The Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) has issued a circular letter recommending its members to continue using the old entertainment tax tariff while waiting for the judicial review result of the Ministry of Finance’s decision to raise the tax.
Speaking to the media, GIPI chairman Haryadi Sukamdani said: “We have submitted the (judicial review appeal) but we are projecting the process will take time as the Constitutional Court (is likely) to be busy handling national and presidential election-related complaints, therefore we recommend entertainment services affected by the new regulation to refer to the old tariff.”
He explained this would help maintain the continuity of entertainment businesses, including discos, karaoke, nightclubs, bars and steam baths/spas, and minimise the impact of rate increases on demands.
He said: “Moreover, these sectors open up many job opportunities for the community. I must help my members. We don’t want to lose them.”
In the meantime, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE) has done a temporary study of the impact of the increase in entertainment services tax on business and came up with a couple of recommendations that would benefit not only the affected entertainment industry but the whole tourism sector.
Sandiaga Uno, minister of tourism and creative economy, commented: “We agree with the coordinating minister for economy’s proposal (and recommend) for a 10 per cent (company) income tax reduction for the tourism sector.”
MoTCE has also recommended to the regional governments to provide incentives on investments and events to maintain the interests of investors and event organisers to prevent workforce retrenchment. Sandiaga added that the higher the tax is, the lower the interest from “investors and event planners to do business here”.
According to Sandiaga, Bali provincial and districts have issued a fiscal incentive policy, including the regional government in Labuan Bajo – he hopes other provinces will follow suit.
TransNusa Airline, a subsidiary of Linkasia Airlines Group and Panca Global International Indonesia, has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally.
Established in 2005. TranNusa stopped operations in 2020 due to the global pandemic and was sold. In 2022, the airline saw the injection of new shareholders – Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group (49 per cent) – and a new management team, which developed a unique business model that allowed TransNusa to rebrand itself as a Premium Service Carrier.
TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis remarked that TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in South-east Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
“We knew that traveller’s behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers,” he said, adding that the airline has flown over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
In April last year, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route. Subsequently in the same year, the airline also launched three new routes – Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou, and Jakarta-Johor.
Francis, an aviation industry expert who specialises in airline turnaround and revenue management, said that TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airline has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
“Last year, we expanded our operations to include international routes and even became the second Indonesian airline to fly into China. We also managed to obtain all necessary approvals in a short timeframe from world-class Changi airport, reflecting the strong commitment we have towards safety, security, maintenance and aircraft performance measures,” he said.
On the airline’s future expansion, Francis shared that the airline has plans to further expand its international network, as well as to establish another domestic hub and provide its domestic market with premium services.
He stressed that TransNusa’s current services exceeded that of a low-cost airline.
“For our domestic and international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called Seat, Seat-Plus and Flexi-Pro,” he explained.
Depending on the product purchased, passengers can enjoy check-in baggage weighing between 15kg and 30kg. Flexi-Pro features include checking in baggage of up to 30kg, seat choices, free F&B, priority check-in and boarding, as well as the flexibility to change the flight schedule and receive refunds if needed.
In addition, all TransNusa flights will only depart and arrive at major international airports, allowing passengers to enjoy the world-class services offered at these international terminals.