Nusa Dua, February 25, 2025 – Bali Tourism Polytechnic (BiTP), in collaboration with Wise Step Indonesia and STED (Sustainable Tourism Education Development), held an international forum entitled Wise Tourism Forum #8. The Wise Step Forum was initiated as a continuous discussion platform for stakeholders to identify opportunities, challenges, and solutions in building a competitive and skilled tourism workforce. As the host, BiTPi supports this activity as part of its mission to play an active role in tourism development alongside stakeholders.
In this era of growth, strengthening human resources (HR) in tourism is a key element in creating an ecosystem that is not only competitive but also able to adapt to industry changes. This background led to the theme of Wise Tourism Forum #8, “Driving Growth Through Talent Acquisition“. The 2025 Wise Tourism Forum featured Dr. Andar Danova L. Goletom, S.Sos., M.Sc, Assistant Deputy for the Capacity Building of Civil Servants and Vocational Education at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, as the keynote speaker, with the topic, “Government Initiative in Supporting Structured Internship to Bridge the Gap Between Tourism Education and Industry Needs.”
In his presentation, he explained that the current challenge in the tourism industry is the skill gap, where there is a mismatch between the competencies developed by students and the needs of the tourism industry. The idea of a ‘structured internship’ is essential to discuss, as internships serve as a bridge connecting learning in universities with work experience in the industry. “As the government, educational institutions, and industry players, we must collaborate to ensure that our internship programs remain flexible, innovative, and relevant,” said Andar Danova.
The collaboration between Poltekpar Bali and Wise Step Indonesia is a concrete step in improving the quality of the internship system and the quality of BiTP graduates to meet current industry work standards. According to Dr. I Gusti Agung Gede Witarsana, S.ST.Par., MM., CHE., Deputy Director I for Academic Affairs, Wise Tourism Forum is an effort by Bali Tourism Polytechnic to provide insights into the improvement of tourism HR, especially to BiTP students. “In this event, we invite various stakeholders, tourism and hospitality industry players, as well as students to together provide input into the ideal internship process,” said Witarsana.
In addition to the keynote speaker, Wise Tourism Forum #8 also featured a panel session with experts from various sectors, including the Ministry of Manpower, Swisscontact, hospitality practitioners, and lecturers from Bali Tourism Polytechnic. Josef Tschoep, Technical Advisor at Swisscontact, also mentioned that the Wise Tourism Forum is expected to provide collaborative strategies, the implementation of structured internship programs, and investment opportunities for vocational education in the tourism industry. “We want to see significant impacts after the Wise Tourism Forum, including increased awareness among stakeholders in tourism, commitment to implementing structured internship programs, and stronger collaboration between industry and academia,” added Tschoep.
The event, attended by 40 tourism industry practitioners as well as lecturers and students from Bali Tourism Polytechnic, is expected to create a more efficient and targeted internship system for students, the industry, and the government.
