TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama said his side was set to hire foreign social media influencers to increase international tourist arrivals to Indonesia amid the coronavirus concern. He claimed his side will carry out negotiation during the selection process.

“The Marketing Deputy Unit will review influencers who are eligible to be hired. Then we will negotiate their service rate,” said the minister who is familiarly called Tama to Tempo at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Wednesday, February 26.

The government reportedly allocated a budget of Rp72 billion for the tourism promotion, and the cost of hiring influencers was set under 10 percent of the budget. This was part of the incentives totaling Rp298.5 billion to anticipate the coronavirus impact on the country’s economic growth.

Tama explained that paying influencers was one of the effective measures to promote Indonesia’s tourism in the global eyes, asserting that his ministry would be selective to choose the figures.

“We will hire [influencers] who don’t set costly rates but have high engagement,” he added. The influencers include Instagram celebrities (selebgram), bloggers, Youtubers, entertainers, or tourism enthusiasts from several target countries, such as Australia, Europe, the US, India, and the Middle East.

The tourism promotion through influencers, he admitted, did not necessarily boost the tourist visits significantly in a short period. However, they would cause a long-term effect. “So we cannot expect an instant effect. Incentives that highly affect the tourist arrivals are ones for the aviation sector or travel agents,” Wishnutama concluded.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA