Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) announced several highlighted numerous points on the targeted number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia next year in the year-end press conference 2021 in Sapta Pesona, Jakarta. This focus aims to reinforce the economy, particularly from the tourism industry.
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, indicated that around 4.05 million foreign visitors visited Indonesia in 2020. Meanwhile, the rise of COVID-19 cases has reduced foreign tourist visits to 1.5 million in 2021. This degression has made Kemenparekraf considers targeting foreign visitors from 1.8 million to 3.6 million by carrying qualified and sustainable tourism concepts amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.
“We only focus on the number of foreign tourist visits back then. However, we will direct our concern with tourism quality and sustainability at this time. Domestic tourists have become a pledge targeting 260-280 million to reach IDR 1.236 trillion as an added value for the creative economy,” said Sandi in a statement (27/12).
Indonesia’s Government decided to reach foreign tourist visits in small quantities due to an appeal from the Minister of Health regarding the Omicron variant, which has spread to several countries, including Indonesia. In effect, this dynamic situation has made the foreign visitors will encounter complicated home returning policies.
Moreover, Deputy for Strategic Policy of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Kurleni Ukar, added, “We consent with the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) to minimize the target because accessibility to visit Indonesia is still an obstacle. We expect the international events will increase the country’s foreign exchange. On the other hand, Bali is still a potential market to be visited by tourists from Australia, India, and Japan. While Batam and Bintan, the primary target is the tourists from Malaysia and Singapore,”
Likewise, Deputy for Tourism Products and Event Organizers of The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Rizky Handayani, revealed Indonesia will hold several MICE International events in 2022. Rizky added, “We will encourage from MICE sector to other events, such as the sports or cultural events. Leisure events accounted for around 63% – 65% previously, while MICE and special interests only accounted for about 23%. We are still expecting that quantity in the future.”
