REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PANGKALAN BUN -- Tourism and Creative Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said no country had so far issued a travel warning for its citizens with regard to the eruption of Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java.
"Up to now, there is no country which has issued a travel warning," the minister said here on Sunday in her reply to a reporter's question over the possibility of a travel warning from other countries due to Mount Kelud eruption that caused the closure of a number of airports and tourism destinations such as Adi Sutjipto airport and the Borobudur Buddhist Temple.
The minister said she continued to monitor locations which had to be closed and had still to be opened. "We ask tourist destination operators to protect tourist sites and clean them from volcanic ash," she said.
She also asked local tourism services to continue providing information on their tourist destinations which were affected by volcanic ash.
"The most important thing is that safety and security must be given to tourism operators. If it is considered insecure, a tourist destination or even an airport should well be temporarily closed," she said.
Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java, erupted on Thursday night last week, sending volcanic materials to its surroundings, causing the death of four people, the evacuation of 210 thousand villagers and the closure of seven airports.
Seven airports and one airstrip remained closed on Saturday, as of 10 am local time, due to volcanic ash from Mount Kelud in East Java.
Head of Data and Information Center of National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement on Saturday that the closed airports were Juanda (Surabaya), Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang), Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) besides the Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap.
Minister Mari Elka Pangestu admitted that the Mount Kelud eruption will affect tourist arrivals to Indonesia.
"The ministry is in a position to explain the sites safe for tourism and others that are not due to the eruption," Mari Elka Pangestu said in West Kalimantan on Friday.
Due to the eruption of Mount Kelud, several tourism sites have been forced to close, such as the Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java and the Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta.
On Friday, a total of 332 flights from Juanda were cancelled along with 28 from Adisumarmo, 110 from Adisucipto, 76 from Ahmad Yani, 16 from Abdurrahman Saleh, and 24 from Husein Sastranegara.
Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is monitoring developments related to natural disasters at home to ascertain areas safe for tourists.
The ministry, according to Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, is monitoring the updated data from the National Disasters Mitigation Agency (BNPB) related to safe and unsafe areas.
She added that unlike the eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra Province, not all areas fell in the dangerous category. "For example, Medan, although located in the same province, is far away from Mount Sinabung. So, it is safe to visit Medan," she elaborated.
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