Jakarta, 26 March 2024 - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Menparekraf/Kabaparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno appreciated the initiative of the Cirebon Kasepuhan Waqf Board Foundation which has received support from the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Province for Tourism Culture and the Acting Mayor of Cirebon in on February 27 2024 in Cirebon to present the "Jakarta-Cirebon Edu Heritage Tourism" program as an effort to introduce historical values as well as stimulate the movement of domestic tourists (wisnus).
"The historical value contained in heritage areas is a unique and distinctive character of a tourist destination. Therefore, I really appreciate this idea," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga in the talk show session "The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno", Monday (25/3/2024).
Jakarta and Cirebon have very close historical ties. On June 22, 1527, Sunda Kelapa was liberated from Portuguese colonialism by the warlord Sunan Gunung Jati, Fatahillah, who was also the son-in-law of Sunan Gunung Jati from Cirebon.
Based on this history, the edu heritage tourism theme raised is "Sunda Kelapa-Keraton Kesepuhan Cirebon, Traces of 500 Years of Jayakarta" which carries the values of Sunan Gunung Jati's mandate "Ingsun Titip Tajug lan Faqir Miskin" will be packaged in several types of packages or programs tourism to tourists.
The soft launching of the edu heritage tourism program will be held on April 21 2024 at the Kasepuhan Palace in Cirebon in the palace's traditional activities every 10 Shawwal every year which is a series of "Grebeg Syawal" events.
Chairman of the Cirebon Kesepuhan Waqf Board Foundation, Ahmad Jazuli, hopes that through this joint initiative with the Cirebon City Government and the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government as well as support from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, it is hoped that this can increase tourist visits, especially from Jakarta to Cirebon.
According to Ahmad Jazuli's statement, the Kasepuhan Palace in Cirebon still carries out strong customs and traditions. In a year there are at least 42 customs and traditions that are still ongoing.
"Therefore, we are packaging this opportunity into an edu heritage tourism package which can provide cultural enlightenment to the younger generation," he said.
General Chair of the Archipelago Palace Friendship Forum (FSKN), His Excellency Karaeng Turikale VIII Maros, South Sulawesi, Brigadier General Pol (P) Dr. A.A Mapparessa said that the tour package packaged in the edu heritage concept presents a variety of interesting attractions. "I think this edu heritage model will also be a model that can be replicated in other palaces. And we hope this can become a pilot project for developing palace tourism destinations to become leading historical tourism destinations," said His Majesty Karaeng Turikale VIII Maros .
Head of the Cirebon City Culture and Tourism Service, Agus Sukmanjaya, added that Cirebon has many superior attractions. Starting from the Mask Dance, Barong Train, Sang Cipta Rasa Grand Mosque, Sunyaragi Cave, to the Sunan Gunung Jati Tomb Pilgrimage. And in 2024, the City of Cirebon will develop five new heritage-based tourist destinations.
"So that aspects of preservation, utilization, development and empowerment are maintained. So this will be our capital to determine the design for future culture-based tourism development," said Agus.
Present to accompany the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Deputy for Destination and Infrastructure Development at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Baparekraf, Hariyanto.