TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said that his ministry is drafting programs to support business players affected by the government’s ban on 2021 Eid homecoming, including staycations in hotels or villas in their respective region.

“This is an opportunity for us to create products such as staycations for people who are not going for homecoming this year,” said Sandiaga in a written statement on Tuesday, March 30.

He added that the ministry is coordinating with regional governments to open their tourist destinations under strict health protocols based on the prevailing policy of micro-scale community activity restriction or Micro PPKM).

According to him, the ban is necessary to curb the Covid-19 transmission, and so his ministry supported the government’s decision.

Sandiaga ensured that there will be no conflict between the tourism sector and the government. The former Jakarta deputy governor believed that the prohibition is an opportunity for business players to innovate creative products that are worth selling as hampers of Eid al-Fitr.

“I believe that we can adapt and adjust to the government’s decisions,” Sandiaga Uno remarked.

The central government decided to ban Eid homecoming from May 6-17, 2021. The ban was announced in an inter-ministerial joint meeting chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA