Pelindo is ready to return to serving cruise ships

Pelindo is optimistic that it will welcome and serve the arrival of cruise ships again. This is believed to have been after making a number of preparations in order to welcome the increase in foreign tourists coming from sea routes or via cruise ships, one of which was through a Stakeholder Focus Group Discussion (FGD) entitled Cruise Resumption in Indonesia and Port of Benoa as Home Port at Benoa Cruise Terminal Pelabuhan Benoa, last Sunday (05/12).

The FGD was attended by a number of representatives of the relevant ministries such as the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, the Deputy Secretary for Infrastructure and Connectivity of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Eng Lukijanto, Pelindo President Director Arif Suhartono, Pelindo Managing Director Putut Sri Muljanto, Cruise Ship Agents such as Royal Caribbean The Group and others, as well as the Tourism Stakeholders, discussed the readiness of Indonesia, especially Bali, to welcome the arrival of cruise ships in the new normal era, especially in 2022.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, who was present online at the event, expressed his support for the joint effort to revive Bali's tourism economy. According to him, Bali as the heart of Indonesian tourism, where most of its citizens depend on the tourism sector, requires strategic breakthroughs between stakeholders.

“The FGD is a strategic step, in preparation to restore the tourism sector on the island of Bali. With the opening of international flights, in fact, it has not been able to boost the growth of the tourism sector on the island of Bali. Therefore, we need alternative tourism gateways that we must optimize, one of which is the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub (BMTH)," said Sandiaga Uno.

Secretary of the Deputy for Infrastructure and Connectivity at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Eng Lukijanto, added that the BMTH construction currently being carried out by Pelindo must receive an accelerated strategy so that it can be used appropriately and efficiently.

"In the last three years the Kemenkomarves has formed a team to accelerate the development of BMTH and cruise ship handling, this is a form of our serious support in optimizing tourism in Bali, especially for BMTH," said Eng Lukijanto.

"During this pandemic, we need strict regulations that accommodate each other between cruise agents and the Indonesian government so that efforts to increase tourists via cruise ships can return to enthusiasm, for example regarding the rules for the tourist quarantine period," added James Ngui, Senior Manager Port Operations Southeast Asia Royal Caribbean. Groups.

In line with the previous statement. Pelindo's Managing Director, Putut Sri Muljanto explained, in 2019 the data on cruise ship visits to the island of Bali was very high, but the pandemic period prevented cruise ships from making visits to Indonesia, especially to Bali. In the future, the new normal conditions that are prepared together are expected to be able to encourage cruise ship visits which had stopped.

"We need to close our hands in collaboration between stakeholders so that what we have prepared so far through the construction of the BMTH can have an impact on increasing tourist visits in Indonesia," concluded Putut Sri Muljanto.

Previously, the Ministry of SOEs through Pelindo built BMTH as a tourism port hub in Indonesia at Benoa Harbor, Bali. With the concept of developing Butterfly Route tourism and providing MSME facilities at BMTH, it is hoped that its presence can improve the Indonesian economy in terms of tourism.