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THE Island of the Gods (Bali island) is a popular place for newlyweds who want to enjoy togetherness at the beginning of their marriage with their honeymoon, but the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the characteristics of domestic tourists who want to unwind in Bali.
General Manager of Sanctoo Suites & Villas in Gianyar, Subali Adi Putra, said that before the pandemic occurred, villas were usually a favorite vacation spot for two lovebirds on their honeymoon. Based on internal statistics, more families are coming now. There used to be a lot of “honeymoon-er”, now there are no honeymooners.
Villas that used to be attractive places for new couples are now considered safer places to vacation because tourists can have more freedom of activity without meeting other people. Its separate position, private facilities that can be enjoyed make tourists feel more comfortable releasing fatigue in the villa. One of them is there is no need to share a swimming pool with other tourists because the villas are usually equipped with a private pool.
Another shift in tourist characteristics has to do with the origin of the guests. Under normal conditions, he receives many foreign guests from various places. When territorial restrictions were implemented, foreign tourists could not freely come to the island of Bali, so now the market is dominated by domestic tourists.
Apart from the attractive facilities offered, security and safety in the midst of the corona virus outbreak are still a priority.
“They hope that the health protocol is implemented,” said Subali regarding the main preferences of guests who vacation at his place during the pandemic.
In an effort to restore the rotation of the national economy in the tourism sector, the Ministry of Tourism is running the #DiIndonesiaAja campaign to increase the confidence of tourists in tourism again, and invite national tourism industry stakeholders to improve policies and discipline on safe travel.
The health and safety of tourists is a top priority where hygiene, health, safety and environmental protocols Cleanliness, Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability (CHSE) in hotels, public facilities areas, transportation and tourist destinations must be implemented properly.
Sanctoo Suites & Villas is one of the lodgings that has received the ticket label CLEAN from the online travel agency tiket.com. This feature, which was introduced in June 2020, is a guarantee that partners working with tiket.com have met the standardization of health and hygiene protocols issued by official bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
Sanctoo Suites & Villas has implemented various protocols, some of which are checking body temperature for visitors, providing hand washing stations and hand sanitizers in public areas, routine disinfection, and requiring guests and staff to wear masks.
This place is part of around 2000 hotel partners in Bali and Nusa Tenggara that have received the ticket label Clean.
This online travel agency is holding a Return to Bali and Nusa Tenggara program in order to revive domestic tourism in a new adaptation period by providing various discounts for hotel bookings in the area during December.
“Bali and Nusa Tenggara have a variety of tourist attractions and high commitment, especially from local governments and the industry to receive tourists with strict health protocols,” said Area Manager for East Indonesia, tiket.com, Rajasa Oktavio Hadisoemarto.
The stretching of tourism in Bali can also be felt at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park, Badung Regency, which again opened visits for tourists. About 800 people visited there that day, but the officers still limited the number of people who entered the pedestal of the GWK statue to only 100 people at the same time from a maximum capacity of 500 people. [antaranews/photo special]
