As reported on wearesocial.com (January 2019) which states that of Indonesia’s total population of 268.2 million, 56% of them are internet users, with the majority of users aged 18-44 years. This phenomenon can be an indication for promotion of the tourism sector through the convenience of digital technology. Related to the data, the UPH Faculty of Tourism held the Hospitour 2019 with the theme MILLENNIAL’S DIGITAL (Millennial’s Direct Involvement in Growing International Tourism by Sustaining Local Tourism), which aimed to invite students from all over Indonesia as millennials to take part in advancing sustainable Indonesian tourism by utilizing digital technology.

This activity took place on April 8-11, 2019, at UPH Lippo Village Campus which was attended by around 400 participants from 31 Tourism Education institutions at college level and 5 Vocational High Schools (SMK). The participants came from various regions in Indonesia such as Medan, Ambon, Bandung, Jakarta, and so on.

In the seminar, Dr. Frans Teguh, MA (The Ministry of Tourism’s Assistant Deputy Management Strategy) invited students to prioritize the tourism sector along with technological advancements that are close to the millennial generation.

“It is certain that Indonesia has the potential to defeat Thailand, which is currently the highest choice of tourism destination in the region,” said Dr. Frans.

He added that technological advances can create a variety of applications that are able to enrich the traveler’s experience in travel and can certainly & drastically support the productivity of the tourism industry on a different side.

Dr. Frans also mentioned that academics and educational institutions could take a role in contributing to the tourism sector by trying to produce new findings and creative ideas related to various aspects of tourism to be shared with the wider community, for example with campus activities like this.

Responding to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism’s Assistant Management Strategy, the Dean of School of Hospitality and Tourism, Dr. Diena Mutiara Lemy, A.Par., M.M., said that the millennial generation is very responsible in developing tourism in the digital field.

“Students are future leaders in the field of tourism, they must have begun to think that the technology currently owned can be utilized to develop sustainable tourism destinations that are at the local level. So the originality of Indonesian tourism must continue to be highlighted,” said Diena.

Adding the commitment of the UPH School of Hospitality and Tourism to the advancement of Indonesian tourism, Dr. Amelda Pramezwary, A. Par., M.M., explained that Hospitour: Millennial Digital Tourism aimed to sensitize the millennial generation to be able to create a sustainable tourism sector.

“Hospitour is taking the millennial trend that is very familiar with digital, but still the main message is to advance local culture through digital platform, such as social media. This makes tourism more interactive and easier to share. The point is that the UPH students are encouraged to “Think Global Act Local” in order to establish sustainable tourism development,” said Amelda.

In addition, the Universitas Pelita Harapan Chancellor, Dr. (Hon.) Jonathan L. Parapak, M. Eng. Sc, said that the Hospitour event is a proof of how holistic education continues to be the principle of UPH, including in the tourism sector.

“Hospitour is a form of activity to prepare tourism people. And as already known, tourism is an important economic and life sector for Indonesia so UPH will play a role there,” concluded the Chancellor.

With such event, Hopefully UPH can contribute to advance Indonesian tourism as part of the Government’s Nawacita program so that the target of all participants from various regions in Indonesia, both students, lecturers, professionals, and industry parties would take part in utilizing the convenience of digitalization for tourism. (pl/mt)