REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has praised several airlines for operating flights to Silangit Airport, North Sumatra, to help boost tourism in Lake Toba.
The route to Silangit was served by Susi Air, Garuda Indonesia, and Sriwijaya Air, and later by Wing Air since May 27, the minister noted in a statement here on Tuesday.
"Tourism in Lake Toba is becoming more open," he remarked.
Some 15 thousand foreign tourists visited Loka Toba in 2012, but the figure dropped to 11 thousand in 2013.
Some 180 thousand domestic and foreign tourists visited Lake Toba in 2014.
The government has designated Lake Toba as one of the 10 priority tourist destinations whose infrastructure and facilities are being developed or improved to make the region the "new Bali."
Some one million foreign tourists are expected to visit Lake Toba by 2019.
Lake Toba measuring 640 square kilometers (km), with a length of some 100 km and width of some 30 km, is the world's largest volcanic lake and the second-largest after Lake Victoria in Africa.
Lake Toba, having a depth of 500 meters, is one of the world's 10 deepest lakes.
Garuda Indonesia has opened a flight route to Silangit Airport since March 22, 2016.
Serving three flights per week, Garuda operates the CRJ-1000 NextGen "Explore Jet" aircraft, having a seating capacity for 96 passengers.
The government has intensified infrastructure development in areas around Lake Toba, including by constructing a toll road connecting Medan, Kuala Namu, and Tebing Tinggi.
The toll road is expected to be completed in 2017.
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