TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is selected to host the 2021 Global Tourism Forum (GTF) Annual Meeting. This indicates that the international community believes in the country as a safe tourist destination.

“As a country with enormous tourism potential, Indonesia is chosen as the host for the 2021 GTF Annual Meeting,” said Indonesia Tourism Forum chairman Sapta Nirwandar in a written statement on Friday, Nov. 27.

The Global Tourism Forum is the brand of the World Tourism Forum, which is a collaborative platform to meet the travel industry's challenges.

According to Sapta, the 2021 GTF which will be held in Bali plays a vital role in alluring direct investment into the country, especially in the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sapta noted that tourism is the hardest-hit industry. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry predicted that Indonesia would see a significant decline in the number of foreign tourists by 88.95 percent until December 2020.

As of September 2020, Indonesia recorded 153,498 foreign visits. While in fact in September 2019 alone, there were 1,388,719 international tourists.

“This drastic weakening encourages the Indonesia Tourism Forum to discover the right tourism business model to be implemented amid the global pandemic,” said Sapta.

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