TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Tuesday said domestic tourists are currently on the rise. In fact, he reiterated a report that the air passenger increase to Bali had increased by more than 123 percent.

"I think this number is very significant, flight bookings are very high," he said after a press conference at the Formula 1 Motorboat World Championship (F1 H2O) in Sarinah, Central Jakarta on, September 27.

He recalled reports of people unable to attend the G20 event due to the lack of seats, which he had communicated with Transportation Minister Budi Karya in finding out a solution.

"[We must think of] how we can make bookings for connecting flights from Singapore or from anywhere else available to Bali, in preparation for the G20," said Luhut.

From January to August, Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport logged 6.918 million domestic and international passengers. This number consists of 1.861 million international passengers and 5.057 million domestic passengers, which is a 275 percent spike compared to the same period last year, according to Bali’s airport general manager Handy Heryudhitiawan.

I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport currently offers 21 domestic routes served by 10 airlines and 22 international routes to 13 countries served by 24 airlines.

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News