Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia has scrapped the proposal to collect tourism fees through airline tickets. Travelers can breathe a sigh of relief as this means no additional burden will be added to ticket prices.

This news came after Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno attended an internal meeting with President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the Jakarta Presidential Palace Complex on Monday, July 8, 2024.

"It was just an idea that wasn't pursued further, and there was no discussion about it. There's no need for the public to worry about tourism fees on airline tickets," Sandiaga said.

He explained that the public response to the initial proposal had been addressed by the President, who directed the ministry not to burden tourists with such a levy.

The beginning of the tourism fee proposal

Sandiaga further confirmed that the levy discourse did not originate from his ministry or the Ministry of Transportation. "We can say that the proposal wasn't put forward by us, nor by the Ministry of Transportation," he stated.

He had earlier revealed that the idea of collecting tourism fees through plane tickets stemmed from a letter circulated by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment headed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. The letter invited various parties to discuss the possibility of such a levy.

Tourism endowment fund

During the internal meeting, Sandiaga recalled that President Jokowi instructed the formation of the Indonesia Quality Tourism Fund (IQTF) program. This initiative will be funded by a dedicated endowment of approximately Rp2 trillion.

These funds will be used to support tourism events with the potential to attract visitors and stimulate economic growth within tourist destinations. "The initial amount agreed upon is Rp2 trillion, and that will be managed by the Ministry of Finance starting from the 2025 State Budget," Sandiaga Uno said.

The launch of this tourism endowment fund, specifically intended to finance international tourism events, is expected in August 2024.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1889707/indonesia-scraps-tourism-fee-on-airline-ticket