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AS VACCINATION rates grow, as the world and Indonesia move into the new normal, global digital travel platform Agoda is holding a webinar titled Collaborating Towards Recovery of the National Tourism Sector as an Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic to help hotel partners large and small to gain insights and ideas that can help them in recovery.
Attended by more than 500 participants from the hotel and tourism industry, this event discussed the readiness of the tourism industry, especially regarding the reopening of Bali to foreign tourists, as well as the importance of coordinated cooperation from the central government to tourism organizations throughout Indonesia.
According to Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno said I really appreciated the webinar initiated by Agoda. On various occasions, I said that the key to revitalizing the creative tourism sector during a pandemic can be done by implementing innovation, adaptation, and collaboration strategies. Of course, supported by 3G, Gercep (Fast Movement), Geber (Together Movement), and Gaspol (Work on all potentials to create jobs).
“Collaboration is absolutely done with various parties, because together we can formulate strategies and fight together and rise together. Therefore, let’s increase cooperation so that the tourism sector can quickly rise up so that it can open the widest possible employment opportunities and be able to move the national economy,” said Sandiaga.
According to Agoda’s search data, Bali is still the top choice of foreign tourists in 2021 compared to 2019 before the pandemic. With the reopening of Bali to foreign tourists, the need for collaboration between stakeholders is increasingly felt to be important.
“Since the pandemic, the Bali Tourism Board has collaborated with the Tourism Ministry for the provision of basic necessities, Cleanliness, Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability (CHSE) certification, vaccines, as well as 35 quarantine hotels and a number of tracing and treatment support facilities in Bali. As an association, we play an important role in helping to accelerate the implementation of these things,” said Head of Bali Tourism Board Ida Bagus Aging Partha Adnyana.
Meanwhile, I Ketut Swabawa, Head of the Association of Hospitality Leaders Indonesia (AHLI) supports closer collaboration between stakeholders. He also appreciated the existence of online travel agents, “Online-based OTA services can attract guests more quickly, easily, and practically. Rather than relying solely on their own marketing efforts, hotels can achieve faster and better results with this platform,” he said.
Similarly, Gede Gunawan, Senior Country Director, Indonesia, Agoda said that during the pandemic, Agoda helped hotels become more competitive with new solutions and features that address the growing needs of domestic tourists, such as Agoda Special Offers, GoLocal, Easy Cancel, and Hygiene Plus.
“Agoda also recently launched Vaxxed-to-Go, to support the national vaccination program. This campaign provides attractive offers and facilities for tourists who have been vaccinated with discounts of up to 15%,” he said.
He added that we continue to innovate and design solutions to support the recovery of the industry, and encourage tourism and hospitality industry players to work together to help Indonesia reopen travel smoothly. [traveltext.id/photo special]
