An Indonesian health official takes temperature readings of arriving passengers at the Jakarta international Airport on Feb 23, 2020. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out around 85trillion rupiah (5.87 billion USD)of Indonesia’s tourism revenue so far this year, forcing business associationsto call on the government to provide a greater stimulus for the virus-batteredindustry.
Thehotel and restaurant industry has lost nearly 70 trillion rupiah in revenue as leisure travel hascome to a complete halt, while aviation and tour operators have lost 15trillion rupiah in revenue, according to data from the Indonesian Hotel and RestaurantAssociation (PHRI).
Morethan 95 percent of workers in the tourism sector are being furloughed without pay, PHRI chairman Hariyadi Sukamdanitold lawmakers during a hearing on July 14, adding that 2,000 hotels and8,000 restaurants closed during the first three months of the outbreak, whichstarted in March in Indonesia.
Hariyaditold lawmakers that the government’s tax incentives were not an effectivemeasure to stop the bleeding, adding that many workers in the tourist sectorcould not access the government’s pre-employment card programme, resulting in afurther blow to the industry.
Bankswill need to extend the debt-restructuring programme and provide workingcapital loans to rescue businesses in the tourist sector, he said.
FromJanuary to May, Indonesia recorded just 2.9 million foreign tourist visits, a53.56 percent drop from the same period last year, according to Statistics Indonesia(BPS) data.
Thegovernment has allocated 695.2 trillion rupiah from the state budget as astimulus to strengthen the healthcare system and bolster the economy amid thecoronavirus pandemic. However, business associations and economists have openlycriticised the slow stimulus disbursement, which they say will risk recovery inSoutheast Asia’s biggest economy.
Thetourist sector was being abandoned by the government as the stimulus aimed atrescuing businesses had not yet arrived after three months of pandemic, IndonesianChamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman for tourism KosmianPudjiadi said.
Tourism-relatedbusinesses would go bankrupt by the end of year if the government and bankswere unable to provide the much-needed cash injections to businesses and stimulateconsumer demand for businesses to survive throughout the pandemic, headded./.
VNA
