Of course, this year, the Halloween celebrations in Bali will be smaller scale, and venues will be adhering to safety protocols — but that doesn’t mean the ‘scariest night of the year’ won’t have some fun injected into it!

Ensuring the safety of travelers’ eager to explore Indonesia, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry introduced InDOnesia CARE, an initiative for Indonesia’s tourist establishments to implement cleanliness, health, safety and environment (CHSE) measures as their first priority. The highlighted letters read “I DO CARE” to emphasize that Indonesia highly regards CHSE protocols of its visitors.

As a destination hardest-hit by the impacts of the pandemic, Bali is among the first Indonesian destinations to reopen while implementing CHSE protocols in various points. Before Bali, Banyuwangi reopened its CHSE-ready tourist attractions. Following Bali, Batam and Bintan in Riau Islands and Yogyakarta were next in reopening and implementing CHSE protocols.

The obligation to comply with health and safety protocols makes traveling more tedious and time-consuming, but it is of utmost importance for everyone’s comfort and convenience. But what about the recommendation to postpone traveling completely before a vaccine or cure for COVID-19 is developed?

Traveling, apparently, is not only about leisurely vacations or contributing to the economy. As much as video conferences are sufficient for business, the depth of face-to-face interaction is still irreplaceable. And of course, there could also be family and friends away that need to be visited. In the end, we may have no choice but to resume traveling, although slowly and carefully with health and safety protocols.

The government is making sure that our transition to traveling in the new era of health and safety protocols runs smooth with InDOnesia CARE. Recently, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry recruited traveling and marketing consultant Jovita Ayu, young entrepreneur Dimas Ramadhan and actor Dion Wiyoko to go on a trip from Jakarta to Nusa Dua, Bali. They demonstrated how to travel while complying to the health and safety protocols imposed by the government.

They started with preparations, which include bringing a non-reactive rapid test or negative swab test result and an Indonesia Health Alert Card (e-HAC), which can be filled out digitally by downloading e-HAC application on your mobile device.

For travelers heading to Bali, completing the Bali Health Precautions Form is also required, and the form can be accessed from cekdiri.baliprov.go.id/. Among the data required by travelers are personal data, flight and seat numbers, an itinerary of places to be visited in Bali and duration of stay. Moreover, travelers are encouraged to download the PeduliLindungi (Care and Protect) application on their mobile devices to find out the COVID-19 status of the places to be visited. While at the airport, travelers can expect to see some precautionary measures in the airport, such as easy-to-access hand sanitizing stations, self-printing boarding passes, protective shields at counters and physical distancing rules.

Meanwhile, on board the plane, a safe distance will be maintained among passengers through seat arrangements and wearing masks during the whole flight is required. Airport staff will recheck each passenger’s temperature, as well as all the required documents mentioned above.