Luhut Expects 1 mn Tourists Visit Toba Lake via Silangit Airport

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has set a target to attract 1 million tourists visiting Lake Toba after Silangit Airport in North Sumatra is opened.

Luhut hopes that the opening of the new airport will boost the local economy. “The number of foreign tourists visiting Lake Toba in 2019 is expected to reach 1 million people,” Luhut said in a press release on Saturday, November 25.

Read: Scenic Lake Toba Steeped in History

Luhut explained that the development of Silangit Airport is a government endeavor to realize the target of 20 million foreign tourists visiting Indonesia by 2019. Lake Toba has been included in the top ten priority tourist destinations in 2017.

According to the minister, a World Bank’s study on the environmental planning and Lake Toba cleanliness, that will be completed soon, will be used as a reference on Lake Toba planning.

Earlier on Friday, November 24, President Joko Widodo inaugurated Silangit Airport. Speaking at the inauguration, President asked the airport’s runway to be extended to 10,000 meters to accommodate wide-body airplanes.

Read: Chinese Singaporean Businesses to Invest in Lake Toba

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi expects the airport will serve 162 million passengers by 2019. Data from state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) II reveals that the number of passengers served by Silangit Airport in 2015 was 17,000. In 2016, the number grew eight folds to 176,000. As of November this year, the figure jumped to 300,000.

M. ROSSENO AJI