Though we cannot depend on the visit of foreign tourists currently, domestic tourists have a very big potential.Jakarta (ANTARA) - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has said he is expecting an "extraordinary" tourist boom after the enforcement of the community activity restrictions ends.
"Though we cannot depend on the visit of foreign tourists currently, domestic tourists have a very big potential. We hope they can recover the tourism sector,” he said at the ‘Optimism for the Rise of Tourism and Creative Economy #DiIndonesiaAja’ webinar here on Saturday.
He urged all stakeholders to anticipate the boom and continue to carry out digital transformation. He said he hoped that the efforts would boost state income and employment absorption in the tourism and creative economy sectors.
He also asked all stakeholders, including PT Pegadaian (Persero), to work jointly and take quick action to assess Indonesia's tourism potential.
Uno said he expects the tourism and creative economy sectors to grow 2.39 percent in the second half of 2021.
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Furthermore, he is optimistic that the tourism and creative economy sectors would implement strict health protocols as part of pandemic mitigation efforts. The ministry is also promoting vaccination programs in the sectors, he informed.
"There are 34 million tourism and creative economy actors who need to be vaccinated. Hence, we support the program of two million doses of vaccination per day," he said.
According to Statistics Indonesia, 140,850 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in June 2021, a decline of 10.04 percent compared to the previous month.
In the first half (January-June) of this year, the number of foreign tourist arrivals stood at 802,380, a 74.33-percent drop compared to 3.13 million recorded in the same period last year.
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Translator: Ahmad Wijaya, Uyu Liman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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