Jakarta, CNN Indonesia — Penglipuran Village, Bangli Regency, Bali is included in the list of the best tourist villages in the world announced at the 25th general assembly of The United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The trial was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, October 16-20, 2023.The award given by UNWTO recognizes the best villages in the world that are at the forefront of preserving the beauty of rural areas and preserving landscapes, cultural diversity, local values, and culinary traditions.
In this session, as many as 54 villages in the world were selected as the best. Thus, a total of 74 villages are included in the list.
Quoting from the website of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Wonderful Indonesia, Penglipuran Village is one of the leading tourist villages in Bali and has been included in the category of independent tourism villages.
In September 2022, Penglipuran Tourism Village was visited by UNWTO representatives, G20 Tourism Ministers, a number of international organizations, and national and international tourism stakeholders in the context of the World Tourism Day celebration.
On that occasion, UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili suggested that Penglipuran Village be included in the UNWTO Best Tourism event.
“The Secretary General of UNWTO, Mr. Zurab, was very impressed by the beauty of Penglipuran Tourism Village and had asked why it was not included in the UNWTO Best Tourism Village event. With the encouragement from the Secretary General, we will follow up at the next event,” said the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Kabaparekraf, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno at the Penglipuran Tourism Village, at that time.
Before being included in the world’s best village according to the UNWTO, Penglipuran Village had won an award as the world’s cleanest village according to the Green Destination Foundation, as quoted by Ocean Earth Travel.
In addition to its clean environment, Penglipuran Village has traditional houses with distinctive architectural features and strong cultural values.
Quoting the Bali Provincial Government website, the houses here have a similar shape that is neatly arranged from the main end of the village to the downstream part of the village. Each yard has a angkul-angkul (Balinese gate) that faces each other and is separated by the main road of the village.
The physical arrangement of the village structure is a form of cultural heritage of the community that continues to uphold the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana.
This philosophy is a philosophy in Hinduism that always maintains the harmony of relationships between humans and humans, humans and the environment, and humans and God.