The Indonesian government is developing a strategy to protect the tourism industry from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, including by allocating IDR 72 billion to hire influencers to promote Indonesian tourism internationally.
President Jokowi during the meeting.
In this digital era, influencers use social media such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and blogs to upload stories, images or videos that endorse or promote a product, service or experience. Influencers generally have hundreds of thousands to millions of followers, so it's not uncommon for what they promote will become viral or popular instantly.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said that the government would allocate IDR 298.5 billion to provide incentives for foreign tourists, with the distribution as follows:
IDR 98.5 billion will be given to airlines and travel agents to provide discounts
IDR 103 billion will be used for promotion budget
IDR 25 billion will be allocated for tourism activities
Rp 72 billion will be used to hire influencers
The 10 tourist destinations to be promoted are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Yogyakarta, Malang in East Java, Manado in North Sulawesi, Bali, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Bangka Belitung, and Batam and Bintan in the Riau Islands.
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Wishnutama Kusubandio, explained that the prospective influencers to be hired would be studied in detail, including through the number of viewers and subscribers on YouTube and followers on Instagram. These will all be taken into consideration before deciding who is the most appropriate influencer. The targets of foreign tourists targeted by the government include those from the United States, Europe, Australia, India and the Middle East.
