Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno Will Visit Riau Islands 2 Days: Review Batam And Bintan

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno. (Photo: Instagram @sandiuno)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno is scheduled to make a working visit in order to monitor the condition of tourism in the Riau Islands Province (Kepri) on January 22-23, 2021.

"Pak Menpar was in the Riau Islands for two days. One day in Batam City and one day in Bintan Regency," said Head of the Riau Islands Tourism Office, Buralimar, quoted from Antara, Thursday, January 21.

According to schedule, said Buralimar, Menpar Sandiaga Uno will have a dialogue with a number of tourism industry players and continue with a review of several tourist sites such as the Nongsa area in Batam and Lagoi in Bintan.

"Pak Sandiaga is also scheduled to visit a number of MSME players in the two areas," he said.

Buralimar stated that his party would convey to Menpar RU that Kepri was included in the top three areas for foreign tourists visiting Indonesia. Bali number one, followed by the Riau Islands, then Jakarta.

He hopes the Indonesian Minister of Tourism can determine five priority tourism development programs in the local area.

"In fact, this Kepri is included in the super priority scale in Indonesia. So, please the Minister to determine the best Kepri tourism program for Riau Islands," he said.

Furthermore, Buralimar will convince the Minister of Tourism that the Riau Islands, particularly Batam and Bintan, are ready in terms of infrastructure and supporting infrastructure to carry out events in the midst of a pandemic.

"The Riau Islands, especially Nongsa and Lagou, are ready to hold activities and receive foreign tourists. All facilities and infrastructure have been carefully prepared," he said.

Buralimar is optimistic that the Menpar's visit to Riau Islands will provide fresh air for the development of the tourism industry in the area.

Since the pandemic hit, the level of foreign tourist visits to Riau Islands has fallen freely. So far, the tourism industry in this area depends on the arrival of foreign tourists.

The imposition of a ban on the entry of foreign tourists to the Riau Islands has caused the tourism industry to decline. This triggered tourism actors to lay off and lay off their employees.

"From our data, there are about 14 thousand tourism workers affected by layoffs and being sent home as a result of this pandemic," said Buralimar.