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Indonesia tourism, trade prone to Wuhan coronavirus impact
Out of the 1.29 million foreign vacationers who visited Indonesia in November 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for 11.42 percent.
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Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto (center) along with Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio (right) talked to the press after the launching of Wellness and Jamu Tourism. (The Jakarta Post/Riza Roidila Mufti)
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ndonesia’s tourism and trade industry are vulnerable to the adverse effects of a coronavirus outbreak in China, at a time when the government is working to push the economy through tourism and boost falling exports.
As the Chinese government implements lockdowns in most of the country’s provinces to contain the new virus, countries that rely on Chinese tourists — including Indonesia — may see a drop in foreign arrivals from the East Asian country, economists and government officials have said.
“This will affect the number of [foreign] visitors but not overall arrivals,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama said in Jakarta on Monday.
He said the outbreak had yet to adversely affect tourist arrivals as this month’s visits were higher than those of last year’s but did not disclose precise numbers.
“We have other potential long-haul tourist sources, such as the United States and European countries. We should not rely on one country,” he said.
He added that the government would not restrict the arrival of Chinese tourists from provinces other than ground zero of the new coronavirus, Hubei. The government will instead heighten its vigilance against the outbreak.
Out of the 1.29 million foreign vacationers who visited Indonesia in November 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for 11.42 percent. China was the third-largest origin country of foreign tourists, behind neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
