COVID-19 Is Not Over Yet, Faisal Basri: Nobody Wants To Come To Indonesia

Indef's senior economist, Faisal Basri. (Photo by: Ministry of Communication and Information)

JAKARTA - The tourism sector is one of the most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus is still spreading in various countries, making people reluctant to travel on tours. That is especially true for foreign tourists.

Senior Economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Faisal Basri said the tourism sector would still experience a contraction, even though the confidence of foreign tourists to come back to Indonesia was quite high.

Faisal said, in the period from January to October, foreign tourist visits to Indonesia had fallen by 72.4 percent. However, specifically in October the decline was added by 88.25 percent.

"Asked by foreigners, whether they were confident that they did not come to Indonesia? Only 22 percent said they were confident. Even if they were confident they would not come to Indonesia," he said in a virtual discussion, Wednesday, December 23.

The reason, said Faisal, is that foreign tourists are still rethinking the consequences and risks that must be faced after visiting Indonesia. He said they would be required to isolate independently for 14 days at the hotel and not leave their room.

"Pay yourself 2,000 US dollars, I don't think anyone wants tourists to suffer that isolation in hotels and not leave their room," he said.

According to Faisal, controlling the COVID-19 virus in Indonesia still has to be a priority. He assessed that even the currently available vaccines did not answer the government's anxiety over the handling of the pandemic.

"Vaccines are still not clear. Phase 3 (clinical trials) have not been announced. And this Sinovac confirms its effectiveness is still unknown. So we buy cats in sacks, however we want to intensify, tourists will still sag," he said.

Faisal said that the solution for the recovery of the tourism sector remains in handling the pandemic which is fast, alert and right on target.

"So what can restore tourism? Yes, careful handling of the virus," he said.