Sandiaga Responds To Viral Malaysian Tourist Content In Jakarta: Don't Be Baper, Make Criticism Building

UNSPLASH/Eka Sariwati ILLUSTRATION

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said criticism of tourists from Malaysia regarding negative assessments when traveling to Jakarta should be appreciated.

His party invited the public to use the criticism as positive input to build and increase Indonesian tourism.

"We have to respect every input, we don't bring feelings, don't be careless, but this is a constructive criticism, so constructive criticism, this is our opportunity to improve and improve our tourism, don't be triggered by each other, and so on," Sandiaga said at a weekly press conference reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 13.

Sandiaga also reminded the importance of maintaining friendliness for tourists, including foreign tourists from neighboring countries. The reason is, Malaysia is still in the first place to visit Indonesia.

If you look at data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), tourist visits from Malaysia in January 2024 dominate, which was recorded at 16.73 percent.

Regarding the criticism made by Malaysian foreign tourists, Sandiaga will also coordinate with the Jakarta Tourism Office (Dispar) to prepare a solution to the criticism.

Previously, tourists from Malaysia posted criticism when he traveled in Jakarta via an Instagram account. A number of these criticisms were then widely discussed and received various comments from Indonesian netizens.