Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bali reopens to international tourists this week

Vaccinated travellers welcome from Friday

Helen Coffey
Wednesday 02 February 2022 08:00 EST
Comments
Lotus Temple, Ubud, Bali
Lotus Temple, Ubud, Bali (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Popular holiday destination Bali will reopen to international tourists from the end of this week.

The Indonesian island is ready to welcome back fully vaccinated foreign arrivals starting Friday 4 February.

However, travellers will still be required to quarantine for five days.

The move was confirmed by coordinating minister of maritime affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, who said that jabbed visitors from all countries would be allowed in for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

While Bali restarted domestic tourism in mid-2020, international travellers were only allowed admittance from October last year – and even then, only arrivals from 19 nations were permitted.

The UK was not included on this list.

Even when the island, known for its pristine beaches and ancient temples, reopened to select countries, no direct flights were in place, according to Indonesia’s tourism minister.

Singapore Airlines has already confirmed it will restart Bali flights from Singapore from 16 February.

It’s hoped the easing of travel restrictions will give Bali’s blighted tourism industry a much-needed boost.

The island was visited by just 45 foreign tourists in the first 10 months of 2021.

Figures published by the Bali Central Statistics Agency show that most visits to the province took place at the beginning of the year, when the it welcomed 10 tourists in January and another 12 in February.

The quietest months were July, August and September. During this time, Bali welcomed no foreign tourists.

“That is the lowest number of foreign tourist visits we’ve ever recorded,” Nyoman Gede Gunadika, section head of tourism for Bali Province, told CNN.

More than one million foreigners visited Bali in 2020 – most of whom travelled there in the first three months of the year. The total figure was significantly lower than in 2019, when 6.2 million tourists visited the island.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in