- INDONESIA is very open to receiving visits from foreign visitors with hospitality. While here, they must comply with the laws, regulations and norms that apply
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (MTCE)/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, emphasized that Indonesia is very open to receiving foreign tourist visits but they must comply with applicable regulations.
In “The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno” at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, some time ago, Minister Sandiaga responded to the deviant behavior of foreign tourists in Bali and in Ijen Crater, East Java. According to him, the behavior of tourists who replace their motorbike license plates with personal identification and do not comply with traffic rules in Bali and burn flares in Ijen Crater cannot be tolerated and must be dealt with firmly.
Moreover, lighting flares carelessly in tourist destinations is a form of violation of Law Number 5/1990 concerning Conservation of Natural Resources, Biology and Ecosystems.
“We are very open to receiving foreign tourists and rolling out the red carpet for them. But they must comply with all existing laws and norms. We will take firm action if they break the law and ensure that tourists can carry out their activities safely, comfortably and fun,” said Sandiaga.
Sandiaga further added that his party would amplify the rules that must be obeyed by foreign tourists. For this reason, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is working with the Provincial Government of Bali under the coordination of the Presidential Staff Office (PSO) to increase outreach to foreign tourists so that they understand what activities they may and may not carry out while in Indonesia.
“To overcome this problem, we must improve the implementation of control mechanisms through law enforcement. So supervision and enforcement are carried out by police, while we coordinate with Immigration and across ministries/agencies and increase supervision and control of the role of business players against foreign tourists and apply social sanctions,” he said.
One of the concrete measures taken by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, said Sandiaga, is preparing a task force decree for handling the security situation and controlling the community in Bali in the context of tourist activities.
Of course, this will also have an impact on quality tourism because quality tourists will also be disturbed by the behavior of tourists who break the law,” said Sandiaga.
He also reminded tour guides to be firm if foreign tourists violate applicable rules, norms and laws. “In the future, we will continuously disseminate it through social media and in person. We will also monitor more closely the checking of climbers’ luggage,” said Sandiaga.
Source: Press Release of MTCE
