The Indonesian government has declared five locations as the country’s DPSP, namely Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Likupang in North Sulawesi, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara.
“Flight Centre has yet to offer tour packages to destinations in Indonesia other than Bali. Hence, we would like to encourage the travel agent to devise new tour packages with Indonesia’s five DPSP as destinations,” he noted in a statement received from his office here.
Uno made the statement during his visit to the office of Australia’s largest travel agent in Sydney on Monday (February 19).
Uno said the new destinations can be included in packages he termed as “Bali Add-on Destinations” that will bring customers to visit Bali and other destinations in a single trip to Indonesia.
The minister expressed belief that such packages would further boost the number of Australian tourists visiting Indonesia. Over the course of 2023, a total of 1,431,177 tourist visits from Australia to Indonesia were registered.
“Hopefully, Indonesia and Australia will further step up their cooperation to push for an even spread of foreign tourists, increase the length of their stay, and boost the spending of tourists during their visits,” he remarked.
He then drew attention to the levy of Rp150 thousand (around US$9.59) imposed by the Bali provincial government on foreign tourists entering the province, starting on February 14, 2024.
Uno explained that the levy is meant to ensure that every visit of foreign tourists contributes to the preservation of culture and environment in Bali, supporting the province’s principle of sustainable tourism.
“The imposition of the levy is expected to help the government improve Balinese cultural tourism information services, build quality public facilities and infrastructure, and maintain cleanliness, order, comfort, and security on the island of Bali,” he concluded.
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