The Indonesian cities of Yogyakarta and Bikittinggi partnered with Savannah, Georgia, to share experience in historic preservation, tourism development, and work force development. In the course of the partnership, the cities also worked on the development of a community college curriculum that had been initiated in Yogyakarta. The curriculum was geared toward preparing workers for the hospitality industry, particularly hotel management, culinary arts, and other tourism-based skills. Savannah Technical College was a partner in this aspect of the program and donated many resources to it.

Yogyakarta, Bukittinggi, and Savannah have a lot in common with respect to the historic place each has within its own culture. Yogyakarta, considered one of the cradles of civilization, boasts a wide array of historic assets in and around the city. Savannah is considered to be one of the world leaders in historic preservation, with structures going back to the city's founding in 1733. Bukittinggi also enjoys a host of historic assets that can be used to enhance tourism and thus the quality of life of its citizens. All three cities find considerable strength in their cultural assets.

During the partnership the three cities looked at several issues related to tourism and historic preservation, including providing training on cultural and historical programming and events; festival management and promotion; building new and stronger relationships with local hotels to engage their support of the cities' tourism goals; and developing historic district guidelines in order to protect historic assets from overdevelopment. Exchanges were often scheduled around major festivals that were occurring in each city so that information could be shared about festival marketing, promotion, and implementation.

Yogyakarta realized that workforce improvement was an integral part of improving its tourism industry. Early discussions led Savannah to include Savannah Technical College, which later joined as a full-time partner. Staff from Savannah Tech regularly participated in exchanges held in Indonesia as well as in the United States. The prior years of planning and work finally came to fruition: three community colleges in Yogyakarta opened their doors to students in late 2004 and early 2005.

At a final exchange visit in 2005, Indonesian representatives visited Savannah to learn how the city works with nonprofit house and museum operators to promote historic places as tourist destinations, how conflicts between historic preservation standards and modern building code requirements have been reconciled, and how citizen commissions and associations are engaged in historic preservation decisions. They also toured the newest state-of-the-art facilities at Savannah Tech and saw demonstrations of learning techniques incorporating hands-on training.