Bali Is In Sweden's Backpacker's Favorite Destination List

JAKARTA - The Island of the Gods has become one of the favorite tourist destinations for tourists from Sweden, especially those who travel briefly with only a backpack.

"In general, Swedish people love to go to Bali, especially backpackers," said the Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Marina Berg in a press conference quoted by Antara, Thursday, November 18.

Marina said that the average Swedish people like to travel and the islands of Bali and Indonesia are one of their favorite destinations. He believes Swedish tourists have missed spending time on the island after the pandemic has had a major impact on the world tourism industry due to restricted travel.

Marina also believes that the situation in Bali is safe enough for travel. The Swedish embassy in Indonesia and the Indonesian embassy in Sweden also constantly exchange information and market their respective tourism in their respective countries.

Sweden is one of the countries permitted by the Indonesian government to make international flights to Bali.

The 19 countries are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), New Zealand, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, and Norway.

These countries were chosen according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) because the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is at levels 1 and 2, with a low positivity rate.

The Bali Provincial Tourism Office stated its readiness to welcome the arrival of domestic tourists and foreign tourists who will enjoy the Christmas moment until the turn of the year by tightening at 94 tourist attractions.

Regarding the quarantine period for foreign tourists, which was originally imposed for three days, his party is now proposing to the central government that the quarantine period for foreign tourists is only one day, to attract foreign tourists to vacation in Bali.

To increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals, the Province of Bali also proposed five additional countries after the 19 countries that had been allowed to enter Indonesia, especially Bali. The five are Australia, the United States, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

In addition to implementing SOPs for foreign tourists, his party has also tightened tourism objects in Bali that already have CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety & Environment Sustainability) certification.