TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy believes that the potential United States recession will not affect foreign tourist visits to the country. The Ministry’s Deputy for Strategic Policy Nia Niscaya said the movement of U.S. tourists is still growing positively.

“From January to April 2023, there are 104.800 visits, an increase of 652 percent,” Nia said in a virtual press conference on Monday, June 26, 2023.

According to her, a lot of Americans browse Indonesia on the internet, so the archipelago remains the top-of-mind destination among them. “The challenge is about how we convert from searching to traveling,” Nia said.

Besides the U.S., a similar trend occurred in the tourist visits from European countries, that are earlier on the brink of recession. The ministry recorded that 532,000 European travelers landed in Indonesia From January to April 2023, up 680 percent compared to the previous year.

Previously, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno shared his optimism that this year’s target of 8.5 million foreign tourist visits will be realized. He believed that the U.S. and European possible recessions will not interfere with Indonesia’s goal in the tourism sector.

“[Recession] will surely cause an impact. But we believe that the target of European and American tourist visits is still in line with what we’ve planned,” he said.

Sandiaga Uno also stated that the ministry would further attract tourists from recession-affected countries to ease their mental tension at Indonesian tourist sites. “So [they can relieve stress] by traveling or what is known as healing.”

RIRI RAHAYU

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