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THE INDONESIAN government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is strengthening collaboration with the UK government in the tourism and creative economy sectors, particularly the recovery of these sectors in Bali.
In a virtual audience with the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins, Tuesday (6/22), the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, said that the tourism and creative economy sectors in Bali have felt the most impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020, Bali experienced an economic contraction of minus 12% for four consecutive quarters, and earlier this year it decreased to minus 9%.
However, Sandiaga said the Tourism Ministry continues to improve the tourism sector and the creative economy in Bali. That is by utilizing local tourist visits so that international borders will be reopened later.
“At the beginning of my tenure, tourist visits to Bali were only 2,000 visits per day. Currently this figure has risen to 10,000 visits per day. However, this figure depends on the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
So, until now, said Sandiaga, his party is still trying to prepare Bali to welcome the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists. Moreover, the UK is one of the European countries which is the tourism market for Bali.
“Currently 60% of Balinese people have received the first dose of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. For that I would like to thank the British Government for cooperating in providing the AstraZeneca vaccine supply and our target is that by the end of July 2021 70% of Balinese people have received vaccinations,” Sandiaga noted.
In addition, Sandiaga also invited British companies to invest in Bali. Especially in the field of new and renewable energy to realize environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism.
“We also need more investment, not only in the tourism sector but also in the creative economy sector. Especially related to environmental sustainability by providing clean new and renewable energy in Bali because we have a target by 2030, Bali will become an area that is free of burning energy,” Sandiaga stated.
Meanwhile, the British Ambassador, Owen Jenkins expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian government, especially the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, for the efforts made to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the country. In addition, Owen is also committed to establishing cooperation in order to improve the quality of human resources for tourism and creative economy actors in Indonesia.
“We are also working with relevant ministries and institutions to improve the ability of tourism and creative economy actors. One of them is the ability to speak English, so we see that there are opportunities for cooperation between Indonesia and the UK in this regard,” concluded Ambassador Owen. [traveltext.id]
