PHRI urges boost in domestic tourist movement amid rupiah depreciation

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) has stressed the importance of boosting the movement of domestic tourists (wisnus) at a time when the rupiah exchange rate against the dollar is weakening. “We must learn a great deal from what happened during the COVID-19 period, when the mainstay was domestic tourists rather than foreign tourists. Especially amidst a situation like this,” said PHRI Secretary General Maulana Yusran when contacted by ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday. Yusran assessed that the weakening rupiah exchange rate could be an advantage for foreign tourists, who would get cheaper prices when buying tickets to visit and explore the beauty of Indonesia. He agreed this situation could boost foreign tourist visits. Domestic residents prefer to travel or stay overnight within short distances (staycation) and do not spread out to other regions. In addition, workers also need to take leave to travel further, even though there is already a Work From Anywhere (WFA) policy. This causes domestic tourists to tend to concentrate in familiar destinations such as Java or Bali. Yusran expressed hope that the government could increase people’s purchasing power so that the impact of tourism can be felt by the community widely and evenly. The hotel industry is extensively coordinating with partners to promote the beauty of destinations in various regions through social media platforms so that tourist visits can increase and they firm up their choice to stay at nearby hotels. In addition, according to PHRI, hotel managers are also routinely preparing themes to welcome tourists in accordance with holiday periods. Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Puspa stated on Monday (8/6) that the Ministry of Tourism supports the implementation of the BINA Holiday & Back to School 2026 programme, which runs from 8 June to 12 July 2026. She expressed hope the programme could increase Indonesian public consumption while contributing to achieving the target of 1.176 billion domestic tourist trips and 16-17 million foreign tourist visits.