"There may be a potential loss of around 100,000 tourists. At least 70 percent of them are foreign tourists," the Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Gulf Diplomatic Crisis will potentially have an impact on Indonesias tourism sector following the ban of Qatar Airways flights in several countries in the Gulf region.
"There may be a potential loss of around 100,000 tourists. At least 70 percent of them are foreign tourists," the Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said here on Tuesday.
Yahya added the flight termination will affect 50 thousand foreign tourists who plan to go to Indonesia in 2017 as Qatar Airways flights are banned.
In order to anticipate the problem, Yahya will coordinate with Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi by substituting other airline companies for Qatar Airways.
"We will substitute Emirates and Etihad for Qatar. We plan to switch Qatars license to other airliners," Yahya said.
Arief will immediately talk with Transportation Minister to handle the problem. He hoped the issued could settled this week.
Previously, several Middle East countries have banned Qatar Airways from using their airspaces after they severed diplomatic ties with Qatar which they alleged to have supported terrorist groups.
Additionally, a total of 65 Indonesian minor hajj (umroh) pilgrims have been moved from Qatar Airways to other airlines, as Qatar airlines has been banned from using the airspace of several countries in the Middle East.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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