Mr. Luhut, Indonesia Should Have Competed To Attract Tourists, Not A Price Tag Of Rp. 750 Thousand To Enter Borobudur Temple

JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Commission X from the Gerindra faction, Ali Zamroni, criticized the government's decision to increase the Borobudur Temple ticket price by Rp. 750 thousand for local tourists.

Because, the increase will burden people who want to visit because they have been experiencing economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is very burdensome, especially for local tourists. In a situation like now, where we have entered the end of the COVID-19 epidemic, the government is actually trying to attract as many tourists as possible," Ali Zamroni told reporters, Tuesday, June 7.

According to this member of the Gerindra faction, the decision taken by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, must be reviewed. Zamroni is worried that this regulation will slow down the economic recovery in the tourism sector.

"We should be competing and trying to make Indonesia attractive to foreign tourists and local tourists," he said.

In addition, the Banten electoral district legislator assessed that the impact of the increase in Borobudur Temple entrance tickets would also make the tourism sector in Indonesia increasingly lagging behind as a destination country. Especially in handling the recovery of the tourism sector.

"I am also worried that we will lag behind other countries in tourism recovery, so that Indonesia is not made the main destination for tourists," concluded Ali Zamroni.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the tariff increase to the Borobudur stupa would be considered lower. He also opened up the opportunity to review the IDR 750 thousand tariff for domestic tourists to go up to the stupa area of Borobudur Temple, Magelang, Central Java.

Luhut stated that his party was also considering providing special tariffs for residents of Central Java Province and DI Yogyakarta. According to him, the plan to limit visitor quotas and increase tariffs to go up to the Borobudur Temple stupa area is the government's effort to protect the world's cultural heritage.

"I heard a lot of public input today regarding the discourse on increasing tariffs for local tourists. Therefore, later I will ask the relevant parties to immediately review so that the rates can be lowered. I thank all of you for your great attention to this cultural heritage of our pride," he said in a written statement in Jakarta, Sunday.