Sleman to host village tourism festival this year

In a bid to accelerate the recovery process after the Merapi eruptions in 2010 in Sleman regency, which was heavily affected by the disaster, Sleman Regency was appointed to host Village Tourism Festival 2012 on Feb. 8 to Feb. 11.
The festival, organized by the Harmoni 86 foundation, is also aimed at promoting rural-based tourism, which is part of the government’s programs to advance tourism in the country.
“This is a way to promote village-based tourism as a lucrative tourism business,” committee chairman M. Lutfhie said on Tuesday.
He said that Sleman was chosen to host the festival also because it had up to 35 tourist villages.
The festival will be symbolically kicked off in Brayut tourist village in Ngaglik district, which is known for its agro tourism.
The participants will then continue to visit other tourist villages,such as Ketingan, Sambi and Pentingsari.
Sleman cultural and tourism unit head Untoro Budiharjo said that the festival would also include tourist attractions, a photo competition and a dialog themed “the potential, opportunities and challenges in developing tourist villages in Indonesia”, which will be jointly hosted by the unit and the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry.
Untoro said that the village tourism industry in Sleman had shown positive growth over the past three years. He said that according to the record, more than 10,000 tourists had visited the tourist villages in 2011