Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stressed that COVID-19 vaccination and the application of health protocols are the keys to facilitating recovery in the tourism and creative economy sectors.

“Currently, more than 100 million people in Indonesia have been vaccinated. This is also supported by an increase in mobility as well as activities of recreational areas and retail sales that continue to increase even during the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM)," Uno remarked.

Speaking at the closing session of the 2021 World Marketing Forum (WMF) held virtually, as quoted from a press release on Saturday, Minister Uno also noted that Indonesia had currently begun to witness normalcy in activities with calibration to boost the tourism and creative economy sectors.

Although, in general, the creative economy sector had experienced a decline due to the pandemic, 16 sub-sectors had showed no signs of decline, such as television, radio, application, and game developer sub-sectors. In addition, the revenue in the culinary, fashion, and craft sub-sectors also did not change significantly.

According to the minister, several aspects for reviving the creative economy sector encompassed the launch of the #BeliKreatifLokal movement that is a national movement to support the Indonesian economy.

Related news: More tourism sites may reopen if COVID-19 under control: minister

The tourism and creative economy ministries also participated in activating the PeduliLindungi application that helps to monitor the condition of Indonesian citizens related to suppressing the spread of the virus and mobility.

"We are also accelerating recovery by optimizing the momentum of the creative and digital economy, including the use of the PeduliLindungi app, wherein data consumption of digital products in this country is high," Uno noted.

According to data from the Tourism ministry regarding the 2020 foreign tourist visit statistics, foreign tourist visits to Indonesia through all entry points in 2020 had reached 4,052,923, or decreased by 74.84 percent, as compared to 2019 when the figure was recorded at 16,108,600.

A decline in tourist visits was observed at three major gates of the 26 main entrances in 2020 as compared to December 2019: I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport experienced a decrease of 83.02 percent; Soekarno-Hatta Airport, an 82.01-percent decline; and Batam, a 84.84-percent drop.

Related news: Yogyakarta to expand trial opening of tourist destinations

Translator: Rizka K, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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