Gov’t to Provide Airlines Incentives to Boost Tourism

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi and Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio on the meeting in Jakarta, Wednesday (12/2). (Photo: Ministry of Transportation PR).

The Indonesian Government encourages all relevant stakeholders to provide incentives to airlines to boost tourism that has been affected by the spread of Coronavirus, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has said.

According to Budi, this was carried out as a follow-up to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s directive to encourage the incentives to the three destinations that frequently visited by the Chinese tourists namely Bali, Manado, and the Riau Islands.

“Examples of incentives to airlines include reducing non-tax state revenues (PNBP), reducing landing fees, discounting rental space, and so on. So the Government, airport operators, airlines, and hotels must jointly provide incentives,” the Minister said in a joint meeting with Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio in Jakarta, Wednesday (12/2).

Budi went on to say that to boost tourism it is not possible for the Government to do it alone. “We will propose to the President next week,” he added.

Furthermore, Budi predicts that there has been a decline of around 30 percent for airlines that have routes to mainland China and Singapore and that the Ministry has discussed with the airlines to cover the lost potential.

“I want Garuda, Batik, Lion, and Air Asia (the airlines in the country) to look for connecting flights to West Asia for new routes,” Budi added.

In the meantime, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio said all tourism stakeholders must think comprehensively to survive in such a situation. “As an illustration, China contributed 2 million tourists with a total foreign exchange of US$2.8 billion per year,” he added. (BKIP Kemenhub/EN)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani