Indonesia’s cabinet member made headlines when he commented on Tuesday the wish of having a direct flight link between Moscow and Denpasar to jumpstart Bali’s tourism.
The country will stay open for international tourists from Ukraine and Russia and has no plans to introduce flight restrictions like most western democracies have done.
Here’s an excerpt from Tempo:
“We are making the opportunity available for Ukrainian and Russian tourists to visit Indonesia,” said the Minister on March 1.
“We (across state ministries) continue to coordinate in order to make available direct flights from Moscow to Denpasar. “
The Tourism Ministry’s deputy of tourism products and creative economy, Rizki Handayani Mustafa, said the number of tourists from Ukraine and Russia continue to grow annually.
Conclusion
Not sure on what planet these Indonesian ministers are living on?
Perhaps they could start renaming Nusa Dua as Little Moscow and Uluwatu as the Oligarch’s Paradise? They could also repaint one of Garuda’s airplanes as Putin Express and have it fly tourists from Moscow to Bali.
But seriously, considering the Ruble’s devaluation over the past week, the situation in Ukraine, and the hoops you need to take to get into Indonesia and Bali, it is challenging to see any tourism from these two countries in the near future.
