ith Indonesian tourism going up from 50th spot to 42nd in world tourism ranking, the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) believes all the strategies and policies implemented by the Tourism Ministry are on the right track.
“This is a sign that Indonesian tourism will increase. It’s something to be grateful for and needs to be maintained by all Pentahelix, ABCGM (academia, business, community, government and media) components. I salute President [Joko] "Jokowi" [Widodo] and Tourism Minister Arief Yahya's commitment to this issue and believe that our tourism will grow with the Indonesian people,” said Asnawi Bahar, general head of ASITA.
Moreover, Bahar said he believes the government’s effort to push the tourism sector in a vast and comprehensive way is the start of the rising of Indonesia's tourism sector.
He said Arief has been undertaking impressive work when it comes to tourism. He said he has made the country’s "Wonderful Indonesia" brand move up the chart by more than 100 spots to 47th place, leaving Malaysia’s "Truly Asia" in the 96th spot and Thailand’s "Amazing Thailand" in 83rd place.
“He directly evaluated the 14 elements that were being assessed for the world ranking. He fixed the bad ones and made them suit international standards,” explained Bahar.
(Read also: Halal destinations in Indonesia to be promoted in China)
“Social media complaints such as immigration service issues that were mostly experienced by Chinese and Middle Eastern tourists were also solved by a memorandum of understanding between the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the Directorate General of Immigration,” he added.
The ministry also improved health and sanitation, as well as air transportation infrastructure by doing road shows to airline companies, Angkasa Pura I and II and Airnav with the aim of increasing direct flights from overseas to destinations in Indonesia.
“So it is really no surprise the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2017, which was issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on April 6, reveals that Indonesia's competitiveness index has gone up eight spots,” said Bahar.
Bahar said he believes that all the programs that are being conducted by Arief will reach their target in the future, “I see the progress being done to strengthen the tourism sector. It’s getting stronger and the market’s response has been very positive. I’m sure this will end great,” he added. (asw)
Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.