Padang (ANTARA) - Andalas University (Unand) academics Dr. Sari Lenggogeni assesses that it takes at least two years to restore the tourism sector in the country which down due to the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
The tourism sector is very vulnerable to natural disasters and crises. At present there is a health crisis that has made the interest of people to travel down dramatically, she said in Padang on Tuesday at an online press conference facilitated by the West Sumatra Indonesian Journalists Association (IJTI).
According to her, referring to the data reported by the WTO, which is a UN agency in tourism field, this condition is same with a decrease in tourists for seven years from the current number.
It also caused around 400 million people in the world in tourism to lose their jobs, she said, who is the Chairperson of the Tourism Development Center of Andalas University.
She considered currently the world is in uncertainty because there is no medicine to overcome the impact of corona, and make tourism interest down.
"This is not only the problem of Indonesia but the problem of the world," she said.
Therefore, what can be done now is to evaluate the development of tourism so far and the main priority is mutual safety, she said.
She conveyed that if there were good regulations, the tourism would be able to enter the recovery phase.
While Chairman of the West Sumatra Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Alan Maulana Yusran acknowledged that the West Sumatra tourism sector has plummeted since the outbreak of the corona virus.
"From the 110 hotels collected in PHRI in West Sumatra, there were 26 hotels temporarily closed and around 2,500 employees were laid off," he said.
Related to the stimulus plan provided by the government in the form of hotel tax exemption, he considered the tax was actually levied from guests staying.
"If there are no guests staying overnight what can to be levied, but if the government help in the form free building and land tax or electricity payment relief, it will be more usefull," he said.
Besides that, guides also have significant impact. In fact, almost all tour guides are no longer active.
"Hundreds of members of the West Sumatra Indonesian Guides Association are forced to stay at home, because there are no more tourists coming to be guided," said West Sumatra HPI chairman Buddy.
Transleted by: Mutiara Ramadhani
Baca juga: 26 hotels in West Sumatra were temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Baca juga: 2.500 karyawan hotel di Sumbar dirumahkan akibat COVID-19
Baca juga: Akademisi : butuh waktu hingga dua tahun untuk pulihkan sektor pariwisata
Need until two years to restore the tourism sector : Academics
Academician Andalas University (Unand) Padang Dr. Sari Lenggogeni. (Antara / IJTI West Sumatra)
