NEW DATA collated from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that Indonesia is set to see an increase in employment as the country’s travel and tourism sector grows.

In 2016, the travel and tourism industry contributed 6.2 percent of Indonesia’s overall GDP, which is the equivalent of IDR770 trillion. Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta contributes 41 percent of the travel and tourism income in the whole of Indonesia.

A general trend that has remained over the last decade in Indonesia is that leisure spending formulates the highest percentage of contribution to the GDP. In 2016, leisure travel spending, inbound and domestic, accounted for 74.8 percent of the overall tourism sector income; compared to only 25.3 percent for business spending.

“Travel and tourism is an important contributor to Indonesia’s economy, accounting for over 6 percent of the GDP. In addition, with foreign visitors spend contributing IDR$220 trillion to the economy, travel and tourism accounted for over 55 percent of Indonesia’s service sector exports,” WTTC CEO and President Gloria Guevara said at the Panorama Mega Conference in Jakarta.

“I congratulate the government of President Widodo, in particular, Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya, on their prioritization of and commitment to our industry. Thanks to their support for the travel and tourism sector, 2.4 million new jobs will be created.”

Tourism to Indonesia has more than doubled over the past decade. Nearly 10 million international tourists visited the archipelagic nation in 2015. This number steadily grew through 2016 as Indonesia took the decision to waive visa restrictions.

However, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, has set targets for attracting 20 million visitors by 2019, which is more than double the current amount.

This tourism surge has increased the viability of Indonesians finding employment. 2017 saw a 1.7 percent growth in employment as a direct contribution from the travel and tourism industry. This figure indicates a total of 2.4 million new jobs being created as the nations travel and tourism sector grows.

“Indonesia is a prime example of a government which is taking the right approach to tourism development with strategic investment to support sustainable growth and policies which facilitate travel,” Guevara said.

Source: http://travelwireasia.com/2018/02/travel-tourism-sector-create-2-4m-jobs-indonesia/