Arief Yahya has been the current Minister of Tourism of Indonesia since October 2014 in the Working Cabinet of President Joko Widodo. Prior to being appointed as minister, he served as CEO in Telkom Indonesia, the telecommunication state-owned enterprises in Indonesia.
Mr. Yahya had a long career within PT Telekom and held several strategic positions from1986. Prior to becoming CEO he was Director of Enterprise & Holsale at the company for an 8-year period. Mr. Yahya also served as President Commissioner of another very important state-owned enterprise, PT Sigma Capital Caraka. In terms of awards, he was recognized with the Satya Lencana Pembangunan medal by the President of the Republic of Indonesia in 2006) and cited as a Business Future Leader by SWA Magazine in that same year. Mr. Yahya graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology in 1986 and a Masters degree in Telecommunication Engineering from University of Surrey in 1994.
As minister of Tourism, he aims to position Indonesia as 'a wish- list country' for world travellers. Under the leadership of Minister Arief Yahya, Indonesia's Tourism industry is expected to be boosted. He aims to make tourism the core of the nation's economy after projecting the sector to be the biggest contributor to foreign reserves.
In line with the policy of President Joko Widodo, the maritime sector also became an important agenda of economic development for tourism in Indonesia. Since 2015, the Minister of Tourism ha been intensively focussing on promoting Indonesian marine and cruise tourism attractions. This is inspired by the Indonesian archipelago having over 17,000 islands and coastal areas that offer diverse experiences and tourism activities.
To boost tourism, the Ministry of Tourism is working on preparing 10 destinations which will be promoted with destination branding and integrated marketing communication plan, namely: Great Jakarta; Great Bali; Great Riau Islands; Joglosemar (Jogjakarta, Solo, and Semarang); Bunaken, Wakatobi, and Raja Ampat; Medan; Lombok; Makassar; Bandung; Banyuwangi.
