TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stated that the government is working on providing affordable flight tickets in all provinces in a bid to achieve the goal of 1.4 billion domestic tourists in 2023.

In The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno forum at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, on Monday, February 20, he acknowledged that cheap air tickets were not evenly distributed and did not available in all provinces, such as only for routes of Jakarta-Bandung, Jakarta-Sorong, Jakarta-Labuan Bajo, and Jakarta-Bali.

“Later with the rising number of planes and availability of seats, we hope that ticket prices will gradually decrease and are accessible [to all people] throughout the archipelago. Because the target for domestic tourist movements is 1.4 billion and this must be supported by all stakeholders,” said the minister in the official statement, on February 20.

The ministry projected a significant surge in demand during this year’s Eid Al-Fitr holiday which falls in April 2023. Thus, it certainly requires a greater number of aircraft in operation. “We must ensure that there is no net outflow from our tourists for traveling abroad,” Sandiaga added.

Other than providing affordable air tickets, the government was also striving to accelerate the recovery of the hospitality and services industry. A number of efforts made by the ministry include facilitating the online single submission (OSS) business permit and certification, pushing for CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability) certification in tandem with BSN (National Standardization Agency), encouraging regulations on more national holidays and collective leave, and helping with capital through the OSS capital market.

The ministry, he went on, was working with PHRI (the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association), ASITA (the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agency Association), and GIPI (the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association) to boost hotel occupancy rates in all regions.

“PHRI data collected from the pandemic onset in 2020 until 2022 shows an increase in the hotel occupancy rate of up to 50 percent. This is the basis for optimism, but we must not be satisfied yet, we will keep pushing for the hospitality industry to recover faster,” Sandiaga Uno emphasized.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA

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