JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno admitted that Indonesia is very ready to welcome foreign tourists, including from China, considering that they will open the border on January 8, 2023.
"(Indonesia's readiness is caused) the COVID-19 pandemic situation is under control, even the level of immunity or immunity of the Indonesian people is above 98 percent. In addition, President Joko Widodo has revoked the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM)," said Sandiaga Uno, Friday, January 6.
The government itself is still imposing a Circular (SE) of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force (Satgas) Number 25 dated 1 September 2022 for Regulation of Overseas Travel Actors (PPLN). However, the relevant ministries/agencies are still coordinating to formulate the best policies.
Furthermore, Sandiaga Uno also said that there were several requests from China's international airlines to open direct flights to Jakarta and Bali, such as Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern.
National airlines such as Garuda, Lion Air, and BatikAir are also expected to meet the demand for direct flights.
This direct flight is said to make it easier for Chinese tourists who come to Indonesia. This is because usually Chinese foreign tourists want to go to Bali via Singapore first, then go to Soekarno Hatta Airport using domestic flights to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists from China and Hong Kong visiting, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has only reached 94,924 visits during the January-October 2022 period.
This number is still relatively small when compared to before the pandemic which touched 2.07 million foreign tourists from China in 2019.
"Therefore, the target for Chinese foreign tourists this year (2023) of 253,000, we are very confident that it can be realized," concluded Sandiaga Uno.
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