TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno predicted there would be a tourism surge once the Covid-19 restrictions (PPKM) enforcement ends in the country. He said that it would also occur in a number of countries following similar policies.

"Because it has almost been a month since the people must bear this hard situation and it happened in the Europe, the United States, and India," the minister said in a webinar on tourism and creative economy, Saturday, August 7.

According to Sandiaga, the people are longing for a vacation after one month of mobility restriction. He, therefore, asked the stakeholders to execute various transformations to digitization.

"Even though we can yet to rely on international tourism, but domestic tourist visits still have the potential to revive the creative economy sector," he said.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows that international tourist visits to Indonesia in June 2021 was 140,850 or declining 10.04 percent compared to the visit in June last year. Cumulatively, in January–June 2021, the number of international tourist arrivals to Indonesia reached 802,380 or a drop of 74.33 percent compared to the number of visits at the same period last year of 3.13 million.

Sandiaga uno hopes that the tourism and creative economy sector will grow 2.39 percent in Q2/2021 post the enforcement of PPKM Level 4, so it can absorb workforce again.

Read: Sandiaga Uno Vows Komodo Island Tourism Projects Will Prioritize Ecosystem

Antara