Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has finalised the plan to open a tourist corridor for foreign visitors in Bali under the COVID-19-free corridor scheme.
Nusa Penida and Ubud will be pilot locations for opening tours in cooperation with several countries.
“We continue to work hard in coordination across ministries and institutions as well as with the local government. Now, we’re entering the coordination stage at the ministerial level. We’ll finish the technical level coordination this week,” said Sandiaga.
In the near future, Sandiaga will hold meetings with various parties such as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Law and Human Rights Minister, Health Minister, the COVID-19 Task Force, Bali’s governor, and the Indonesian National Police to determine the technicalities for the implementation of the COVID-19-free corridor scheme.
If the technicalities are agreed upon, Sandiaga will raise a discussion in a limited meeting with President Joko Widodo.
“Hopefully, it won’t take too long, we can formulate steps,” he said.
Furthermore, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment will approach ambassadors from foreign countries with strong tourist markets in Asia such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, and India; countries in Europe, the United States, Australia; and the Middle East to establish COVID-free tourism partnerships.
Sandiaga is hoping that the plan to open a corridor for foreign tourists will soon be made available to a number of countries. However, this plan will still consider data on the spread of COVID-19 in Bali and Indonesia as a whole.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has also asked for 120,000 doses of vaccine to be given to protect tourism businesses in Bali.
“Do not let the risk of COVID-19 increase because everything is being done to reopen Indonesia’s tourism and economy, especially in Bali,” concluded Sandiaga.
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