The MPR deputy speaker expressed hope that stakeholders at the central and regional levels will be able to take appropriate steps to maintain sustainable growth in the number of Indonesia's foreign tourist arrivals.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat pressed for efforts to accelerate growth in the tourism sector by continuously realizing various anticipatory measures to face various challenges of time.

"Records that show that the growth of foreign tourist arrivals must be immediately anticipated with various appropriate measures," she said in an official statement received here on Sunday.

In March 2024, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy recorded that the number of foreign tourist arrivals stood at 1.04 million. This number showed an increase of 19.86 percent compared to the number recorded in the same month in 2023.

Of the total 1.04 million arrivals, 15.38 percent are tourists from Malaysia, 11.92 percent are tourists from Australia, and 11.52 percent are tourists from Singapore.

"The increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country must not make us satisfied too soon and stop being creative," she said.

According to Moerdijat, sustainable efforts to increase services and creativity must be made in maintaining and managing national tourism sector.

She further said that a number of statistical records must be used as a basis for evaluation in determining sustainable measures to anticipate future challenges.

The MPR deputy speaker expressed hope that stakeholders at the central and regional levels will be able to take appropriate steps to maintain sustainable growth in the number of Indonesia's foreign tourist arrivals.

She said that the national tourism sector is expected to be able to support improvement in the national economic performance which can be utilized to create more equitable social welfare in the future.

Earlier, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno expressed optimism that international tourist arrivals in 2024 would exceed the target of 14.3 million and surpass 16.1 million.

Uno explained that achieving that figure is possible given that Indonesia recorded 11.7 million international tourist arrivals in 2023.

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Translator: Fath Putra, Raka Adji
Editor: Arie Novarina
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