A statement regarding media misrepresentation
|August 16, 2020
In a statement made by Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, is quoted as saying:
“It looks like we will not be welcoming foreign tourists until the end of the year. We will just be consolidating first,” Luhut Pandjaitan, the chief minister for maritime affairs and investment, told Indonesia’s business community in a virtual forum on Thursday.
As the NSWA, representing 20 resorts in North Sulawesi, we stress that this statement is not supported by any official government bodies who actually can make decisions like this. Clearly, it is not up to any one minister to make such claims.
However, we believe that the Minister has been misquoted, or his intentions got lost in translation while speaking to the press. It is therefore unfortunate that this statement made its way to media outlets without verification or fact-checking through proper channels, potentially harming our tourism sector.
Another consequence of claims like this is that travel organizations and agents take this statement as fact, which is then followed by more cancellations for 2020.
This is why we urge every travel agent and guest who made a booking to wait before deciding to cancel. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all of our member resorts have drastically adjusted their terms & conditions providing long-term rebookings, to continue to offer our services by the time travel restrictions are lifted.
In the mean time, hopefully there will be a clarification from Indonesia’s tourism department or other related ministries.
From all of us, thank you for your patience and understanding.
Additional source: CNN Indonesia
