Sandiaga Uno Pede Elon Musk's Presence At WWF Bali Donkkrak Wisata RI

JAKARTA - The presence of Tesla Inc and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the 10th World Water Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali can boost tourism visits in Indonesia.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said he was grateful that the CEO of SpaceX could be present in Bali considering that at the G20 meeting in November 2022 on the Island of the Gods, Elon Musk was unable to attend.

"With his visit (Elon Musk) here, it adds to the interest of the world community to look at Indonesia, especially Bali," said Sandiaga Uno quoting Antara.

Although the CEO of SpaceX was present in one forum, Menpar admitted that he did not have time to hold specific talks with him about water issues or tourism and the creative economy.

"When 2022 he (Elon Musk) did not come but now it has materialized this year, we are very grateful," he added.

Meanwhile, the Tesla CEO admitted that he received an invitation to attend the 10th World Water Forum in Bali and was one of the keynote speakers at the opening of the forum which was held every three years.

His presence on the Island of the Gods was also accompanied by the launch of the use of his satellite internet service, Starlink, to help auxiliary health centers in remote areas where internet network difficulties have been difficult so far.

"I was invited to the World Water Forum. So this seems to be the right time to officially announce Starlink," he told the media in Denpasar, Sunday (19/5).

Meanwhile, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist visits in Indonesia during 2023 reached 11.7 million people, an increase compared to 2022 which reached 5.4 million.

There were also foreign tourist visits in the country in 2023, the most contributed by the Province of Bali with a total of 5.7 million people.