Since February 16, 2022, the Indonesian government has issued a new policy regarding the reduction of quarantine time for international travelers (PPLN), from 5 days to 3 days. This regulation, communicated through SE 7/2022, applies to travelers who have been fully vaccinated, including the booster dose. This reduction creates an opportunity for the tourism sector to rebound. Panorama (PANR), as a key player in tourism, is preparing to capitalize on the momentum of the 2022 Eid holiday, where there will be three holiday seasons this year: Eid in May, school holidays in July, and the year-end holidays (Nataru) in December.

The shift in the timing of Eid, which is almost two months apart from the school holidays, provides more opportunities for people to travel. "We have started preparing for the booking season, or the sales period for holiday packages for the 2022 Eid. Our target is to send about 2,000 to 3,000 people by May, and then we will focus on the school holiday period with new holiday packages," said AB Sadewa, Corporate Secretary of PT Panorama Sentrawisata Tbk (PANR).

The government's decision to reduce quarantine time for both Indonesian citizens (WNI) and foreign nationals (WNA) from 5 days to 3 days is seen as an indicator of effective handling of the Omicron variant in Indonesia. Previously, during the 2021 year-end holidays, Panorama’s performance was impacted by the Omicron outbreak in December, despite having already recorded many group bookings for the end-of-year Eid holidays between October and November 2021.

Panorama is preparing a variety of tourist packages to tourist-friendly destinations (with no quarantine and easy visa processes) to countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Dubai, the United States, and several European countries including Switzerland, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and France. In addition, Panorama continues to sell domestic tourism products to various destinations such as Lake Toba, Labuan Bajo, Lombok, Bali, and offers ecotourism and community-based tourism packages to village destinations. Panorama is also selling MotoGP Mandalika event packages, which will be held in March.

"We hope that the pent-up demand and market enthusiasm remain strong throughout the first half of this year’s holiday period. Of course, regulations that favor tourism will help boost the company’s recovery and bring us closer to pre-pandemic performance. This is a breath of fresh air at the beginning of 2022 for the company and the tourism industry in general," concluded Sadewa.

The Indonesian government continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation, and if everything is under control, quarantine measures for international travelers, both WNI and WNA, may be fully lifted in April. This will certainly be a key moment for recovery, especially for Panorama’s inbound tourism pillar, which focuses on bringing foreign tourists to Indonesia.