Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Parekraf) Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, said Bali is still the largest foreign exchange earner for Indonesia, the second largest after the Oil and Gas industry. "Bali is still the top of mind for Indonesian tourism. 50% of our revenue comes from Bali, from the foreign exchange we get around US$ 20 billion a year. By the way, tourism is the second largest foreign exchange contributor after oil and gas," he explained in a special interview with Prime World. CNBC Indonesia, Wednesday (12/22/2021).

Sandi acknowledged that the government's current focus is to revive the economy of Bali and the Riau Islands. Moreover, Bali is a province with the lowest economic growth, also in terms of the largest layoffs, so it needs certainty. "This has become the center of attention of the government, especially the worrying economic situation. So I say that the ones affected are Bali and the Riau Islands, we focus on policies here," he explained. Meanwhile, other areas have prepared programs such as tourist villages in 34 provinces, as well as five super-priority destinations. So according to Sandy, the government's attention should be divided equally and focused on Bali. Starting from the focus on vaccination rates, health protocols, and the application of protective care applications.

In addition, the current government's focus is also to mobilize domestic tourists, seeing that foreign tourists are still few. From his record, foreign tourists in 2019 reached 16 million, down to 4 million in 2020, then this year it fell back to 2 million. "So foreign countries are not our focus because of COVID. Our focus is on the archipelago, it is hoped that there will be an increase in 280 million movements. This is the meat now. In the past, foreign tourists were," he explained.
Source: https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20211222193439-4-301297/sandi-uno-bali-penyumbang-devisa-terbesar-di-pariwisata-ri