VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

To maintain the moment and trust with Spanish tour operators and travel agents, the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid, Spain held a webinar entitled "Reactivating Indonesia's Tourism for the Spanish Market" on Thursday (06/5). The webinar presented Iman Santosa, Director of Regional Marketing III of the Ministry of Tourism; IBM Sade Bimantara, Director of Europe I of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agus Abdul Majid, Head of Sub-Directorate for International Immigration Cooperation of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and Alfonso Carrasco, Director of Catur Viajes y Expediciones.A total of  96 sellers of Indonesian tour packages at Spain's largest tourism exhibition, FITUR, on 19-23 May participated enthusiastically. 

Chargé d'Affaires of the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid, Bayu Hari Saktiawan explained the importance of conveying Indonesia's latest tourism and immigration policies amid the Covid-19 transmission, particularly foreign tourist visits. On this occasion, Bayu also conveyed the efforts of the Indonesian Embassy in Madrid to facilitate Spanish travel service players at the operational level by organizing online Indonesian language classes throughout the year.

The activities have strengthened relations between Indonesian-Spanish tourism stakeholders. Besides, the webinar participants also received information on tourism policies, immigration policies and foreign policies regarding economic recovery through the latest tourism sector. To complement the participant's marketing strategies, Bayu stated that the government is working on reopening Bali, Bintan and Batam by paying attention to the developing epidemic data for the CovidD-19. In designing travel packages, Spanish travel service actors are expected to follow the  guidance of the Clean, Health, Safety and Environment Sustainability protocols -CHSE, the guidelines set by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the latest government mobility policies. In addition, itineraries can be marketed according to the interests of the Spanish people who enjoy wellness tourism, anthropology, water sports, mountain climbing and ecotourism. With the presentation from various sides, the marketing of Indonesian tour packages can be made separately, without being combined with the destinations of other countries.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization Headquarters is in Madrid and it has recognized the implementation of the CHSE protocols through the Bali tourism industry by visiting Bali directly and holding a capacity building workshop on 7-11 December 2020. Indonesia has set a barometer of inclusive and sustainable tourism by becoming the first country which signed the Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics on 2 October 2020.

Spain plays an important role in Indonesian tourism. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy noted that 262,452 Spanish tourists had visited Indonesia during the 2017-2019 period. It is at the seventh rank of the ten core markets of the European region. While, data from the Central Statistics Agency stated that averagely, Spanish tourists stayed in Indonesia  for two weeks and spent around US$1,600 dollars in 2016-2019.

The Spanish public hope to return to travel next summer. Local media anticipated the end of the Spanish state of alarm on May 9, 2021. From the aspect of the health profile of potential tourists, until May 5, 2021, the Spanish Ministry of Health has provided a complete dose of the vaccine to 11.4% of the population, it is equivalent to 5,394,315 people. While, at the regional level, the European Union has not  completed yet the verification system for the vaccine certificate (Digital Green Certificate) and mobility policies for tourists and non-essential travelers