| Arief Yahya | |
| Office: | 11th Minister of Tourism |
| Term Start: | 27 October 2014 |
| Term End: | 23 October 2019 |
| President: | Joko Widodo |
| Successor: | Wishnutama |
| Birth Date: | 1961 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia |
| Nationality: | Indonesian |
| Party: | Non Party |
| Relations: | Said Suhadi (Father) Siti Badriya (Mother) |
| Children: | 4 |
| Profession: | Professional |
Arief Yahya (born 2 April 1961 in Banyuwangi) is the former Minister of Tourism of Indonesia between 2014 and 2019 in the Working Cabinet of President Joko Widodo. Prior to becoming a minister, he had been the CEO at state-owned Telkom Indonesia between 2012 and his appointment.
Yahya was born in Banyuwangi, East Java on 2 March 1961, his father a merchant while her mother was a stay-at-home parent. At the age of 18, he was admitted to the Bandung Institute of Technology to study electrical engineering. Later, he would receive a scholarship from his workplace to study at Surrey University. He continued to earn his doctorate at Padjadjaran University, graduating with a business management degree in 2014.[1] [2]
He started working at Telkom Indonesia in 1986. There, he gradually rose up the corporate ranks, at points becoming head of a local office, a regional division, then becoming a director of enterprise and wholesale.[1]
In 2012, he was appointed by the government as CEO, replacing Rinaldi Firmansyah.[3]
He was appointed minister of tourism by newly elected Joko Widodo in 2014.[4] In 2015, his ministry set a target to have 20 million foreign visitors by 2019, with visits that year numbering around 9 million per year. By 2017, the number had increased to 14 million.[5]