President urges to accelerate development of tourism sector in 2016

President Joko Widodo has called on his officials to expedite the development of Indonesias tourism sector in 2016 in a bid to boost the countrys economic growth.

President Widodo noted in his opening remarks during a limited meeting held to discuss the Lake Toba Tourism Destinations Development Plan at the presidential office in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“I have urged the tourism minister to speed up development activities in the top ten tourist destinations,” he noted.

The top ten tourist destinations to be developed based on the “single destination, single management” concept are the Borobudur temple, Mandalika resort, Labuhan Bajo beaches, Mount Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, Thousand Islands, Lake Toba, Wakatobi diving spot, Tanjung Lesung beaches, Morotai Islands, and Cape Tanjung Kelayang.

President Widodo is optimistic that by developing the tourism destinations, the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would also boost their productivity and absorb more manpower.

“We need a quick breakthrough in terms of regulation and work in other areas to deliver results at the earliest,” he emphasized.

In particular, the president has called to boost connectivity and accessibility in Lake Toba by improving the airport and road infrastructure.

“I am aware that two or three weeks ago, Coordinating Minister of Economy (Darmin Nasution), Public Works Minister (Basuki Hadimuljono), and Tourism Minister (Arief Yahya) had visited Lake Toba,” he remarked.

President Widodo hoped that the visit would be followed up by a concrete action plan to be rolled out in the area, including organizing marketing activities, implementing international service standards, and holding cultural and art performances.