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ALL AIRLINES, both national and international, are advised to always comply with procedures and rules in accordance with applicable laws in an effort to ensure safety, especially tourists.
This response was given by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno in “The Weekly Press Briefing” which was held online, Monday (01/02) 2023 regarding an internal miscommunication at the Jetstar Melbourne head office. Flight JQ35 from Melbourne to Denpasar on 27 December 2022 was decided to return to base, because it departed without the required flight approval to arrive in Denpasar.
“Jetstar is currently thoroughly reviewing the incident and will implement procedures to prevent this from happening again. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy also reminded airlines to comply with applicable procedures and rules in an orderly manner. Regulations must be upheld for the sake of our safety,” said Sandiaga.
If all applicable procedures and regulations are complied with by all airlines, it will greatly assist the Ministry of Tourism’s performance target of achieving 3.5 million-7.4 million foreign tourists in 2023 and 1.2 billion-1.4 billion tourist movements. archipelago.
“And Bali as one of the leading destinations in Indonesia is expected to be able to support this target with the number of foreign tourist visits of four million in 2023,” he said.
Besides that, Sandiaga said Indonesia was very ready to welcome foreign tourists, including tourists from China. Because the COVID-19 pandemic situation is under control, even the level of immunity or immunity of the Indonesian people is above 98%. In addition, Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday (12/30) 2022) has officially revoked the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM).
Therefore, the Chinese Government’s policy of opening the border for tourists on January 8, 2023 was positively welcomed by the Ministry of Tourism, which was accompanied by the implementation of the CHSE protocol.
Until now, the Government of Indonesia is still implementing the SE Task Force for Handling COVID-19 Number 25 dated 1 September 2022 for Arrangements for Foreign Travelers (PPLN). However, related ministries/agencies are still coordinating to formulate the best policy.
“In welcoming Chinese tourists, we do it in principle, of course, to be open with great care,” said Sandiaga.
He said that there had been several requests from Chinese international airlines to open direct flights to Jakarta and Bali, such as Air China, China Eastern and China Southern. It is hoped that national airlines such as Garuda, Lion Air, and Batik will be able to meet the demand for direct flights.
This direct flight will make it easier for Chinese tourists coming to Indonesia. Because usually Chinese tourists who want to go to Bali go through Singapore first, then go to Soekarno Hatta Airport using domestic flights to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali. Another alternative, Chinese tourists use direct flights from Singapore to Bali.
As for the number of tourist visits from China and Hong Kong, according to data from BPS, there were only 94,924 visits in the January-October 2022 period. This number is still relatively small compared to before the pandemic which touched 2.07 million tourist visits from China in 2019.
“Therefore, the target of Chinese tourists this year (2023) is 253 thousand, we are very confident that it can be realized,” Sandiaga concluded. [traveltext.id]
