Entering The Potential Category, Sandiaga Uno Still Allows Ukrainian And Russian Tourists To Visit Indonesia

JAKARTA - The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine not only had an impact on the economic sector, but also on tourism. A number of countries restrict Russia's international travel as an economic sanction.

However, not with Indonesia, which still opens its doors for foreign tourists (tourists) from Ukraine and Russia.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno said Indonesia still wants tourists from the two countries to come to Indonesia, especially to the favorite destination of Bali.

The reason is because Ukraine and Russia contribute to the high number of foreign tourist movements and foreign exchange. "We still open opportunities for Ukrainian and Russian tourists to travel in Indonesia," he said in the Weekly Press Briefing, quoted on Wednesday, March 2.

As is known, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out since last week after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full military operation into Ukraine. As a result, a number of countries have also restricted Russia's international travel as an economic sanction.

The former deputy governor of DKI Jakarta said the government did not want the conflict between the two countries to affect the choice of tourism in the country. The government even has plans to open direct flights from these countries, especially from Moscow to Bali.

Moreover, said Sandiaga, from the previous achievements of foreign tourists from Russia and Ukraine, there is a lot of potential both from the expenditure side and the length of their stay.

"Regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, this will affect the schedule as well as in terms of certainty and security for these tourists. We (inter-ministerial) continue to coordinate and I am also still replying to messages with colleagues who are arranging direct flights from Moscow to Bali," he said.

On the occasion, Deputy for Tourism Products and Creative Economy Kemenparekraf Rizki Handayani Mustafa said that the number of foreign tourists from Russia and Ukraine continues to grow every year.

Furthermore, Rizki said the government continues to promote this potential. Even so, in the midst of the heated conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the government will also focus on boosting foreign tourist arrivals from other countries that are no less large.

"We see countries that are not affected by (the war) such as Australia. Instead of focusing on that (Russia and Ukraine) and Australia having opened (borders) we look at this (Australia) first," he explained.