Lake Toba to Become World's Tourist Destination: Minister

Jakarta, March 1 (Antara) - Tourism Affairs Minister Arief Yahya has expressed optimism that Lake Toba in the Indonesian Province of North Sumatra will become a top tourist destination in the world, attracting a lot of domestic and foreign tourists. "The development of Lake Toba must not remain stagnant, and must continue as planned," the minister said in his written remarks received here on Tuesday. In addition, Minister Arief Yahya today (Tuesday) accompanied President Joko Widodo (Jokowi's) during a visit to Lake Toba. During the visit, President Jokowi urged the national flag carrier to operate flights to Silangit Airport in North Tapanuli District, to serve visitors to Lake Toba. "By late March (this year), I will convince Garuda to serve Toba with three flights," Jokowi said here while chairing a meeting to discuss the development of Lake Toba as a priority tourist destination, here on Tuesday. While inspecting the Silangit airport on Tuesday morning, it was decided that the airport would be renovated, he noted. "This morning, I decided that the terminal would be improved, and runways widened and extended in length so that a Boeing aircraft could land," he said. He hoped that the renovation would be completed at the latest by this year-end, but the airport management company, PT Angkasa Pura II, has pledged to finish the work by September 2016. According to Arief Yahya, one of key reasons for success in developing tourism at Lake Toba is the fact that the management is being undertaken jointly by seven district heads surrounding it, namely Samosir, Toba Samosir, Simalungun, Tapanuli Utara, Karo, Dairi, and Humbang Hasundutan. ***1*** Reported by Budi Setiawanto