Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno Accelerates Tourism Recovery In Bali

Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

DENPASAR - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno held a meeting with Bali Governor Wayan Koster and Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati to discuss steps to restore the tourism sector and Bali's creative economy.

"We discussed evaluations related to the state of the tourism sector and the creative economy in Bali. Especially with regard to visas, direct flights (to Bali), quarantine, and evaluation of country selection as well as related to Bali's proposal as an airport receiving quarantine and foreign travel," said Sandiaga Uno at Denpasar quoted by Antara, Friday, December 17.

Sandiaga said the results of the meeting would be discussed further in a limited meeting with relevant ministries and institutions, the results of which would be reported to President Joko Widodo.

"The plan is that at the beginning of the year after Christmas and the new year we will hold a coordination meeting (coordination meeting) to discuss specifically (the recovery of Bali)," he said.

Menparekraf Sandiaga explained, the Coordination Meeting was held as an effort to formulate a recovery strategy for Bali which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the Balinese economy can bounce back, job opportunities are wide open, and the results can be considered for formulating policies and programs that are right on benefit, right on target and on time.

According to him, foreign tourists from Europe and Australia have a high interest in visiting Bali. In addition, Bali is also the main location for the G20 Summit in 2022.

"So how do we convert this interest into a visit that is in accordance with our wishes to stimulate tourism and the economy in Bali, especially to open up business opportunities and employment opportunities," he said.

He added that the vaccination rate in Bali has reached 102 percent for the first dose and 90 percent for the second dose, so that from the vaccination coverage Bali is ready to accept tourists.

"We also discussed the booster program to be implemented in January 2022 and vaccinations for children aged 6-11 years in Bali, amounting to 373,000 people," he said.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, also advised that tourism and creative actors in Bali should always implement strict and disciplined health protocols and make use of the PeduliLindung application as much as possible.

"We entrust the creative and creative actors here to continue to improve health protocols and integration with the PeduliLindung application, we will continue to monitor this," he said.