Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali will start welcoming back travellers from all countries later this week, officials said on Monday, more than three months after announcing it was only open to selected nationalities. However, fully vaccinated travellers will still need to quarantine on arrival.
Bali is reopening its borders to international travellers from all countries from the first week of February, reducing the quarantine period to five days from seven for fully vaccinated foreigners.
From 4 February visitors can use direct or connecting international flights to travel to the island. The status of Bali’s other requirements like a visa with a local sponsor and health insurance will be addressed by a separate regulation soon, officials said.
Currently, the government operates an approved selection of Quarantine Hotels that offer quarantine packages and follow strict protocols during their guests’ stay.
The packages take care of transport from the airport, a second PCR test, all meals, laundry, and a clearance letter upon check out. Travellers booking with one of these hotels receive a confirmation letter with a QR code, that is needed upon arrival in Bali.
Though Bali officially opened to visitors from China, New Zealand, and Japan among other countries in mid-October, there has since been no direct flights, Tourism minister Sandiaga Uno said in a briefing.
The reopening follows similar announcements by Thailand, which put quarantine waivers on hold in December over initial uncertainty about vaccine efficacy against Omicron.
The decision comes despite a steady rise in Indonesia’s COVID-19 cases this month, despite having brought outbreaks under control in the second half of last year. Health authorities have attributed the increase to Omicron.
Senior minister, Luhut Pandjaitan, said from Feb. 4 international visitors who were vaccinated against COVID-19 would still be required to do between five and seven days of quarantine.
Singapore Airlines said on Friday it would resume flights to Bali from Singapore starting on 16 February while Jetstar’s first flights back to Bali are still scheduled to leave Australia in early March.
Bali’s international tourism relaunch has been anti-climactic since the program launched in October 2021. In fact, an official said that not one commercial international flight landed at Ngurah Rai Airport in the three months since Bali reopened to international tourists.
According to Ida Ayu Indah Yustikarini, an official at the Bali Government Tourism Office, the island has been receiving foreign visitors in the past few months via the capital Jakarta, but there were no official numbers available.
Known for its surfing, temples, waterfalls and nightlife, Bali drew 6.2 million foreign visitors in 2019, the year before COVID-19 struck, but tight pandemic border restrictions devastated tourism, which is usually worth 54% of its economy.
Source: AAP