In March this year, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said that if the COVID-19 is under control, a “travel corridor program” will be put to action which would see foreign tourists visiting Bali by the middle of this year.
Sandiaga Uno, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, said that the country is in talks with Singapore, China, South Korea, India, the Netherlands and United Arab Emirates for the “travel corridor program” that would initiate these nationals to visit the “green zones” of Bali. Nusa Dua on the southern side of the island and Ubud are two of the green zones.
In case of India, the Tourism Minister had a meeting with the Indian Ambassador Manoj Kumar about the possibility of opening a Mumbai-Denpasar travel corridor, along with direct flights. India has been a big contributor to Indonesian tourism since Indian travelers prefer Bali as their number one vacation spot. The Ministry will, however, be implementing strict health protocols at all tourist sites.
He emphasized in his statement that travel corridor arrangement will be offered to countries that have a successfully managed vaccination program; have been able to contain the spread of the coronavirus, have high rates of vaccination, and could offer reciprocal benefits.
A Quick glimpse of the Vaccination scenario in India: The Total number of Covid vaccine doses given in India has crossed 18.57 crore as of may 18th. Around 13 crore people have taken the first dose and almost around 5 crore people have been administered with both doses.
The Tourism Minister also added to his statement that, under the aforementioned pilot project, the government might allow a chartered flight to bring in overseas travelers under. This will be evaluated and closely monitored every two weeks.
