An official confirmed about online registration being opened this week for tourism workers in Bali and it has already attracted over 10,000 people. This pool will potentially benefit to a prioritized vaccination program for the battered tourism industry.

Putu Astawa, Bali Tourism Agency Chief, shared that a dedicated website was launched on Monday and has already received 10,500 entries. This online registration will remain open by the end of this month.

“This data will be used to propose to the Health Ministry so that [tourism workers] can get the vaccines,” Astawa said.

He is sure that vaccinated tourism workers will boost trust among the travelers to visit Bali. Bank Indonesia data that puts the total number of workers in the tourism industry and small and medium enterprises sector at 1.2 million.

Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy last week that tourism workers of Indonesia which are of a strength of about 34 million ought to be prioritized for vaccination against Covid-19,  saying that it should start as early as next month with a kick-off in Bali. 

Bali's target is to vaccinate 663,000 in the second phase of province's vaccination. This phase will prioritize those who are considered more vulnerable to the coronavirus and more likely to interact with the general public. This includes the elderly, educators, market sellers, and reportedly thousands of tourism workers, including staff at hotels and restaurants.