TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-Owned Enterprise Minister Rini M. Soemarno called on state-owned carrier Garuda Indonesia to add more tourism packages to boost the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia.

“There must be more domestic [tourism] programs or packages,” Rini said during the opening of Garuda Travel Fair (GATF) Phase II in Jakarta today, Sept. 22.

Rini views that the travel fair offers more overseas tourism packages. The minister revealed that the domestic tourism sector is growing due to the emergence of tourist destinations in Banyuwangi and other regions. She called on Garuda Indonesia to work with travel agents or other state-owned companies to provide domestic tourism packages.

“We must try to synergize [SOEs], just like we did with the development of 15 villages at Borobudur. We hope that we can develop the villages by building homestays to attract domestic tourists and boost the economy of the tourist destinations,” she added.

Rini hopes that such an effort will encourage domestic tourists to spend holidays in domestic tourist destinations instead of overseas.

GATF Phase II is held in 22 major cities across the country. In Jakarta, the event is held on September 22-24, 2017. Garuda Indonesia has set a target to achieve Rp501 billion worth of sales figure from the event. In Jakarta, the target was set at Rp283 billion with 78,000 visitors expected to come to the event.

ANTARA