Tourism Quotes Are Considered Harmful to Consumers and at Risk of Violating the Law

Tourism quotes are intended to be a source of funds for Indonesian tourism. This discourse was rejected by many parties.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Passengers enter the departure area at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, on Monday (8/4/2024). The Ministry of Transportation recorded that the number of air passengers occupied the highest position of all public transportation modes during this year's Eid al-Fitr holiday period. Up until Saturday or four days before Eid, the number of air transportation users was recorded as 320,240 passengers.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The ongoing discourse on tourism tourism continues to receive resistance from various groups. Not only does it harm the public as customers, but it also risks violating the law. Rejection of tourism quotes continues to flow from a number of groups, including academics, business people and members of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

According to the General Chair of the Indonesian Tourism Scholars Association, Azril Azhari, quotations or dues must be returned in the form of services. If it is only in the form of a levy or fee, this is increasingly unjustified.

”For transportation airplanes, airport services, services of all kinds from departure to arrival at the destination airport, that, right, has been paid for at the price of tickets< /a>. "If you add to that, aviation fuel alone is expensive, then tickets will become even more expensive, that will be a problem later," he said when contacted from Jakarta, Friday (26/4/2024).

Also read: Tourism Industry Rejects Discourse on Quoting Tourism Funds on Flight Tickets

Airplane passengers will question the existence of additional quotes, especially if these funds go to the Indonesian tourism fund (ITF). This is because the formation of a fund must have a clear legal basis.

If this tourism quote is still charged to passengers, even international passengers who are not domestic, the number of movements to Indonesia could decrease. Not to mention, not all airline passengers come to Indonesia for tourism purposes.

"People are becoming increasingly upset. Their funds are being spent on Indonesia but not enjoyed. Tourism is not being enjoyed because of the high ticket prices. Then, all other modes of transportation tickets, such as trains and buses, will also be affected. These will also be charged domestically," said Azril.

Also read: Will Airplane Ticket Prices Be Affordable Again?

He assessed that this tourism quote shows that Indonesian society is unable to develop this industry independently. The government seeks funding from external sources beyond the national budget because it is unable to develop tourism with the existing funds.

The Indonesian National Aviation Association (INACA) also spoke out. Tourism and tourists are just one of the various types of airplane passengers.

INACA General Chair Denon Prawiraatmadja said that the aviation business is currently in a rebound condition after slumping due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there are many obstacles faced by Indonesian airlines so that the process is not as optimal as international airlines.

KOMPAS/YOSEPHA DEBRINA R PUSPARISA

The Chairman of the Indonesian National Association of Civil Aviation Companies (INACA), Denon Prawiraatmadja, answered journalists' questions in Jakarta on Thursday (2/11/2023). He hopes that the government will review the policy regarding the upper limit tariff for aircraft, which has remained unchanged since 2019.

The reason, according to Denon, is that the availability of aircraft and its spare parts is still minimal. This also happens due to the lack of human resources ready to work in the aviation industry.

In addition, operational costs have increased due to the rising price of avtur fuel. This is also in line with the weakening exchange rate of the rupiah against the US dollar.

"In fact, around 70 percent of flight operational costs are influenced by the US dollar, including the price of aviation fuel, aircraft rental costs, maintenance costs, and procurement of spare partsand others," said Denon.

Also read: Expensive Airplane Tickets Become a Global Complaint

At the same time, flight rates since 2019 have not been adjusted by the government, even though the components of flight tariff costs have increased. For example, the US dollar exchange rate in 2019 was Rp 14,102 per dollar, which then rose to Rp 16,182 in 2024. The nominal value has increased by 15 percent. A similar trend occurred in the selling price of oil per barrel during the same period, from 64 US dollars to 87.48 US dollars or an increase of 37 percent.

”Thus, the imposition of tourism fees on airline tickets would be counterproductive. "Because ticket prices are rising, the number of passengers is falling, and airline business conditions are also falling," said Denon.

ALIF ICHWAN

The tickets of several airplane passengers are ready to be checked by airport officials. The government in Jakarta, on Friday (27/9/2019), hopes that airplane ticket prices can become affordable for the public. Indonesian airlines can have discussions with each other to resolve ticketing issues in order to make them accessible to the public.

Breaking the law

Similar statements were made by member of the Indonesian House of Representatives' Commission V, Sigit Sosiantomo. The inclusion of quotes in the calculation of airplane tickets has the risk of violating the law.

"I reject the government's plan to collect tourism fees from airline passengers. Besides burdening passengers as it will automatically cause fares to skyrocket, it also has the potential to violate laws such as Law Number 1 of 2009 concerning Aviation," said Sigit in a written statement, as quoted from the DPR website.

He continued, according to Article 126 of the Aviation Law, the determination of economy class passenger fares is calculated based on the distance fare components, taxes, mandatory insurance contributions, as well as surcharges. The fee component is a fee charged because there are additional costs incurred by air transportation companies outside of determining the tax rate.

"Taxes and fees have very different meanings. There is no terminology for tourism fees in the aviation law itself. The government should not be foolish as this clearly has the potential to violate the law," said a politician from the Justice and Prosperity Party Faction.

Previously, the government planned to implement tourism quotes via flight tickets. Later, the fees obtained will add to the ITF's pockets. This plan is still being studied, but a number of parties have responded negatively to this idea.

Deputy of Tourism and Creative Economy at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Odo RM Manuhutu, stated that the government is currently preparing a draft regulation on a quality tourism endowment fund. The drafting process involves various ministries and institutions.

The discourse of developing tourism through active participation of various parties is still under study and initial discussions involving diverse sectors. The study considers many factors, such as economic and social impacts. Increased targets for domestic tourist movements are also being considered.

"Various policies related to quality tourism aim to provide significant benefits that will be felt by the community. These efforts also support Indonesia Golden 2045," said Odo.

Also read: This is the Difference between a Tourist Visit Visa and a "Visa on Arrival"