Lake Toba, long a tourist favourite despite notorious difficulties in access, is expected to see a boom in foreign and domestic tourists following the announcement of key infrastructure developments in North Sumatra.
The Silangit Airport in North Tapanuli regency has been tapped for development as an international airport, servicing tourists visiting from Singapore.
“We will turn Silangit Airport into an international airport within this year. Sriwijaya Air has confirmed that they can offer flights from Singapore to Silangit,” Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs Arif Havas Oegroseno said, as quoted by Detik.
Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya is confident the Sriwijaya Air route will see a boom in foreign tourists to the area, particularly to famous Lake Toba.
Oegroseno added that developments to the Medan-Tebing Tinggi-Parapat toll road are also on track, easing access to the notoriously difficult area. Next year will also see the development of the Siantar-Danau Toba railway which is expect be fully operational in 2019. This will cut the trip from Siantar to Parapat to just 3.5 hours.
Tourism investors have taken notice of the developments, with Singaporean and Chinese businesses eyeing North Sumatra projects.