Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno confirmed that he would review the opening of the entrance for foreign tourists from 19 countries who have so far been allowed to make direct flights to Bali and the Riau Islands (Kepri). This is in line with the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, from South Africa which has spread to a number of countries. "The number of countries (allowed) will be evaluated because there are several countries that experienced a spike in cases both before and after the emergence of Omicron," said Sandiaga in a virtual press conference, Monday (29/11). Sandiaga said that in a limited meeting to be held today, he would also discuss the policy. Because, the emergence of the Omicron variant is certain to have an impact on the Indonesian tourism sector, although until now Indonesia is still safe from exposure to this variant. The 19 countries currently allowed to make direct flights to Bali and Riau Islands include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain. , Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Norway.

Sandiaga emphasized that the government should treat the emergence of a new variant with caution. Because since it was discovered in South Africa, the rate of spread of Omicron is said to be faster than the Delta variant. As an illustration, Indonesia experienced the peak of the second spike in Covid-19 due to the Delta variant last July and recorded a daily transmission rate of up to 50 thousand cases. "Due to the very fast rate of spread and a lot of information that cannot be obtained, then to avoid a new spike, the government will carry out several policies, one of which is updating the list of countries," he said. The Ministry of Tourism understands that the situation is very concerning and difficult for tourism actors and the creative economy in the country. However, the situation of high and very complex uncertainty forced the government's policies to continue to change according to the conditions faced in the face of Covid-19.

What's more, towards the end of the year we will face Christmas and New Year moments where there is a possibility of increasing people's mobility. The government has so far been anticipating transmission through the implementation of PPKM level 3 which has been signed in the official regulations of the Ministry of Home Affairs. "We hope that the impact of Omicron on Indonesia will not be so negative because we have prepared mitigation measures," he said. For information, so far the government has closed the entrance to 11 countries to prevent the entry of the Omicron variant. Namely South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Hong Kong. Foreign nationals (foreigners) who come from or have visited these 11 countries in the last 14 days will have their visas suspended. However, this rule is exempted for diplomatic and service visa holders, foreign officials at ministerial level and above as well as official or state visiting groups, tourists entering the Travel Corridor Arrangement scheme, as well as delegates from G20 member countries.

Sources: https://republika.co.id/berita/r3c11i457/menpar-reviu-penerbangan-asing-ke-bali-dan-kepri