President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced on Thursday that he is considering forming a holding company for aviation and tourism state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as well as developing international hub airports, to help revive the industries, which have been battered by the COVID-19 health crisis.

Jokowi said he aimed to integrate SOE management to improve consolidation and boost tourism, including airlines, airport management, tourism destination operators and hotels.

“I think the current tourism downturn is the right moment to start a consolidation and transformation in the tourism and the aviation sectors, and we could establish an SOE holding firm [for] a unified vision,” he said during a limited Cabinet meeting in Jakarta.

Jokowi’s proposal comes after the country saw its economy contract 5.32 percent, for the first time since 1999, with the transportation and warehousing sector suffering a 30.84 percent decline from last year, the steepest drop of all sectors.

The pandemic has depressed both the aviation and tourism industries, as people stay at home amid social restrictions. The tourism sector is estimated to have lost Rp 85 trillion (US$5.87 billion) in revenue so far this year as the pandemic unfolds, according to data from the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI).

According to the association’s data, the hotel and restaurant industry has lost nearly Rp 70 trillion in revenue, while aviation and tour operators have lost Rp 15 trillion in revenue as leisure travel ground to a halt.

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