JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesia, which expects to lose an estimated US$4 mil (RM16mil) as a result of flight cancellations to and from mainland China amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, is focusing on attracting domestic tourists to popular destinations across Indonesia. But as we know, there are 2 million Chinese tourists in the country every year, each of whom spend an average of US$1,400. It means we’ll probably lose about US$4 million, ” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama said after a private meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday (Feb 4). To recoup the losses, he said the ministry planned to lobby a number of airlines to offer flight packages to domestic destinations. “I, along with Transportation Minister [Budi Karya Sumadi], will discuss the matter with about 30 airlines that are probably able to reroute to domestic destinations and, therefore, support local tourism, ” Wishnutama said.

Source: The Star February 06, 2020 04:52 UTC