Indonesia’s Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies has told reporters that he and his teams have helped create three million new jobs in the tourism sector in the last twelve months. The news comes as employers in Bali have spoken up about the difficulty in finding staff as the local workforce is beginning to demand higher salaries and less stressful jobs.
Minister Sandiaga Uno told reporters about his visions for the year ahead. He said, “What excites me the most is the addition of the number of tourism workers and the creative economy, which was targeted to be 1.1 million in 2022. It is likely to be over three million. So, three times the prediction”. The Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economies is on a mission to create 4.4 million new jobs in the sector before 2024.
He continued, “The revival [of tourism] has been very visible, and the target for foreign tourist arrivals has been exceeded this year. From the optimistic target of 3.6 million, we have reached 5.2 million foreign tourists. So, the increase is almost 70 percent above the target”. He explained that the tourism sector generated IDR 300 trillion in revenue in 2022 for Indonesia as a whole.
Minster Uno shared that Indonesia’s tourism sector’s next challenge will be to sustain growth into 2023. He told reporters that removing the remaining Covid-19 community restrictions was good for tourism growth but that the country has to remain vigilant to any additional risks to public health.
He said “The President’s directives ensure that we will receive an overflow from foreign countries, but with the end of PPKM (community Covid restrictions), we will remain on standby so that of course tourism activities that have a lot of economic impact can continue to grow and recover in 2023”.
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The Tourism Minister said that Indonesia is busy with tourists over the New Year holidays and that he hopes this trend will continue throughout 2023. Speaking to reporters on Monday 2nd January, he said “Yesterday, the concert in Labuan Bajo was full of 6,000 participants, and almost every activity in leading destinations, Bali and five other super priority destinations was packed, and there is no doubt. This is what’s exciting, we will maintain the momentum of this recovery.”
Tourism in Bali is undoubtedly increasing. Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Sugito, spoke with reporters earlier his week to confirm immigration figures for Bali in 2022. He revealed that 2,176,004 international arrivals landed at Bali Airport in 2022. In December, the General Manager of Bali Airport confirmed that across the domestic and international terminals, more than 10 million tourist movements had been fulfilled since borders reopened in February 2022.
The new jobs that Minister Uno is celebrating are proving to be an asset to the economy as financial experts predict economic growth in the year ahead. Yet many employers in Bali have shared their struggle to bring in new staff. There has been a clear shift in the kinds of jobs Balinese tourism workers are seeking in the post-pandemic era.
Jobs on cruise ships are becoming increasingly popular and readily available for Balinese workers. Roles for ‘unskilled workers’ on cruise ships offer between USD 16,000-22000 as an entry salary with a generous package of benefits; food, board, and the chance to travel.
Ida Bagus Nuyama told reporters how he was a housekeeper for a hotel in Bali before the pandemic. He has now signed up as a GoJek driver, earns nearly double his previous wage, and doesn’t have the same levels of stress around his work. He said, “Now I earn four million rupiah (USD 257) a month after paying for expenses, and it’s not hard work like at the villa. I just drive around and listen to music all day.”
As has been the case for workers worldwide, tourism workers in Bali are reevaluating what they want and need from their jobs moving forward.
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Steven
Tuesday 10th of January 2023
Good to see the local economy recovering. If there is a surplus of vacancies then salaries will rise to meet demand. This is good as imagine trying to live on 1.5million a month. 800 for a cheap kos and 600 rent for the cheapest bike leaves you with 100k to feed yourself for a month. Local workers have been struggling for too long. Sure prices will go up, but they have anyway. Businesses need to be more responsible to their staff and treat them like human beings instead of slaves. Give them holiday entitlement also, i know many staff who are scared to take time off incase they lose their jobs and if they do its unpaid leave. They are entitled to 1 weeks paid leave, which a lot of businesses do not honour.