Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, has designated Nusa Tourism Village in Aceh Besar District as the first tourism village with a “disaster education outlook” in Indonesia.
“Among the 50 tourism village nominees for the Indonesia Tourism Village Award, Nusa Village is the first tourism village developed with a disaster education outlook,” Minister Uno stated during a visit to Nusa Village in Aceh Province on Wednesday.
Besides natural beauty and arts and culture, Nusa Village also has the potential to be developed as a tourism village dedicated to disaster education, he said.
“Nusa Village was devastated in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, hence they have the necessary experience to teach local wisdom and disaster mitigation for us to know what to do if an earthquake occurs and a tsunami is imminent,” the minister remarked.
The ministry will assist disaster education programs in Nusa village by collaborating with regional governments, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), educational institutions, and foreign governments, such as Japan, Uno informed.
Nusa Village is expected to accept school groups and organize educational visits on disaster mitigation, he added.
Uno revealed Nusa Village has been equipped with 42 units of traditional stilt houses to serve as homestays for visitors. He said the homestays are sufficient for the tourism village though they lack any international certification.
During his visit, the minister also donated 42 white bedcovers so that all the stilt houses have uniform bedcovers.
“It is a standard that bedcovers and pillow covers in homestays be white to make an impression of cleanliness for the visitors,” Uno remarked.
The minister asked the village administrators to improve homestays so they meet international standards as the village has admitted overseas tourists from Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore.
Source: Antara News