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Govt forms task force to stimulate tourism, bring down airfares
A new task force involving the SOEs, tourism and transportation ministries is set to start working within the next two weeks to ramp up both foreign and domestic tourism through a variety of measures, including harmonizing regulations, according to the SOEs minister.
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A foreign traveler passes the health check area on Sept. 5, 2024, at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung, Bali. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
T
he ministries of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), tourism and transportation are creating a joint task force to boost the tourist industry through aims that include bringing down domestic airfares.
“The task force, or my version of a [project management office], has a […] goal to harmonize all policies to make decisions that can provide solutions, including for [airline] ticket prices, because it is impossible for us to work alone,” SOEs Minister Erick Thohir said on Thursday after a meeting with the Tourism Ministry, as quoted by Kumparan.
Erick said tourism was a complex matter that required involving other ministries and institutions, so he was also collaborating with the Transportation Ministry to address the issue of domestic airfares, which were deemed too high.
The task force is set to start working on concrete solutions and programs within days, according to Erick.
“Maybe in a week or two, insya Allah [God willing], the team will be formed and will begin to review all policies or their derivative [regulations] for proper implementation,” he said.
He added that the interministerial collaboration was in line with President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction to focus on the tourist industry as one of the key drivers of national economic growth.
“We have been lagging behind other Southeast Asian countries [in tourism] for too long, so it’s important that we support the Tourism Ministry to succeed in implementing the President’s program,” said Erick.
