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VACCINES CAN BE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR FOR THE TOURISM SECTOR IN 2021

A NUMBER of associations have welcomed the presence of the COVID-19 vaccine as one of the triggers for optimism to restore Indonesia’s tourism sector by 2021.

According to the Deputy Chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Aviation Ticket Selling Companies (ASTINDO) Anton Sumarli said I was very confident especially with vaccines, which hopefully will be successful in,reducing (transmission) COVID-19. I am sure with vaccines, in the future it will be much better to boost tourism demand.

“Furthermore, this is driven by the increasing positive trend for the tourism sector in the fourth quarter of 2020 when compared to previous quarters. The trend has increased, and if we compare it to the third quarter, it is better in the fourth quarter and the demand is quite high. Friends in the regions reported that it was getting busy (holiday requests),” Anton said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the ASTINDO, Pauline Suharno said that the increase was around 20-30% from the worst conditions in May. This is also influenced by government official trips and community vacation plans.

“However, with the restrictions and requirements that must be met for traveling to a number of areas, there are doubts for tourists to continue their journey. There are still no long predictions regarding the future trend. But, the hope is that vaccines can make people more confident about vacation trips, and we have to keep up the enthusiasm of our travel agent friends,” Pauline noted.

Agreeing with Anton and Pauline from ASTINDO, the DPP Association of Indonesian Travel Companies (ASITA) Budijanto Ardiansjah also hopes that the vaccine can gradually foster community confidence.

“Vaccines are here so that there is confidence for the public and business players. However, if it may take about 3-4 months after the vaccine, because conditions cannot return to normal immediately,” Budijanto added.

It is hoped that the good news about vaccines can be balanced with firm and clear government policies and can be informed from a long time ago. Thus, both players and consumers have time to determine their plans and attitudes.

“It should be better organized, such as there is a period of prohibition, tourists enter gradually, and so on. There must be a certainty from the government so that all parties can take strategies and what the next steps are for economic recovery,” he concluded. [antaranews]