The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf) held The 1st Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting G20 on 10 May 2022 in Bali. This event is to try to obtain input from the delegates, especially those related to the issue of guidelines, and “call for concrete actions” on the draft G20 Bali Guideline.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno ensured that the theme of the Bali Guideline on Strengthening Communities and MSMEs as tourism transformation agent would not only become a document, but become a real action plan that can be followed up to realize tourism that is more oriented to the interests of the community. 

TWG G0 has an obligation to try to maintain the momentum towards tourism recovery after the pandemic. For this reason, the event which was held for 2 days discussed how to encourage tourism recovery and make tourism more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient through the Bali Guideline. 

"This year's Indonesian presidency is committed to holding the baton and working with all G0 members to create more inclusive and resilient tourism. The importance of transforming tourism for a pandemic for other threats in the future," said Minister Sandi.

The 1st TWG discusses the five basic pillars in the world of tourism. First, human capital (jobs, skills, education, entrepreneurship), second, digitalization, innovation, and creative economy, third, women and youth empowerment, fourth, climate action, biodiversity, and circular economy, and fifth, policy, governance, and investment frameworks.

The 1st Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting G20, Bali. (Photo: Doc. Kemenparekraf).

Pillar 1 discusses human capital, including producing a qualified workforce and having professional tourism skills. In addition, it discusses key challenges such as the lack of manpower in tourism. In this regard, it is important to ensure an increase in quantity and quality as well as socially responsible tourism. 

Pillar 2, related to digitalization, innovation, and creative economy, highlights the importance of digitalization in supporting secure marriages and online platform interoperability. Pillar 2 also underscores the importance of digitalization for MSMEs in the tourism sector and the linkage between tourism and the creative economy, both in the conventional realm such as traditional arts and digital domains such as the development of startups in the tourism sector. 

Pillar 3 discusses women and youth empowerment which focuses on female workers who are most affected by the pandemic. For that, they need more specialized support. There needs to be empowerment of women workers and entrepreneurs in the tourism sector and encouragement for more women to occupy leadership positions in the tourism business and equal pay for women.

Pillar 4 discusses climate change, biodiversity conservation, and circular economy. Pillar 4 highlights the importance of financing to support the transformation towards more sustainable tourism including by considering the possibility of establishing an international fund for climate neutrality in tourism. 

Pillar 5, policy, governance, and investment framework ensures that tourism is an integral part of national policy, including during a crisis and securing tourism is an important priority in inter-agency coordination. It is important to collaborate with the private sector and to ensure that investment in tourism is an inclusive investment that provides co-benefits for local and indigenous peoples.

The 1st Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting G20, Bali. (Photo: Doc. Kemenparekraf).

Meanwhile, international organizations such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that the crisis due to the pandemic was an opportunity to think about and assess the future direction of tourism. The pandemic will be the momentum to help transform the tourism sector into a more sustainable, labor-intensive and digitally-savvy one. 

The 1st TWG was attended by 60 delegates consisting of 20 G20 member countries, invited countries (United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Fiji, and Africa Union), and international organizations (UNWTO, WTTC, ILO, OECD, ADB, IsDB , and the World Bank). The 2nd WTG Meeting will be held offline on 23 September 2022 and the event will be back-to-back with the Tourism Ministerial Meeting on 26 September 2022 and World Tourism Day celebrations on 27 September 2022.

Cover: The 1st Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting G20, Bali. (Photo: Doc. Kemenparekraf).