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PEOPLE’S mobility is likened to “DNA” for the tourism sector to be able to grow and develop, so that when people’s movements are restricted, it will affect the sector.
According to the Secretary General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Maulana Yusran in Jakarta, Thursday (10/28) said the DNA of the tourism sector is movement. Meanwhile, there are restrictions on movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These obstacles have had a tremendous impact.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread economic impact on the domestic tourism sector, both for the business itself, for the workforce, for destinations, and for hotels and restaurants. Not to mention the economic impact felt by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, whose economy depends on tourism activities in various regions.
In addition, he continued, the tourism sector is seasonal, where its movement began in the second quarter of the year, continued in the third quarter, and surged in the fourth quarter, where there were moments of Christmas and new year.
“In 2020 we have lost the moment of Idul Fitri, which was supposed to be replaced by a long holiday at the end of the year, but it didn’t happen,” said Yusran.
He added, as the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) level decreased, there was hope about a recovery in the sector, especially the government expressed its support for encouraging the revival of domestic tourism.
Unfortunately, Yusran said, as people’s activities increase, especially in tourist attractions, there are also concerns about the re-spread of COVID-19. So that it also raises concerns from tourism businesses in Indonesia to rebuild their businesses.
Yusran realized that the situation was not easy to deal with. For this reason, with the cancellation of joint leave for the 2022 Christmas and New Year celebrations, Yusran said that now is not the right time to talk about the recovery of the tourism sector.
“It’s not time to talk about tourism recovery as long as activity restrictions still occur,” concluded Yusran. [antaranews/photo special]
