Indonesia’s Bali to welcome back foreign tourists on September 11
- The move comes as coronavirus cases are still on the rise amid the return of migrant workers
- The island’s tourism-dependent economy was ravaged by the nearly four-month shutdown of hundreds of resorts and hotels
Bali, Indonesia’s most popular holiday destination, will welcome back domestic visitors from the end of this month as pressure mounts on authorities to rescue the battered tourism industry.
Local tourists can visit the beaches, temples and the popular surfing spots across the island from July 31, while foreign visitors will be allowed from September 11, the Bali government said in a statement.
The reopening of the tourism industry is part of a plan to restart the economy in a phased manner, it said.
Bali, popular with backpackers from Australia to China, had some success in containing the virus outbreak in its early phase, but saw infections soar in June with the return of more migrant workers and a ramp-up in testing.
The island’s tourism-dependent economy was ravaged by the nearly four-month shutdown of hundreds of resorts and hotels.
“We must continue to make the best efforts to handle Covid-19, while at the same time we must begin to carry out activities for the sake of community life,” Bali’s Governor Wayan Koster said in the statement.
The governor appealed to citizens to wear mask in public, avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing to stem the spread of the virus.
The number of coronavirus cases in Bali jumped to 1,900 on Monday, from just 465 at the start of June, with 23 people succumbing to Covid-19, official data show.
With foreign and domestic tourists absent from the island, hotel occupancy in Bali slumped to 2.1 per cent in May from 52 per cent a year ago, according to official data.
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Indonesia still remains under the grip of the pandemic with new cases mounting by more than a 1,000 every day in the past two weeks.
It has reported some 65,000 infections since early March, and has a death toll to 3,241, official data showed Monday.
The world’s fourth-most populous country has the most number of infections and fatalities in Southeast Asia, forcing authorities to impose mobility restrictions and mandatory virus testing before flights, discouraging fliers.
