The contribution tourism makes to the economy has now become one of the benchmarks for the industry's success

Delegates from APEC member economies shared their tourism success stories at the 2014 APEC Tourism Working Group meeting. Under a five-year tourism plan, from 2015 to 2019, Indonesia is using an "eco-tourism" concept, which highlights sustainability strategies. The country mapped out several tourism areas across the nation as priority destinations under the plan.

The government encourages local villages to adopt sustainable practices for the environment and communities. "Tourism requires multi-level coordination, multi-layer partnerships and a lot of collaboration with other sectors and businesses," said the Indonesian delegate. He added that they combined efforts from the government, scholars, the business world and communities involved in tourism administration.