Sandiaga Uno: Children Enter Tourist Places According To Local Government's Discretion

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno (second right) looks at children's games at the tourist destination Boonpring, Sanankerto Tourism Village, Malang Regency/ Antara

MALANG - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stated that children aged 12 years and under are allowed to enter tourist attractions in accordance with the discretion issued by the local government.

Sandiaga said the discretion related to allowing children aged 12 years and under to enter these tourist attractions must also be adjusted to the policy of achieving vaccination targets for each region.

"Discretion from the local government is, of course, associated with vaccination (achievement). It must be in the category included in the target. This is given authority to the local government and its staff," said Sandiaga in Malang Regency, East Java, as reported by Antara, Friday, October 15. .

Sandiaga explained, indeed a number of tourist destinations that operate are family tourist attractions, so that, with the restriction that children aged 12 and under are not allowed to enter, it will be a challenge for tourism managers.

Therefore, he continued, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy gave concessions to tourism managers. Tour managers can apply for children aged 12 years and under to be allowed to enter tourist destinations to the local government.

"We give leeway to tourist destination managers to take a policy. This is discretion that must be coordinated with the regional government and the local COVID-19 Task Force," he said.

In addition, he continued, parents of children under the age of 12 who will enter tourist attractions, have also received two complete doses of vaccination. Parents, too, must have the PeduliLindung application.

"(Allowed) as long as the parents have been fully vaccinated, and PeduliLindung is green," he said. they have had their full vaccination shot.

"There are already several tourist destinations in Yogyakarta and Central Java for which we provide such guidance," he said.

For information, in the Greater Malang area which is a combination of Malang City, Malang Regency, and Batu City, there are already a number of tourist destinations that are conducting trials of opening tourist destinations.

For now, the manager of tourist destinations in Malang Raya still does not allow children aged 12 years and under to enter the tourist area. One of the tourist destinations in Batu City, Selecta Recreational Park, was forced to refuse thousands of visitors because of the regulation.

It was recorded that from 20 September to 6 October 2021, at Selecta Recreation Park, there were 5,524 tourists allowed to enter. Meanwhile, for tourists who were rejected, because the majority brought children aged 12 years and under, there were 6,406 people.