VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Tourism is one of the sectors mostly affected by Covid-19 pandemic. The most affected businesses in this sector include travel agents, hotels, restaurants, transportation, tour guide services and souvenir shops.

The Central Statistics Agency recorded the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in April 2020 decreased sharply, almost 88 percent, compared to the same month last year. The number of tourists in April 2020 only reached 160,000 people compared to the same period last year which was 1.27 million visits. Data shows the decline in foreign tourist arrivals started in February, March, and mostly in April 2020.

During January to April 2020, the tourism industry lost potential revenue from foreign tourist visits of around US$ 4 billion dollars or around Rp 62 trillion. From reports compiled by the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association, until April 13, 2020, there were at least more than 1,600 hotels and 350 restaurants / entertainment venues that stopped operating.

Deputy of Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Nia Niscaya in an online business discussion of  the Indonesian Travel Companies Association on Saturday (27/6) stated that low tourist confidence was one of the causes of the tourism sector being hit. According to Nia, Indonesia experienced a lack of trust from foreign and domestic tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, Indonesian tourism must strive together to boost the trust. But as the government handled the Covid-19 incessantly, sentiment from a number of countries towards the Indonesian market had begun to experience positive growth. To re-increase tourist confidence and national tourism, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has drawn up protocols for Cleanliness, Health and Safety (CHS).

The CHS protocols are carried out as one of the programs to accelerate tourism recovery in Indonesia so that the country's economy improves immediately. Besides foreign tourists, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy also tries to attract domestic tourists in the New Normal Order. Thereby, it  launched a movement called ‘Just Travelling to Indonesia’.

Of course, travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic is very different from traveling in a normal situation. In the current condition, there are several protocols that must be maintained and implemented by both visitors and managers of tourist attractions, such as limiting the number of visitors, the obligation to wear masks for everyone and maintain physical distance from each other.