjunction with the rebranding of Hotel Morazen Yogyakarta, Joko Mursito, the regency tourism office head, said the presence of Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) has elevated the profile of Kulon Progo, bringing new developments like the first international standard hospital with helipad facility in Yogyakarta, as well as branded hotels including ibis, Swiss-Belhotel, Novotel and Morazen – all of which have prompted homestays to raise their standards in terms of services and products.
Joko noted: “Community empowerment has been the basis of tourism development in Kulon Progo. The fact that we have received the Indonesia Tourism Village Awards for four years in a row, a (record) in Indonesia, proves that we have been successful in the development.”
The tourism office and village authorities are also collaborating with surrounding hotels to train, mentor, and prepare them on how to host visitors with hotel-style service.
Hengky Tambayong, deputy chairman of Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) Kulon Progo Chapter and general manager of Hotel Morazen Yogyakarta, shared: “We are working with the local authorities to accelerate the development of attractions and human resources. For example, we have trained hawkers at Glagah Beach to improve their food quality and presentation, and helped villages to create SOPs for their services using hotel standards. We also conduct in-house hospitality training for students.”
In fact, Joko said that competitions among the tourism villages are held occasionally, whereby the judges from tourism-related associations will buy, stay, and assess the overall programme.
The regency government also stipulates that each tourism village must have its own themed package to ensure travellers have many choices of activities when visiting Kulon Progo, and for the tourism economy to be distributed evenly in the regency.
“We have created travel packages to make it easier for travellers to pick the ones that suit their interests,” Joko explained.
Examples of packages available include bird conservation activities at Jatimulyo Village, educational tourism at Tinalah Tourism Village, nature tourism at Ngargosari Village with views of ancient volcanoes, and outbound activities at Hargotirto Village.
Other than cooperating on product and human resources development, Hengky said stakeholders are ramping up promotions to put Kulon Progo on the map.
Although YIA has a capacity of 70,000 passengers, the airport’s traffic is only around 8,000 to 12,000 passengers per day, and only 20 per cent of that traffic stays at Kulon Progo; the rest head to Yogyakarta city centre and other cities in Central Java. This means, Henky noted, there is still room to grow.
Additionally, IHRA has approached Yogyakarta Tourism Promotion Board to work with airlines to promote cultural and unique events, such as the fisherman’s festival and durian party, as well as requested Borobudur Authority Board to include Kulon Progo in their international promotions.
Kulon Progo Regency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is stepping up its game to attract more visitors by upgrading its tourism villages to reach a premium level.
The upgrade includes developing homestays, more live-in activities, and experiencing life with the local community.
Speaking at a recent media fam trip in conjunction with the rebranding of Hotel Morazen Yogyakarta, Joko Mursito, the regency tourism office head, said the presence of Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) has elevated the profile of Kulon Progo, bringing new developments like the first international standard hospital with helipad facility in Yogyakarta, as well as branded hotels including ibis, Swiss-Belhotel, Novotel and Morazen – all of which have prompted homestays to raise their standards in terms of services and products.
Joko noted: “Community empowerment has been the basis of tourism development in Kulon Progo. The fact that we have received the Indonesia Tourism Village Awards for four years in a row, a (record) in Indonesia, proves that we have been successful in the development.”
The tourism office and village authorities are also collaborating with surrounding hotels to train, mentor, and prepare them on how to host visitors with hotel-style service.
Hengky Tambayong, deputy chairman of Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) Kulon Progo Chapter and general manager of Hotel Morazen Yogyakarta, shared: “We are working with the local authorities to accelerate the development of attractions and human resources. For example, we have trained hawkers at Glagah Beach to improve their food quality and presentation, and helped villages to create SOPs for their services using hotel standards. We also conduct in-house hospitality training for students.”
In fact, Joko said that competitions among the tourism villages are held occasionally, whereby the judges from tourism-related associations will buy, stay, and assess the overall programme.
The regency government also stipulates that each tourism village must have its own themed package to ensure travellers have many choices of activities when visiting Kulon Progo, and for the tourism economy to be distributed evenly in the regency.
“We have created travel packages to make it easier for travellers to pick the ones that suit their interests,” Joko explained.
Examples of packages available include bird conservation activities at Jatimulyo Village, educational tourism at Tinalah Tourism Village, nature tourism at Ngargosari Village with views of ancient volcanoes, and outbound activities at Hargotirto Village.
Other than cooperating on product and human resources development, Hengky said stakeholders are ramping up promotions to put Kulon Progo on the map.
Although YIA has a capacity of 70,000 passengers, the airport’s traffic is only around 8,000 to 12,000 passengers per day, and only 20 per cent of that traffic stays at Kulon Progo; the rest head to Yogyakarta city centre and other cities in Central Java. This means, Henky noted, there is still room to grow.
Additionally, IHRA has approached Yogyakarta Tourism Promotion Board to work with airlines to promote cultural and unique events, such as the fisherman’s festival and durian party, as well as requested Borobudur Authority Board to include Kulon Progo in their international promotions.