With the rollout of vaccines boosting customer confidence in travel, several countries have slowly started reopening their borders to international tourists. Bali is one more exciting destination that international travellers may soon have a chance to visit.
Bali has plans to allow foreign visitors this July, after being closed for over a year without international tourists. In a statement by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, he explains that Indonesia intends to partially reopen its borders in three locations, targeted for a major tourism recovery.
Bali, Bintan, and Batam will be the first three regions to welcome international visitors. With less than a month to go, the Indonesian government however, still has to announce the travel criteria for arrivals into the country. The country still has to set its entry guideline mentioning if travellers must be vaccinated and other border restrictions.
As of now, arrivals into Bali will need to submit a negative COVID-19 test result, take an additional test on arrival, and quarantine for 5 days at a government-approved hotel or until they can produce a negative test.
Bali officials are confident they will be able to reopen the island in July. As a precaution, to prevent locals from spreading the virus from one island to another, the country has cordoned off multiple islands and is speeding up its vaccination process.
Indonesia’s deputy health minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said, “We are fortunate we are an archipelago nation. We can make bubbles around islands. On Monday I had a meeting with the President and he asked me to restrict the transmission for people from Sumatra to Java and to Bali.”
Indonesia’s tourism-facing staff has been vaccinated on priority to ensure a safe reopening. The Tourism Ministry has recently commented: “In preparation, the government has carried out a widespread vaccination program for targeted groups, including the tourism workforce…In addition, the government has also initiated the Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability certification program throughout the tourism sector in Indonesia.”
The Ministry added that the reopening in July can happen only “if the pandemic is handled as well as expected.” It is unclear if this has been achieved at this time.
So far, everything seems to be going according to plan. The Minister also mentioned that the success of the reopening not only relies on the help the central government can offer, but also on neighbouring countries’ airlines willing to travel to Indonesia in July.