In order to help revive the economy after suffering a blow amid Covid-19, Indonesia is considering reopening Bali to foreign tourists in June 2021.
According to Indonesian Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno, foreign tourists may be able to visit Bali again as soon as June 2021 under a travel corridor program to help revive the economy.
Uno said, the travel corridor arrangement will be offered to countries that are deemed successful in their vaccination program, able to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and could offer reciprocal benefits.
Indonesia still prohibits foreigners from entering Indonesia, with few exceptions. Only foreigners holding diplomatic visas, official visiting service visas of foreign officials at ministerial level and above, diplomatic residence permits, official residence permits, limited stay permit cards (KITAS), or permanent residence permit cards (KITAP) can enter the country.
“But we are evaluating the regulation because we are trying to vaccinate 1.8 million to 2 million people by next month,” the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a statement on Friday.
Ubud, Sanur, and Nusa Dua are major holiday spots in Bali included in a pilot project to begin receiving foreign travelers in mid-June or July, under strict health protocols.
Bali was struck by the Covid-19 pandemic that devastated its tourism-based economy.
The province’s economic output dropped by 9.3 percent last year, worse than any other province in Indonesia. In comparison, Indonesia’s economy shrank by 2 percent last year.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy has started to ease restrictions to spur household spending after gross domestic product shrank last year for the first time in two decades due to the pandemic that has so far infected more than 1.4 million Indonesians in the past year and killed almost 39,000 people in the country.
The government of Indonesia may allow a chartered flight to bring in overseas travelers under the pilot project, which will be closely monitored and evaluated every two weeks.
