Jakarta Tourism Suffered from Post-Election May 22 Riots

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The post-election riots that took place in downtown Jakarta - which has since been dubbed the May 22 riot - not only led to multiple fatalities and ruined public infrastructures but also dropped tourist visitations to Indonesia’s capital.

“The drop in visitations by tourist is caused by many factors, it isn’t just caused by lack of promotion but can be caused by other events such as the event that happened in front of the Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Board) headquarters on May 21-22,” said Gumilar Ekalaya, Head of Jakarta’s cultural arts Tourism Board yesterday.

Read: Police Find Death Locations of 5 Victims of May 22 Riot

According to Gumilar, the effects of the incident was quite impactful since many countries issued travel advisories or travel warnings. Many international events that were scheduled to be held during those two days were also canceled.

This presented financial losses for the tourism industry which was evident in a statistic provided by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stating that tourist visitations to Jakarta dropped 9.70 percent compared to the previous month.

The city’s tourism board is currently attempting to attract tourists through several festivals and events set to be held throughout the year. Gumilar also announced that the list of events for 2020 has been completed.

ANTARA