PRESS RELEASE
MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND CREATIVE ECONOMY/TOURISM AND CREATIVE ECONOMY AGENCY
ID HOTELIER - Yogyakarta, February 4th 2023 - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of
Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, is optimistic that tourism in the ASEAN region will continue to grow with the support of Human Resources capacity building and MSMEs so that it is capable of facing global economic challenges.
When opening the 26th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers-ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023 at the Marriot Hotel Yogyakarta on Saturday (4/2/2023), Minister Sandiaga said that the growth in international tourist arrivals in 2022 had shown a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The latest UNWTO data showed that more than 900 million tourists traveled internationally in 2022. This number has doubled compared to 2021,” according to Minister Sandiaga.
Although the international tourist travel level has increased, this number has only grown by about 63 percent of the total international tourist travel before the pandemic.
The Middle East and Europe are the regions with the highest growth rates, which are around 83 percent
from before the pandemic. Meanwhile, the USA and Africa grew by 65 percent. For the Asia and Pacific region, the growth has only been around 23 percent from before the pandemic.
“Thus, I am pleased and grateful that we can meet in a forum that will be our beginning to increase tourism growth in the region with excitement,” he continued.
The long journey of ASEAN to face the crisis in the tourism sector in the last few decades has made each country in the region more resilient and believed to be able to deal with these challenges together.
He took an example of the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia in 2022, which is estimated to exceed the target in 2023. Especially with China having revoked the travel restriction policy, the potential for international tourist travel will increase. “Therefore, we set an ambitious target in this year and next year,” he said.
For Indonesia, he continued, the ATF meeting this time was special. The first is to continue the success of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency and to implement what has become a commitment in the Bali Guideline G20. Namely, strengthening the recovery efforts by increasing the capacity and capability of human resources.
In addition, to expand ASEAN’s goal of being the epicenter of world economic growth and make this idea relevant with impactful actions and outcomes under the framework of the 2016-2025 ASEAN tourism strategic plans.
“It has made Indonesia is eager implement the action plan by conducting re-skilling, up-skilling, and new-skilling for tourism HR. Providing training and certification to increase the ability of domestic tourism actors, especially MSMEs,” Sandiaga explained.
It is in line with the standardization of the competency standards for tourism professionals by implementing The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (ASEAN MRA-TP).
“I believe the ASEAN MRA-TP is an agreement that can be a symbol of strengthening the ASEAN economic community,” he added. The Tourism Ministers’ meeting this time will feature a series of sectoral ministerial level meetings under Indonesian chairmanship throughout this year.
“So, let’s work collaboratively and prove that tourism is a sector that drives growth, and we will collaborate towards a strong and resilient recovery,” Sandiaga said.
Attending the 26th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers-ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023 were the Permanent Secretary of Tourism and Sports Thailand, Arrun Boonchai; Minister of State Singapore, Alvin Tan; Secretary of Department Tourism Philippines, Christina Garcia Fasco.
Also present were the Minister of Culture, Information, and Tourism Lao PDR, Suanesavanh Vignaket; Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Brunei Darussalam, Dato Seri Setia Dr. Haji Abdul Manaf Bin Haji Metussin; Secretary of State Kamboja, Thok Sokhom; Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, Dato Tiong King Sing; and the Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN Secretariat, Satvinder Singh.
I Gusti Ayu Dewi Hendriyani
Head of Communication Bureau
Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency