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Ministry aims to double foreign tourist arrivals, but experts remain wary
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has set a target to attract 3.6 million foreign tourists to Indonesia in 2022, almost double the 1.5 million projected for this year.
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Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno (left) and Deputy Minister Angela Tanoesoedibjo during the ministry's national coordinating meeting (Rakornas) on Sept. 27. (Courtesy of Kemenparekraf/-)
T
he government hopes to double foreign tourist arrivals in 2022 on the back of new travel corridors, but experts have expressed doubt, saying the COVID-19 pandemic's shadow still loomed over the industry.
A presentation from Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno on Sept. 27 showed that the ministry aims to welcome up to 3.6 million visitors in 2022, higher than the projected 1.5 million tourists’ arrivals for this year.
It also projected 280 million local tourist trips in 2022, inches away from the pre-pandemic level of 282.9 million trips in 2019.
Indonesia Tourism Intellectuals Association (ICPI) chairman Azril Azahari said that while reviving local tourism would be achievable, he doubted the government could more than double the number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2022, as global COVID-19 cases were still high.
“This is what they want, but is this a reasonable target? We can expect an increase from the 2020 number but to see a jump is highly unlikely,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sept. 30.
He went on to say that the government needed to innovate new attractions such as health or wellness-based tourist packages and to focus on attracting high-spending and long-staying tourists.
“The government should focus on quality tourists and not so much on the number of tourists,” Azril added.
