Jakarta, 5 December 2025 – Deputy Minister of Creative Economy/Deputy Head of the Creative Economy Agency Irene Umar emphasized the strategic role of the hotel and restaurant industry in advancing creative subsectors, both through the use of local creative works and the provision of curation spaces. Deputy Minister Irene described hotels as a “canvas” capable of showcasing Indonesian identity through a storynomics approach.
Wakil Menteri Ekonomi Kreatif, Irene Umar, memberi sambutan dalam Musyawarah Daerah (Musda) XVI Badan Pimpinan Daerah Perhimpunan Hotel dan Restoran Indonesia (BPD PHRI) DKI Jakarta yang diselenggarakan di Hotel Aston City, Jakarta, Jumat (5/12/2025).
“In the creative economy, we strongly encourage the entire ecosystem to create something called storynomics. Storynomics is highly relevant to hotels because hotels are one of the canvases to display Indonesia’s diversity. And this is what can attract tourists in choosing where to stay,” said Deputy Minister Irene in her remarks at the 16th Regional Conference (Musda XVI) of the Jakarta Regional Leadership Board of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BPD PHRI), held on Friday, 5 December 2025, at Aston City Hotel, Jakarta.
The forum carried the theme “Enhancing the Competitiveness of the Hotel and Restaurant Industry in Welcoming 5 Centuries of Jakarta,” serving as a momentum to strengthen the hospitality sector’s contribution to national creative economy development. The Ministry of Creative Economy presented several integration opportunities between the hospitality industry and local intellectual property, ranging from thematic rooms and locally developed games to showcasing board games created by Indonesian designers.
Such collaboration models are viewed as a way to deliver added value for hotels while simultaneously strengthening the creative industry as a new economic driver. Deputy Minister Irene also encouraged hotel and restaurant stakeholders to begin adopting creative economy approaches without compromising business aspects.
Dok. Biro Komunikasi Kementerian Ekraf/ Badan Ekraf.
She noted that the creative economy is a “treasure chest” consisting of 17 subsectors. It is a business strategy. Integrating the creative economy into the hospitality industry will directly create Unique Selling Propositions (USPs), generate earned media, and attract quality markets.
“What we hope from our colleagues is that we can start encouraging the creative industry through collaboration to strengthen the economy. Because the creative economy is not a hobby. The creative economy is an economic driver. And we as the government—we are here to support and facilitate,” Deputy Minister Irene explained.
During the forum, Ari Prasetio, Secretary of the Deputy for Industry and Investment at the Ministry of Tourism, delivered updates on the tourism sector. As of October 2025, Indonesia recorded 12.75 million international tourist arrivals, or around 87 percent of the annual target. This increase is considered evidence that tourism recovery is progressing consistently and in the right direction.
Dok. Biro Komunikasi Kementerian Ekraf/ Badan Ekraf.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Central Leadership Board (BPP) of PHRI, Hariyadi B. Sukamdani, underscored the importance of Jakarta as the main gateway for tourism and the creative economy.
“Jakarta has extraordinary potential, and we hope that the success of Jakarta can become our shared success in elevating Indonesia—making Jakarta one of the world’s stages for the advancement of our tourism and cultural creative economy,” he stated.
Musda XVI PHRI DKI Jakarta served as a consolidation platform for hospitality stakeholders in preparing industry competitiveness ahead of Jakarta’s 500th anniversary. The presence of the Deputy Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening synergy between the hospitality sector and Indonesia’s creative ecosystem.
Also attending the event were Head of the Jakarta Office of Tourism, Creative Economy, and Culture Andhika Permata; Assistant for Economic Affairs and Finance to the Jakarta Regional Secretary Suharini Eliawati; as well as PHRI board members.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Acting Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency
