Jakarta
Recently installed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has pledged to focus on reviving the pandemic-stricken tourism industry next year. The businessman-turned-politician committed, during his live-broadcast inauguration ceremony in Jakarta on Dec. 23, to developing the nation’s five “super-priority” tourist destinations – sometimes called the “five new Balis” – at the behest of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The five destinations are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara and Likupang in North Sulawesi. “I’ve been given a year for [the President] to see preparations for the five super priority destinations from a 360 degree angle – every single little thing,” said the former deputy governor o...