Indonesia’s reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in foreign tourists visiting the country. In response to this phenomenon, President Jokowi has raised the target for foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia from 7.4 million to 8.5 million in 2023.
The announcement was made by Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno during the 12th anniversary celebration of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
“We have a new homework assignment for 2023, and this is the leak because this is GIPI and PHRI. Our original target was 7.4 million foreign tourists, but we’ve added 1 million to the upper limit. If I’m not mistaken, the number that will be released is 8.5 million,” Sandiaga said.
He went on to say that his office is still trying to obtain more comprehensive information on the increase in the target number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia.
It is possible that the target has been raised due to the latest data on tourism recovery in the Asia Pacific region, particularly regarding the percentage of people wanting to travel post-pandemic in Indonesia’s main markets, namely China, Australia, and India.
In addition, the possibility of an increase in visitor numbers in the first quarter of 2023 may also be a factor. However, he did not provide a detailed breakdown of the increase in foreign tourist arrivals.
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in March 2023, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia reached 735,950 in January 2023, an increase of 503.34% compared to 121,980 visits in January 2022.
Sandi admitted that the target is not easy to achieve as it keeps increasing, but the budget for the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has been reduced by 20% compared to 2022.
Furthermore, the limited number of flights in Indonesia presents a challenge for the Ministry in reaching the target of 8.5 million foreign tourist arrivals.
Sandi has sent Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Angela Tanoesoedibjo and the Deputy for Marketing to China to establish direct flight cooperation between China, Australia, and India.
In addition to the target for foreign tourist arrivals, changes have been made to the upper limit of the target for tourism foreign exchange earnings, which has been increased from US$5.95 billion to US$6 billion. The target for the value-added of the creative economy has also been raised from Rp1,279 trillion to Rp1,300 trillion.
With these changes to the targets, Sandiaga has requested the assistance of GIPI and PHRI in achieving these targets for tourism and the creative economy.
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy will continue to work hard to ensure that Indonesia remains a top tourist destination for foreign visitors.
