Indonesia beefs up vaccinated travel lane with Australia

A passenger walks pass a medical checkup area at an airport on Bali, Indonesia. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) - The Indonesian government is promoting the establishment of a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) with Australia – one of the key tourist markets of the Southeast Asian nation, in a bid to revive its non-smoke industry, said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno.

Under the proposed VTL, the government would cut down the quarantine period from five days to three days for fully vaccinated Australian travelers.

However, travellers are required to show evidence of having received at least two vaccine doses, health insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment abroad and a negative PCR test result.

Uno said there are currently no specific requirements for visitors from Australia, but the Indonesian government will continue to monitor the pandemic situation in this neighboring country.

The two sides are discussing to resume direct flights from Australia to Indonesia.

According to the  Central Statistics Office of Indonesia (BPS), the Southeast Asian nation welcomed only 1.19 million international arrivals in the first three quarters of 2021, slashing by 67 percent year-on-year.

In 2019, Australia was Indonesia's fourth largest foreign tourism market with 1.39 million visitors, after Malaysia, China and Singapore./.

VNA