The transportation ministry has retracted a ban on international tourists entering Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta airport that came about due to incorrect wording in a recently issued circular letter.

A previous ministry circular letter No11/2022 issued on February 6 stated that foreign tourists and returning Indonesians from overseas vacation “may only enter” through the Bali, Batam and Bintan airports, a list that excludes the airports in Jakarta and every other region.

Ministry spokesperson Fitri Indah clarified in a press release on February 7 that the circular was meant to say “may enter” through the Bali, Batam and Bintan airports.

The ministry is working to revise the letter as stated in a February 7 press release but has yet to issue the new version at the time of publication.

“Overseas tourism travellers can also enter through Soekarno-Hatta airport. We clarify and emphasise this information in regards to recent news,” said Fitri.

The ministry issued the circular letter to operationalise the government’s decision to reopen Bali to international flights from all countries starting February 4, despite an ongoing Covid-19 surge in Java and Bali.

The popular tourist destination Bali welcomed its first direct international flight on February 4 as a Garuda Indonesia flight from Narita Airport in Japan landed on the island, carrying travel agent representatives from the East Asian country.

The government has allowed Bali to receive international direct flights from 19 countries since October last year but demand has been lacklustre. As such, the government also shortened the mandatory quarantine period to five days from seven for travellers with two doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

The government also introduced on February 4 a quarantine initiative called the “warm-up vacation” wherein travellers may roam around their hotels, instead of being confined to their rooms, to spur tourism in the island province.

“The warm-up vacation is a mandatory ritual before tourists go on their scheduled vacation,” Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry marketing deputy Nia Niscaya said during a February 7 press conference.

She went on to say that while there were only five hotels in Bali that offered warm-up vacations, more accommodations would become available in the future. As many as 66 hotels would become available for quarantine in Bali.

The four-day and five-night warm-up vacation packages are priced between 10 million rupiah ($695) and 15 million rupiah at the five hotels, namely Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua and Westin Resort in Nusa Dua, Griya Santrian in Sanur, Viceroy in Ubud and Royal Tulip in Jimbaran.

Nia added that tourists coming to Bali would only be allowed to travel within the island.

However, tourism in Greater Jakarta, Bali, Bandung and Yogyakarta might pick up slower than expected as the government announced that the locations would enter level 3 public activity restrictions (PPKM) as of February 7.

The social restrictions mean that shopping malls will only be allowed to operate at 60 per cent of their capacity and can operate until 9pm. Venues for cultural, sports and other social activities can only operate at 25 per cent of their capacity.

“This is not because of the high Covid-19 cases but due to low tracing,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said in a separate press conference on February 7.

He added that the high hospitalisation rate in Bali was also a factor in tightening mobility in the island province.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK