Article Of Licensing In The Criminal Code Bill Is Considered Counterproductive, PHRI DIY Predictions For Foreign Tourists Ogah To Indonesia

Chairman of DPD PHRI DIY Deddy Pranawa Eryana (ANTARA/Eka AR)

YOGYAKARTA - DPD Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association DIY assesses that the article on adultery that is planned to be regulated in the Criminal Code Bill can have a counterproductive impact on the government's efforts to revive the tourism sector. "“You could say that the plan has good intentions, but to include the article on adultery in the Criminal Code Bill and apply it throughout Indonesia, it can have a counterproductive impact," said DPD Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) DIY Deddy Pranawa Eryana in Yogyakarta, Antara, Tuesday, October 25. According to him, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is currently aggressively making various efforts to continue to revive the domestic tourism industry, which had slumped during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the clause is determined, it is possible for tourists without marriage ties staying in one hotel room to be punished with a fairly high fine of up to Rp. 10 million. Thus, he continued, one of the potential impacts is the decline in foreign tourists traveling in Indonesia. "Foreign tourists will definitely cancel their plans to enter Indonesia and choose to travel in neighboring countries," he said. In fact, he continued, currently the length of stay of foreign tourists in Yogyakarta is quite good, namely about four to five days and the number of tourists continues to increase, most from Europe and Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Therefore, Deddy emphasized that the DIY PHRI rejected the plan for the adultery article as regulated in the Criminal Code. "I think it has entered the realm of morals and has also been regulated by local governments through regional regulations whose enforcement is carried out by the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP)," he said. Deddy even emphasized that so far the Satpol PP has also been quite routine in carrying out raids on immoral acts in hotels or inns. “ The raids on immoral acts have been carried out very often in hotels or inns. If the draft is passed, it will backfire the tourism industry, ” said Deddy Pranawa Eryana.