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TOURISM and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has said that middle-class interest in travel is continuing to grow despite economic challenges.
“However, they prefer more affordable tour packages, adjusted to their budget. Budget tours have become increasingly popular nowadays,” Sandiaga observed in Jakarta on Wednesday (09/11), 2024.
He made the statement in response to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), which recorded a decline in the number of the middle class in the total national population from 23% to 18.82% in 2023. This raised concerns since the middle class is considered to have the potential to support the economy amid global economic challenges.
“Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy adjusted tourism programs, including the tourism village product,” Sandiaga informed.
For formulating programs or policies, his ministry used existing data, including those obtained from online travel agents such as Tiket.com.
“We appreciate our partnership with Tiket.com, which has driven an incredibly fast recovery and improved the role of tourism in the national economy. Our partnership has brought tourism to penetrate all classes we targeted,” the minister affirmed.
According to him, one of the biggest target achievements has been boosting Indonesia’s ranking in the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Indonesia’s TTDI ranking in 2024 jumped 10 positions compared to the previous year to 22nd out of 119 countries.
“We are in 22nd position in the world, almost breaking into the top 20. Based on data-driven policy, we are grateful for the supply of data regarding our tourists’ preference for us to present quality tourism. Indonesia is targeting to enter the world’s top 15 in the next TTDI ranking,” Sandiaga concluded. [traveltext.id]
