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COMMISSION X of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR-RI) agreed on the budget ceiling of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy for the 2021 budget year of IDR4.9 trillion.
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Wishnutama Kusubandio in Jakarta, Thursday, appreciated the support given by the DPR to the government, especially in reviving the tourism sector and the creative economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Government spending is one of the important aspects in maintaining the rotation of the economy during this pandemic. The budget does not only talk about rupiah figures, but the existing budget is an effort to implement policies to have an impact on society. So that policies can provide new hope for the year. next year as a year of recovery,” Wishnutama Kusubandio said.
The total budget for the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has increased by 19.4% or IDR795,710,814,000 from the indicative ceiling (approximate budget ceiling) for FY 2021 of IDR4,111,437,568,000.
In using the 2021 State Budget, Wishnutama explained that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has three strategic programs, namely accelerating the recovery of tourism, quality tourism, and the creative economy, as well as digitalization and digital sovereignty. The three strategic programs will be implemented at each deputy level.
Wishnutama also reiterated the Ministry of Tourism’s strategy that has been and will be carried out in an effort to restore tourism and the creative economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with the President’s direction, mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic aims to build resilience and save the economy, which is carried out through three main programs. Namely social protection programs, labor-intensive programs, as well as stimulus programs.
Wishnutama also explained that apart from the efforts that had been made, his party also saw the need for extra efforts so that the tourism sector industry and the creative economy would soon recover. This extra effort is needed because there are several issues that hinder recovery, among these there are two dominant issues.
The first issue is the Fear Factor, according to data from McKinsey, the majority of Indonesians are concerned about using public transportation services, traveling by plane, and staying at hotels. The three categories of activity by McKinsey are closely related to the tourism sector.
The second dominant issue is purchasing power. According to data from McKinsey, it appears that three-quarters of consumers experience a decrease in income and a decrease in nominal savings experienced by people. From this data, it can be concluded that logically the community will only spend money for basic needs because of decreased income.
“Expenditures for traveling will be secondary to most people. This is certainly a challenge for us to revive the post-pandemic tourism industry, and help the tourism industry survive the pandemic,” Wishnutama noted.
Therefore in the future the Ministry of Tourism will also make various efforts, one of which is running a free hygiene, health, security, and environmentally friendly (CHSE) certification program for the tourism industry and the creative economy in restoring people’s trust.
Meanwhile Agustina Wilujeng Pramestuti as the head of the session representing all the leaders and members of Commission X hopes that the 2021 Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy’s budget and programs can be carried out as well as possible.
“We hope that the budget can be used properly so that it can have an impact on the economic recovery of the tourism sector and the creative economy,” Agustina added. [traveltext.id]
