Indonesian Citizens Can Now Travel To Saudi Arabia, The Ban Has Been Lifted

Illustration of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Photo by Ahmad Fouad on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes Saudi Arabia's decision to lift the travel ban policy for its citizens to Indonesia.

The statement was conveyed through the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Twitter account in Jakarta, Tuesday, June 7, quoted from Antara.

Previously, Saudi authorities banned international travel to 16 countries including Indonesia, related to the spread of the coronavirus.

The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, responded to this policy through direct communication with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister to explain the current situation and convey data on the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia to the Saudi government.

In fact, said Retno, Indonesia is one of the countries that is quite good at handling COVID-19 so far.

"There is a plan for a visit by the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister to Indonesia early next month. This is an opportunity for us to discuss the issue,” said Retno, during a working meeting with Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) last week.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno encourages Saudi Arabian tourists to visit Indonesia, to improve the performance of the tourism and creative economy sectors as a driver of economic revival and job creation.

Indonesia menyambut baik keputusan otoritas Saudi untuk mencabut kebijakan larangan bepergian (travel ban) warganya ke Indonesia.

— MoFA Indonesia (@Kemlu_RI) June 7, 2022

Saudi Arabia is one of the focus countries for the foreign tourist market which has great potential for Indonesia.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of Saudi Arabian foreign tourists visiting in 2019 was 157.512 people with an average expenditure of 2.277 US dollars (approximately IDR 32 million) per foreign tourist per visit.

To the Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia Ahmed Al-Khatib, Sandiaga also explained the current condition of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia and the steps taken by the government in dealing with the outbreak.

"The COVID-19 vaccination and control program in Indonesia has been recognized worldwide and has become a best practice that has an impact on starting the economy," he said.

Until May 23, 2022, the positivity rate per week is 0.34 percent. The second dose of vaccination nationally is said to be increasing, with 166.93 million people or 80.15 percent of the total population and 44.3 million people or 21.28 percent having received the booster vaccine.

In addition, 11.968 tourism businesses in 34 provinces have also been certified CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability).