Bali will start welcoming back travellers from all countries from February 4, more than three months after announcing it would open to selected nationalities.
The reopening follows similar announcements by Thailand and the Philippines, which reintroduced quarantine measures in December over uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Bali officially opened to visitors from 17 countries in mid October, however there have so far been no new arrivals, according to Tourism Minister, Sandiaga Uno.
The decision to reopen comes amidst a steady rise in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia this month. In the past week, daily cases have doubled, with 17,895 new cases reported yesterday. Health authorities attribute the increased case numbers to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron strain.
Senior minister, Luhut Pandjaitan, said only double-vaccinated international visitors would be allowed to enter the country and would be required to do five days of quarantine.
It is believed that tens of thousands of advance bookings to Bali were cancelled in October after it was announced that visitors would be required to quarantine prior to being able to begin their holiday.
However with the Omicron strain presently running rampant around the globe, the Indonesian Government is choosing to maintain it’s present quarantine settings before moving towards a further easing of travel restrictions.
Source – Reuters