Bantul Prepares Regulation To Manage Tourism Villages

Bantul, Yogyakarta, Oct 25 (Antara) - The Culture and Tourism Department of Bantul District in Yogyakarta is drafting a regional regulation to manage and develop tourism villages in the region, an official said. "The draft of the regional regulation is being discussed at the legislative level, and we hope it will soon be endorsed for the management and development of tourism villages here," local Culture and Tourism Department spokesman Bambang Priharyanto stated here on Friday. According to him, there are some 20 tourism villages in Bantul, but there is no regional regulation to manage and develop them for the improvement of the local community`s welfare and introduction of creative economic activities. "Tourism villages can be developed well if there is a strategy to manage them, either through the cooperatives or directly by the tourism-aware group," Bambang remarked. Further, he added that the formation of the regional regulation was based on a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs to address the issue of the contribution made by tourism villages to the local community and government. "The Ministry of Home Affairs frequently asks how much the tourism villages have contributed to the region`s revenue, signaling the ministry`s intention to formulate a regional regulation," he noted.