‘Local visitors vital to revive Indonesian tourism sector’

Domestic tourists are key to the recovery the country’s tourism economy, said Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahudin Uno.

He was quoted by Antara news agency as stating that the ministry was currently developing five super-priority tourist destinations under the New Bali programme, to attract domestic tourists.

“We are aiming for the five new super-priority destinations with these strategic national tourism areas, to be able to grab the opportunity or re-allocate part of the public funds for travelling abroad,” Uno said in a webinar titled “Reimagining the future of Indonesia” on Monday.

Plans to develop the five tourist destinations under the New Bali programme have been in place since 2019.

The destinations are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur in Central Java, Mandalika-Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, and Likupang in North Sulawesi.

The development of these destinations is expected to be completed by the end of this year, from initial target of end of last year.

“We are striving to make domestic tourists our mainstay and our backbone. We take the role that is left behind. The term is replacement value,” the minister stated.

Uno believed that Indonesian tourism in the future will change with the inculcation of new habits amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tourism entrepreneurs and the creative economy in Indonesia are currently working on personalised, customised, localised, and smaller-size packages, he remarked.

“Local operators focus on providing tourism experiences to tourists based on health and safety.

“I am sure that the number of tourists from Indonesia will return to normal through the promotion of the CHSE certification.

“In the coming months, we will optimise it fully, so that 34 million creative economy workers would not only be able to survive, but also be able to seize the opportunity to become winners.”