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Businesses unimpressed by govt’s 2023 tourism targets
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Time of their lives: Tourists enjoy sunset at The Lawn beach club in Canggu, Bali. (Unsplash/Cassie Gallegos) (Unsplash/Cassie Gallegos)
T
he Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has laid out its tourism targets for next year, but industry players have dismissed them as unambitious and say better public-private coordination is needed to support the sector in its ongoing recovery.
On Monday, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno announced that 2022’s target of 3.5 million foreign tourist visits had been achieved, with 3.92 million visits as of October.
Next year’s foreign visitor target, meanwhile, is set in the relatively wide range of 3.5 to 7.4 million visits, still a fraction of the pre-pandemic 2019 target of 20 million visits.
Indonesian Tour and Travel Agency Association (ASITA) vice chairman Budijanto Ardiansjah said the numbers presented by Sandiaga Uno were predictable, given that tourist activity had indeed increased in 2022, although it had remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
But he voiced concerns that as a political campaign year, 2023 could bring challenges to the tourism industry.
“As long as the government can keep it conducive for tourism, the sector can thrive and reach its targets,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Budijanto deemed the 2023 targets “pessimistic”, as the bar had not been set very high.
