Indef Estimates Low Foreign Tourist Visits In 2022

JAKARTA - Indef Executive Director Tauhid Ahmad estimates that foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia next year will still be low because the world is still facing a pandemic situation. According to him, the tourism sector in Indonesia is still dominated by domestic tourists compared to international tourists in general. In 2022, we don't seem to be able to hope much because the pandemic situation is still happening and many institutions have predicted that the situation will indeed improve, but it's not as normal as it used to be," said Tauhid in a national webinar, reported by Antara, December 10. -19, said Tauhid, is a variable that needs to be taken into account in reading the forecast for the growth of the tourism industry in 2022. He also emphasized that Indonesia needs to be aware of and anticipate the worst conditions while maintaining the main entry point for international flows. p there needs to be anticipation of a third wave. The main entrance of this entrance should not be broken. After we learn how to deal with the COVID-19 wave twice, it usually takes a month," he said. If there was no pandemic, Tauhid estimates that the normal growth of the number of foreign tourists will be in the range of 14 to 15 million people per month. However, because the world is still facing a pandemic, the number will be much lower. It's still around 140 to 150 thousand per month," he said. "Meanwhile, if the pandemic situation starts to improve and some nearby countries start opening doors and exits, such as China, Malaysia and Singapore, then Indonesia has the opportunity for tourism growth at a moderate level.

But it's a bit difficult to be optimistic if for example the Omicron variant doesn't exist and the obstacle to say the restriction from the flight side does not happen and from this point of view "I see indeed in 2022 even though there is an optimistic scenario with various variables, it is very difficult to happen if we While the number of foreign tourists is at a normal level, even though the situation has started to recover, it will not happen until 2022 considering several variables which I think are quite critical," said Tauhid. As for the projection of economic growth in 2022, Indef estimates a moderate increase of around 5 percent with considering the fiscal side and the conditions of other driving factors. According to him, next year several sectors in the tourism industry will continue to have an impact by considering the opportunity for the third wave, such as the transportation and warehousing sector and the food and drink accommodation sector. In the usual scenario, the transportation and warehousing sector is predicted to grow uh about 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, if the pandemic situation can be handled properly and it starts to return to normal, it is estimated to grow above 6.2 to 6.6 percent. Meanwhile, the food and drink accommodation sector is projected to grow around 4.9 percent in the usual scenario and 5.6 to 5 percent. .9 percent in the moderate to optimistic scenario.