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As COVID curbs ease, visitors flock to favorite tourist spots
This year, the government also extended the Idul Fitri holidays to six days until Friday.
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housands of people have flocked to tourist destinations across Jakarta during the Idul Fitri holidays, after the government lifted COVID-19 travel curbs for this year's festivities due to encouraging pandemic indicators.
This year, the government also extended the Idul Fitri holidays to six days until Friday.
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol (Ancol Dreamland Park) in North Jakarta recorded some 70,000 visitors on Tuesday, PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol corporate communication manager Eko Nugoroho said.
Having diverse attractions from beaches to the Dufan amusement park, Ancol is one of the most popular tourism spots in Jakarta and attracts visitors from inside and outside the capital.
"Today has seen the highest [number of visitors] since the pandemic began,” Eko said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com. “Most of the visitors went to the beaches, with Dufan coming a close second.”
According to Eko, the figure of 70,000 visitors crowding the park on Tuesday was almost double the number of visitors on Monday, at 38,000.
Before the pandemic, Ancol welcomed an average of 30,000 to 40,000 visitors on weekends.
Read also: Muslims rejoice as in-person Idul Fitri festivities return
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), a popular attraction in East Jakarta, welcomed tens of thousands visitors on Tuesday, despite many parts of the cultural park still being renovated.
TMII executive director I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana said that at least 20,000 people visited the park by Tuesday afternoon, causing crowds to pile up particularly because many areas in the park were still closed, kompas.com reported.
Audina, 28, a visitor from Bogor in West Java said she preferred TMII because it was easy to reach.
"I don't have to spend hours on the road to enjoy the holiday here," she said, as quoted by kompas.com.
In South Jakarta, more than 45,000 people flocked to Ragunan Zoo from Tuesday to Wednesday. The number is expected to increase during the weekend.
"The weekend is coming – when people usually spend time [at tourist destinations]. Chances are [more people] will come," Ragunan Zoo public relations officer Bambang Wahyudi said on Wednesday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
For this year's Idul Fitri holidays, the zoo has limited attendance to 45,000 visitors per day, or about 75 percent of capacity, due to the pandemic, tempo.co reported. Visitors must buy admission tickets online and only fully vaccinated adults, and children having received first doses, can enter the zoo.
Read also: Muslims welcome return of annual exodus after two-year wait
Elsewhere across the country, tourist destinations were also crammed by visitors. In the resort island of Bali, for instance, holidaymakers crowded Pandawa Beach, as well as Sanur Beach, where many of them took ferries or speedboats to reach neighboring Nusa Penida Island, another famous tourism spot in Bali, according to local media.
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said on Wednesday that the government had anticipated the high public demand for tourism during the Idul Fitri holidays, particularly after two years of COVID-19 curbs.
Muhadjir said that all tourist destinations had been instructed to require visitors to use the PeduliLindungi COVID-19 tracing app before entering their premises.
“I know how great the euphoria and enthusiasm of the public is to visit tourist destinations. To a certain extent, we must tolerate this because it has been two years since we have enjoyed holidays on a large scale,” Muhadjir said, as quoted by tempo.co.
He went on to say that the government hoped this year's Idul Fitri holidays would help kickstart the economic recovery.
