The Arrival Of Foreign Travelers At Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport Increases

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Directorate General of Immigration at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) said that the arrival of Foreign Travel Actors (PPLN) through I Gusti Ngurah Rai (Bali) and Soekarno-Hatta (Soeta) Airports increased significantly after the quarantine was released.

"Based on data from the Immigration Checkpoint at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, the total number of PPLN that entered Bali from March 13 to 24 was 7,317 people," said Sub Coordinator of Public Relations of the Directorate General of Immigration Kemenkumham Achmad Nur Saleh in a written statement received in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday 26 March.

He continued, the peak of PPLN arrivals through I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport was on March 19, 2022 with a total of 1,060 people.

Meanwhile, the number of PPLN arrivals at Soeta Airport on March 25, 2022, was recorded as 2,470 foreigners who had passed immigration checks.

"In addition to Bali, we are also starting to see an increasing trend of PPLN arrivals to Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta Airport after the quarantine is free," he said.

He said that initially the quarantine-free policy was piloted for foreign tourists entering through I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport on March 7, 2022. After that, the arrival of foreigners, especially in Bali, increased.

In the same period, there were 3,611 VOA issuances specifically for tourism in Bali or half of the total arrivals. Apart from Indonesian Citizens (WNI), PPLN is dominated by Australian Citizens whose arrivals are more than 200 people per day.

Achmad said the convenience provided to foreigners who wanted to enter Indonesia, both by immigration and health protocols, was implemented based on the results of the evaluation of the pilot application of the policy.

"We hope that all of these efforts can encourage the recovery of the national economy and tourism industry," he said.

In general, referring to the Circular of the COVID-19 Task Force Number 15 of 2022, PPLNs who have received the second and third doses of vaccination are welcome to continue their journey if the RT-PCR test is negative. Meanwhile, if the PPLN has not received the vaccination or has just received the first dose of vaccination, it must undergo quarantine for 5x24 hours.