Boosting The Economy Through The Tourism Sector, The Government Prepares Grants Of IDR 3.7 Trillion

JAKARTA - The government in 2021 will allocate a grant of IDR 3.7 trillion to stimulate the tourism sector to contribute more to the national economy after slumping due to the pandemic that began last year.

Deputy for Strategic Policy Affairs of the Ministry of Tourism Raden Kurleni Ukar said most of the budget came from the 2021 National Economic Recovery (PEN) fund, which totaled IDR699.43 trillion. Meanwhile, other support comes from the 2020 grant allocation which has not been realized.

"These grants can later be used to cover the costs of BPJS Employment registered in the tourism industry," he said in the webinar Breaking Inertia for Economic Recovery, Tuesday, April 27.

Kurleni added that the government also plans to bear a number of tax obligations for tourism entrepreneurs through this grant facility.

"Hotel tax, restaurant tax and entertainment tax can later be borne through this scheme," he said.

Meanwhile, the implementation and execution of tourism sector grant funds is planned to collaborate with the respective regional governments.

"It is still proposed through the transfer mechanism to the regions," he added.

To note, the government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) in 2020 has allocated a grant of IDR 3.3 trillion.

Of this figure, what was successfully realized was 2.26 trillion, or the equivalent of 69.4 percent of the budget ceiling.

Meanwhile, for tourist visits last year, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy recorded 4.05 million people from the previous 16.11 million people in 2019.

From that record, there are only 1.2 million foreign tourists, or around 100,000 people every month.

This result also dragged the foreign exchange formation figure contributed by the travel industry, with a contraction of 79.1 percent year-on-year to only 3.5 billion in 2020.