Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economies celebrated the Indonesian Village Tourism Awards 2023. As the country’s flagship tourism destination, Bali often paves the way for tourism trends around the country.  Of course, this time as well, Bali provided a number of winners.

The Indonesian Village Tourism Awards were designed to help drive the tourism economy across the archipelago.

The competition has helped provide a platform for emerging tourism destinations across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands to share their customs, culture, heritage, and creativity to both domestic and international tourists. 

The Indonesian Village Tourism Awards has done wonders for tourism in Bali. The competition has helped catapult destinations like Penglipuran Village to international fame, bringing in tourists and culture lovers from all over the world.

This in turn has helped spread tourism development a little more evenly around the Island of the Gods, something leaders have long been keen to see.

While Bali is a destination best known for its lavish resorts and luxury hotels, village tourism in all its forms remains a strong attraction for international tourists.

Whether it be day trips to explore rural waterfalls, afternoon adventures to learn about cultural heritage or early morning wanders through the rice fields, almost all tourists who visit Bali take part in a village-based tourism program in one way or another. 

The Indonesian Village Tourism Awards is divided into five categories; Visitor Attractions, Homestays, Digital and Creative (Innovative Marketing), Souvenirs, and Tourism Village Insiutuins (Best Management).

This year over 4,500 villages from across Indonesia entered the competition and submitted lengthy details about each of their tourism programs.

Throughout 2023 the Minster for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, has visited many of these villages to see for himself the work communities have undertaken to promote and preserve their cultural and natural heritage.