25 Babel Villages Nominated as National Best Tourism Village

PANGKALPINANG – 25 tourism villages in Kepulauan Bangka Belitung (Babel) were chosen as foster villages and nominated as national best tourism village by Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in Tourism Village Award 2021. Theme of the award was tourism village as symbol of national economic revival.

Babel Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports office (Disparbudkepora) hold a ceremony to handover certificate and award to the representatives of the villages in the office meeting room on Wednesday (02/02/2022).

Head of provincial Disparbudkepora Suharto and Head of Tourist Destination and Marketing Firmansyah handed them over to Head of Culture and Tourism office of Bangka Tengah and Belitung Timur regency and representations from Bangka Selatan, Bangka Barat, Bangka, and Belitung regency.

In his speech after the ceremony, Suharto said that the achievement was considered not satisfying because the villages were not yet match the ministry’s standard.

Therefore, Disparbudkepora has coordinated with Prof. Dr. Azril Azzahri as ministry’s head judge for the next award in 2022.

“Last year we didn’t match the SOP, but now we’ve coordinated with the judge team. We already have the SOP and it’ll be shared to regions which will participate in the award. I’m sure our achievement will be better after we follow the SOP,” he said.

He also said that Babel’s achievement in the 2021 award is the ministry’s concern to encourage regions to be better.

“Don’t be satisfied with this achievement. I hope we can be top 10 in the future. Please inform your superiors to build tourism in your region. If it keeps developing, I’m sure we can be the best and have special attention from the central government,” he said.

He reminded to not underestimate the award because it was a step to accelerate tourist development especially village destinations. “Village has the most number of attractions. Find a way to make it as attractive as possible. All village and regional apparatus should be proactive to help people. If you’re not able to do it, consult it to your superiors,” he added.

Head of Tourism and Culture of Belitung Timur regency Evinardi said that the achievement of his village in the award was top 300 throughout Indonesia.

“It’ll encourage other villages which couldn’t participate last year. We’re optimistic about being top 100 because there’re some potential and really well-managed villages. We’ll also supervise and support villages participating in this year award,” he said.

25 villages in Babel chosen as foster village are as follows: 12 villages are from Belitung Timur, which is the most number, 6 villages are from Belitung Timur, 4 villages are from Bangka, and 1 village each from Bangka Tengah, Bangka Selatan, and Bangka Barat.

Meanwhile, 9 villages in Babel nominated as the best tourism village in the award: Terong (top 100), Tanjung Rusa, Keciput, Buku Limau, Burong Mandi, Lenggang, Perlang, Tukak and Kampung Kapitan (top 300). (RZ/ ZE/ SAS)