Bali Provincial Government has informed their plans on reopening Bali for international tourists on 11 September 2020. However, this hope of an early reopening seems to fade when the central government through the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan dropped the statement that Indonesia is going to need more time to reopen again, at least until the end of this year. Luhut explained this update during a virtual meeting among the entrepreneurs of the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) on Thursday, 13 August 2020.

At the moment, all the travel and hospitality business owners are expected to focus on marketing their services to domestic travellers and upgrading the facilities based on the new-normal health protocols. “We expect 70% of domestic tourists. So we think that foreign tourists will not be able to travel until the end of the year. Let us first consolidate ourselves,” said Luhut.

The head of Bali tourism office, I Putu Astawa also explained that – the decision on reopening the country is not only determined by the central government, but this is also related to other countries’ policies. Even if Indonesia has opened the borders to international tourists, but on the other hand, other countries have not allowed their residents to leave their countries, then it’s pointless.

Besides, the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights has not lifted its’ official regulation “PERMENKUMHAM NOMOR 11 TAHUN 2020” regarding travel restriction and deactivation of Visa on Arrival for foreign visitors. Which means the pandemic situation in the country has not been declared to be over or things will get back to normal real soon. Stay tuned on our website and official social media accounts to find out when Visa exemption and VoA will be available again or Bali-Indonesia will be re-opened for international travellers.

So far, Bali has recorded 3927 positive Covid-19 cases as of Thursday (13/8) evening, with 49 deaths and 3425 recoveries. The provincial administration has reported a few numbers of local transmissions cases recently, particularly in Denpasar. This figure is relatively small compared to more than 132,816 cases and 5,968 fatalities in Indonesia.