Antara News·Indonesia·Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 06:57 AM

Indonesia's Tourism Ministry taps batik in experiential tourism push

Translate

Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Tourism aims to feature batik in hands-on cultural experiences to attract international travelers, offering an immersive look into Indonesia's culture and craftsmanship.

“Batik holds huge potential because it isn’t just a product; it embodies a process and a philosophy of life,” the ministry's Deputy for Marketing Ni Made Ayu Marthini told ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Made noted that visitors from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand are naturally drawn to batik due to a shared cultural proximity.

She added that batik also appeals to travelers from Japan and South Korea, who typically place a high value on craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Furthermore, she highlighted batik’s appeal to European tourists, particularly from the Netherlands, Germany, and France, who appreciate culture and slow fashion, as well as travelers from the United States and Australia who connect with storytelling.

As part of the push, she emphasized the need to boost the promotion of batik to foreign tourists and to encourage travel agencies to include batik villages in their tour itineraries.

She also stressed the importance of regeneration to foster more young batik artisans, ensuring a steady talent pool to support experiential tourism that features batik and batik-making activities.

To support the growth of batik-centric tourism, the Tourism Ministry is integrating batik into its Cultural Tourism Village and Batik Tourism Village programs.

Several destinations already feature batik as their main draw, including Kauman and Laweyan Batik Villages in Solo, Giriloyo Batik Tourism Village in Yogyakarta, Pesindon and Kauman Batik Villages in Pekalongan, Trusmi Batik Tourism Village in Cirebon, and Lasem Batik Village in Rembang.

The government provides support for tourism village managers through training in hospitality services, digital marketing, e-catalog creation, and the implementation of Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability (CHSE) standards.

Made added that the Tourism Ministry is actively carrying out promotional initiatives for batik, which was inscribed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO back in 2009.

As part of the efforts, the ministry has included the Pekalongan Batik Festival and the Solo Batik Carnival in its flagship Karisma Event Nusantara tourism promotion program.

Furthermore, other initiatives include holding traditional textile exhibitions and promoting batik under the #DiIndonesiaAja and Wonderful Indonesia campaigns, and providing trip participants with hands-on batik-making experiences.

View the original on Antara News →

KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.