Developing New Housing As Tourist Village Homestays

What is the connection between the procurement and development of new housing for the people and the tourism industry in Indonesia?
Homestays are accommodations that can be rented out, as a whole or in part, to tourists for a period of time. It is the latest trend in holiday accommodations across Asia and is growing in popularity as tourists become more discerning in exploring holiday destinations.

Tourist village homestays are not just tourist attractions. They also provide homes for the local people to live in and gain a profit from hosting travellers. Indonesia comprises almost 75,000 villages, each with its own distinctive quality. A house with authentic local values will stand out and, in turn, becomes a worthy attraction in its own right.

By maintaining, improving and reconstructing these homes according to their local values, the Ministry of Tourism hopes to offer tourists more than just the natural beauty and culture of a place or its culinary wonders, but also an experience of the unique architecture of the archipelago offered by the villages.

What makes this new procurement and development strategy different from others?
Going local. The people of the village are encouraged to feel proud of their home, uma, omah or whatever term for house that they use in their local dialect. Obviously, in line with current modernism, the standards of comfort have also gone up, so these traditional houses will have to be preserved and sustained using modern innovations and ideas. These houses will be comfortable for the owners and also homey for visitors looking for authentic local flavours in each place they visit.

How many houses are needed by the government for the development of the tourist village homestays?
The Ministry of Tourism will become the facilitator for the targeted 100,000 rooms by the end of 2019. These rooms will have to adhere to the ASEAN Homestay Standard to be functional as home-sharing accommodation.

These include houses that could be converted or renovated, traditional houses that have been revitalised, as well as new developments. An example of this can be seen at the Travel House (Homestay) Design Competition, held in 2016 by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Propan, in which all winning entries portrayed distinctive local values and traditional architecture of the archipelago.

What has been done by the government and related stakeholders in the development of this new strategy and the theme of Indonesia Incorporated?
There are a total of 21 ministries and related institutions associated with providing housing and the procurement of the housing compounds. The concept of Indonesia Incorporated, which was introduced by President Joko Widodo, is extremely helpful to ensure that the implementations in the field are detailed and thorough enough to make village development more complete and well guided.

For example, the Ministry of Villages has a programme to develop the villages. The Ministry of Tourism provides its support by facilitating these villages so that the quality and aesthetics of these places fulfil the required standards of the tourism industry. Buildings and built infrastructures should aesthetically support the unique tourism cluster in each area. The Ministry of Tourism urges other ministries to support this effort so that the development and construction in the field would not become mere copy-paste projects but, instead, be a one-of-a-kind distinctive endeavour.

Since the introduction of the programme in early 2017, the Ministry of Tourism has conducted several audiences with other ministries and institutions that support the programme. In addition to conducting surveys and focus group discussions in the prioritised destinations, the ministry held a National Coordinating Meeting (or Rakornas) last May with village leaders from across Indonesia, along with other ministries, to set the new programme in motion.

At the moment, there have been many proposals from areas throughout the country, some of which are already equipped with homestays, while others do not yet have one. Several proposals have come from areas that have great potential as tourist destinations but with no homestay accommodations in the village.

What steps need to be taken?
In principle, the Ministry of Tourism is actively inviting various stakeholders to join in the programme. If the stakeholder is the village itself, they can send a proposal with recommendations on areas that are suitable to for development. If the stakeholder is an investor or developer, they are welcome to join in the development of tourist destinations in collaboration with the ministry and the local people—obviously with attractive profitsharing schemes.

Regarding the difficulty in obtaining bank financing for homes built with ‘non-permanent’ local materials, we are in the process of conferring with various related parties. I believe the great heritage of this country needs to be maintained and fought for, especially by those in the banking world, so that the many countenances and features of the Indonesian villages can be preserved. Moreover, we will also work together with innovative vendors with sustainable local products, such as timber, coconut wood, bamboo and alang-alang (cogon grass).

We also try to incorporate local talents in the construction process of these homestays so that the people can take pride in their own area. Here, the Ministry of Tourism plays an important part in the facilitation process. The ministry will also publish a technical manual as a regional guideline for the development of tourist village homestays. At the moment, AiryRooms is being approached to handle the human resource operators and facilitators, while the ministry has its own marketplace called ITX, which will promote the venues online.

What is the spill-over effect of the tourist village homestays?
At the moment, many regions are capable of supporting their own development of homestays bearing the architectural traits of the archipelago. But several other areas still need a push to revive, or to start to revive, their agribusiness industry to support the programme. Obviously, the need for amenities in the tourism industry will boost the growth and strengthen the agribusiness industry in various areas across Indonesia. This will also instigate diversification in the world of construction, as the project will need numerous construction experts who are proficient in using indigenous Indonesian materials, such as bamboo, coconut wood, alang-alang, natural stones, and the like.

What parting message do you want to put across about the tourist village homestay programme?
Preserving the architecture of the archipelago is our duty as citizens of this country. A unique visage of a city or village will become the pride of the region and, at the same time, enhance the commercial and tourism values of the place.

We strive to ensure that the tourist village homestays are driven by the local people and the village itself, a concept better known as the community-based sustainable tourism. Meanwhile, we have to believe that the existing assets of this country can enrich us in the aspects of culture, education and, especially, foreign currency income from the tourism industry.

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Anneke Prasyanti
Architect Expert at Ministry of Tourism of Republic Indonesia

Anneke is a passionate practicing architect, as well as a freelance heritage-and-culture writer, researcher and guest lecturer, with over 18 years’ experience in design and projects. Having lived more than a decade designing and handling projects in Bali with expatriate clientele for resorts and spa, she has lived in Germany, and years managing revitalisation in Kota Tua Jakarta, made her developed her technical as well as management experiences for hospitality and heritage developments. Even tough, she pays more attention more into technical aspects. This industry has brought opportunity to her for wider and broader responsibilities.

Graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung, majoring in architecture, and currently hired as an Expert Staff at Indonesian Tourism Ministry Republic of Indonesia to encourage revitalisation in vernacular homes and buildings. This assignment is to preserve Indonesian Architecture’s DNA through hospitality development throughout tourism destinations. Her passion to preserve heritage is not for architecture only, as she also has deep knowledge and continued interests in intangible culture, including traditional dances and tradition weaved linen. In her opinion, Indonesian architects, developers and contractors should have the mindset to cherish, celebrate and innovate through Indonesian architecture, instead of keep on pushing in other’s architecture identity to Indonesia.