By: Agung Wahyu )*
Corona virus that has plagued up to Indonesia indeed makes the tourism industry has decreased the number of tourist visits. Nevertheless a number of tourism actors in Yogyakarta remain eager to carry out environmental clean-up activities in areas that become tourist destinations in the Yogyakarta Special Region on Tuesday 17 March 2020, it aims to prevent transmission of the corona virus.
Entitled Jogja Tourism Reresik, the activity was a response from the invitation of DIY Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X so that during the corona virus outbreak or covid-19, residents could improve cleanliness in their respective environments. A total of 17 groups of tourism management actors in DI Yogyakarta Regency / City were involved in the action.
The tourist destinations targeted at the jogja tour are the Breksi Cliff, Important Sari, Flory Village, Blue Lagoon, Kedulan Temple Park, Banyunibo Temple Area, Banyunibo Cliff, Pinusari, Thousand Batu, Lintang Sewu, Pinus Pengger, Becici, Pinus Asri, Telaga Jonge, Ngingrong, Nglanggeran, Nglinggo and Dewa Wisata Segaji.
This certainly shows the existence of clean-up efforts from tourism actors as a form of concern for covid-19 which has now been designated as a non-natural disaster in Indonesia. In addition, this Jogja tourism reresik event is also a tangible manifestation in an effort to bring cleaner, healthier and safer tours.
This tourism reresik activity certainly is expected so that the charm of Yogya tourism does not fade in facing the impact of the spread of the corona virus. Of course this should be emulated by tour operators outside Yogyakarta.
Nglanggeran Volcano tour manager, Aris Budiyono revealed that from this activity it is hoped that all elements of the tourism community, both tourism villages, tourism awareness groups, tourist villages and tourist culinary are willing and able to clean the tourism environment simultaneously.
Jogja reresik event was also carried out with the provisions of the standard hygiene measures issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
Aris said, the tourist attraction is one of the places visited by many people, so it requires special treatment to keep clean and safe.
It aims at facilities that are often touched by hands by optimizing cleaning fluid. In addition, tourist destinations must provide facilities for washing hands with soap and running water that is equipped with tissue and a closed trash can at the entrance to tourist attractions.
On different occasions, the Department of Tourism and Culture (Disparbud) of West Java Province (West Java) stated, a number of tourism destinations in West Java Province decided to close the visit temporarily, as an effort to prevent the spread of the corona virus.
This decision must also be valued and accepted wisely by the community, because with the closure of access to tourist attractions, it certainly can reduce the potential of the crowd which is one of the things that has the potential for corona virus transmission.
According to the Head of the West Java Tourism and Culture Office, Dedi Taufik, this closure is the support of businesses in the tourism sector to the government which is tackling the corona virus outbreak.
According to him, a number of local regulations had previously issued a circular to follow up on the direction of the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil relating to the temporary closure of tourism destinations.
Therefore, he asked the public to understand this policy and a good tourism industry is the priority in human safety.
He said he was optimistic that the tourism industry in West Java would run well after the co-19 outbreak was over.
The surrounding community is also encouraged to stay at home as an effort to maintain health and wait for the government’s decision, so that later the community can start tourism activities after this outbreak is over.
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Wishnutama hopes that all stakeholders will unite and work hand in hand in facing this difficult time, so that when the Covid-19 pandemic ends, the tourism sector and creative economy will be able to rise to spur growth and creativity better than previous.
Tourists both tourists and travel agents, of course, can follow the existing protocol by staying at home and implementing social distancing when outside the home.
)* The author is a citizen, contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute (LSISI)