Wishnutama Encourages The Arrival Of Foreign Tourists From Outside Of China

Menparekraf Wishnutama gave a statement after attending the Ratas at the Presidential Office, DKI Jakarta Province, Tuesday, February 25. (Photo: Setkab)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Parekraf) Wishnutama stated that he would provide incentives to the tourism sector amounting to IDR 298 billion. With this, it is expected to have an impact to accelerate tourists with a target of 736 thousand which is focused on markets other than China, namely in countries such as Australia, America and Europe.

The target of tourists, according to the Menparekraf, is that they have very large spending in Indonesia per arrival or their ASPA. "More or less we are targeting ASPA (Average Spending per Arrival) above 1,700 US dollars per visit, so that it will have a big economic impact for Indonesia," Wishnutama said as quoted from the Secretariat's website, quoted Wednesday, February 26.

Of the 736 thousand targeted, continued Wishnutama, it would approximately generate foreign exchange of IDR 13 trillion with destinations from domestic tourists.

"Earlier there was a 30 percent discount for 25 percent of seats plus a discount on avtur and so on. In total, the 10 destinations were around 50 percent for 25 percent of the existing seats. So if we talk about Boeing-737 there are approximately 45 seats that get the discount, "he said.

Regarding the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) amounting to Rp147 billion in 25 regions, according to Wishnutama, 96 percent will be transferred to the tourism industry in order to drive the tourism economy.

"Figures from the DAK are available as well as we hope that the more than IDR 50 billion will also have an impact on tourism. So in general this is the case, "concluded the Menparekraf.

The government's statement answered the encouragement of observers who wanted the government to boost the arrival of foreign tourists from outside China, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 which was feared would erode the arrival of Chinese tourists to the country.

Previously, a tourism observer from the Bandung Tourism College (STP) Haryadi Darmawan said this was influenced by several things. According to him, tourism is very vulnerable to political, economic and natural disasters.

"In 2019, the most influential thing can be caused by the implementation of the 2019 Presidential Election, because generally political conditions will delay the motivation of foreign tourists," Haryadi told VOI, Tuesday, February 4.

He added, another thing that affects is related to the natural disaster in Lombok, which is located close to Bali as the main destination in Indonesia.

"Another factor is the level of competition in other countries in the Southeast Asia region that offer tourist attractions at more competitive prices, such as in Thailand and Vietnam.

He is also worried that this year the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia will decrease again. The reason is, the factor of the outbreak of the corona virus will clearly affect the level of tourist visits, especially from China. "The decline in tourism activities in Bali has been felt due to the corona virus," he said.

Tourists from China were the third most visited Indonesia last year. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign tourists from China totaled 2.07 million visits or 12.86 percent of the total foreign tourists visiting the country in 2019.

According to him, what is important now is that the government must focus on attracting tourists from countries other than China in order to get quality tourists. "Information needs to be conveyed openly and honestly that Indonesia is free from the corona virus and this condition can be used by Indonesia in preparing its tourism destinations to be more ready to receive quality tourist visits," he explained.