Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Minister of TourismWishnutama Kusubandio on February 5 said the acute respiratory disease causedby the novel corona virus may cause losses of up to 54.8 trillion Rupiah, or 4billion USD.
Speaking to the press, the minister further said under theheavy influence of the disease, the ministry will have to readjust the goal ofrevenue for this year, stressing that this is a very difficult period fortourism in the world in general and Indonesia in particular, and adding thatthe number of foreign tourists - especially from China - is declining strongly.
To offset the losses, the minister said Indonesia isboosting domestic tourism.
In a related development, Malaysian Health Minister DrDzulkefy Ahmad the same day said two of the 107 people of the country comingback from China’s Wuhan city tested positive to the virus, raising the total numberof infected cases in Malaysia to 12./.