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By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The provincial authorities of Jakarta is hoping to draw extra Filipino vacationers this yr, because the tourism sector rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We try to advertise Jakarta to extra Filipinos as a result of we see potential within the Philippine market,” Hari Wibowo, who heads the Advertising and Attraction Division of the Tourism and Artistic Financial system Workplace of the Jakarta provincial authorities, informed BusinessWorld final week.
“The easing of well being restrictions and the reopening of our institutions make us hopeful that the tourism sector in Jakarta will enhance this yr.”
The Indonesian economic system grew 5.31% in 2022, its greatest annual development charge since 2013. This was pushed by sturdy family consumption after the federal government lifted most pandemic restrictions. All remaining pandemic curbs had been moved in December as coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19) infections plunged.
Mr. Wibowo mentioned they plan to ask extra journey businesses from the Philippines to tourism occasions in Jakarta, which is the capital and largest metropolis of Indonesia.
“Jakarta is a vacation spot for each enterprise and leisure and we see it as a primary city vacation spot,” he mentioned. “That is the place for doing enterprise.”
He described Jakarta because the central enterprise hub in Indonesia, with plans to develop direct flights with varied airways in Southeast Asia.
Jakarta is residence to historic landmarks reminiscent of Outdated Batavia, which incorporates authentic Dutch buildings courting again to the 17th century, a few of which have been transformed into museums and cafés.
It additionally has huge fashionable multipurpose buildings just like the Grand Indonesia and the state-owned division retailer PT Sarinah, the primary high-rise constructing within the metropolis.
Jakarta additionally boasts the most important stadium advanced with a retractable roof in Asia, with its Jakarta Worldwide Stadium having a seating capability of 82,000 folks.
Town can be residence to the Kepulauan Seribu, which interprets to the Thousand Islands, a series of about 342 islands and seashores stretching 45 kilometers into the Java Sea.
MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS
Mr. Wibowo mentioned the authorities is engaged on extra direct flights between the Philippines and Jakarta to spice up tourism.
Philippine Airways (PAL) presently operates 10 weekly direct flights between Manila and Jakarta, PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna mentioned in a Viber message.
Final yr, Jakarta reported 14,890 customer arrivals from the Philippines, considerably larger than the two,540 in 2021, based on knowledge from the Jakarta provincial authorities.
Nevertheless, that is nonetheless a far cry from the 57,593 Filipinos who visited Jakarta in 2018 and 45,521 in 2019.
The Philippines ranked third amongst international guests to Jakarta earlier than the pandemic in 2019, Mr. Wibowo mentioned.
“Hopefully, with extra collaborative initiatives between our two international locations this yr, we hope to have extra Filipino vacationers in Jakarta,” he mentioned.
Indonesia is concentrating on between 3.5 and seven.4 million international vacationers this yr.
Final yr, Indonesia attracted 5.47 million international guests, greater than 3 times the quantity within the earlier yr. Nevertheless, that is nonetheless nicely under the 16.1 million guests it welcomed in 2019.
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