PADANG – Tourism Agency of West Sumatera Province and Generasi Pesona Indonesia(GenPI) held a talk show to discuss the potential of Halal Tourism in West Sumatera. The event was held on Friday, May 24th2019 and located at the Hall of Bank Indonesia Representative Office in West Sumatera. The organiser brought prominent speakers in the development of Halal Tourism in Indonesia namely R. Wisnu Rahtomo from the Indonesian Halal Tourism Development Acceleration Team of Ministry of Tourism and Wahyu Purnama as Chief Representative of Bank Indonesia in West Sumatra.
The chief of GenPI of West Sumatera, Aries Purnama, explained that the discussion was held to explore the development of halal tourism in West Sumatera will be activate the community’s economy.”
Afdhal Aliasar, Director of The Development of Economy and Halal Industry of National Islamic Finance Committee (KNKS), contributed on the event as one of the invited speaker. “To realizing the halal tourism development strategy, it can be initiated by a ‘pilot project’ applied on certain areas of West Sumatera. It would stimulate the other regions to do so and make West Sumatra as one of the top-list of muslim-friendly destinations”, said Afdhal.
The discussion guided by Sari Lenggogeni, Chairman of the Andalas University's Center for Tourism and Culture Studies, also discussed the importance of halal certification as a reflection of the more guaranteed quality products that can attract tourists, which in turn will encourage industry players in West Sumatra to enlarge the scope of their target consumers, both local and overseas.
The discussion also revealed the importance of building the infrastructure and facilities to support the convenience of tourist in West Sumatera