ER
THE INCREASE in airfare prices will have an unintended impact on the acceleration of the economy and the revival of Indonesian tourism.
According to the Secretary General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Maulana Yusran recently, said in tourism, there are 3A concepts, namely amenities, attractions and accessibility. Accessibility will be an obstacle due to rising ticket prices or reduced flight frequency.
“This will have an impact on tourism, especially from the perspective of hotels and restaurants, especially in areas outside Java, such as Bali, West Nusatenggara (NTB), East Nusatenggara (NTT), North Sumatra, Padang, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua. The increase in airline tickets will be a separate obstacle to increase occupancy in the area because the source of movement is in Jakarta, if we talk about domestic tourism,” he said.
He added that in 2019, the issue of increasing air ticket prices also existed and had an effect on decreasing tourism activities. At that time the problem was only in domestic flights, but now it also occurs in international airline ticket prices. But at that time, it could be profitable for foreign to domestic travelers.
Not only that, at that time the number of Indonesian people who traveled abroad was also high, or there were around 10 million people recorded. This makes domestic tourism quieter than overseas in 2019. He projects that the same thing could happen again this year.
At present, namely in the second semester of 2022, generally on an annual basis corporate activities will increase, this will also have an impact on the current flight frequency which is quite minimal. Maulna gave an example during the Lebaran holiday or joint leave this year, where travel by land increased.
“Travel by air has increased when compared to 2021 but the frequency is not the same in 2019 to 2020. So, even though the policy has freed them to move, people will still find it difficult to move because ticket prices increase. to increase travel costs for tourists is not as easy as one might think,” he continued.
Maulana said finding common ground should be a homework for the Government. Currently, the increase in ticket prices is inseparable from the increase in aviation fuel prices, so the Government needs to initiate aviation fuel costs so that they do not become the main obstacle in increasing air ticket prices. However, airlines also do not want to lose in business.
“In 2022, we will enter the phase of economic recovery, especially tourism. But the increase in ticket prices can hinder tourism recovery if access becomes a big obstacle and it will be difficult for the market segment with the largest movement, namely domestic tourists,” he concluded. [kontan.co.id/photo special]
