Bali Yet to Open to Foreign Tourists: Tourism Ministry

A number of visitors visited Canggu Beach which was closed during the Emergency PPKM in North Kuta, Bali, Sunday, July 4, 2021. Dozens of tourists and local residents still visited the beach even though the prohibition sign was posted during the Emergency PPKM period. Johannes P. Christo

The public mobility restrictions or PPKM policy is still in place in Bali. Although several rules have been relaxed, the tourism sector has not been fully opened, especially to foreign tourists.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry’s Deputy for Marketing, Nia Niscaya, said foreign tourists are still not allowed to go on vacation to the island. However, the rule is exempted for foreign nationals who come with the purpose of doing business.

“As of September 15, foreigners are allowed to come for business purposes. So if there is a meeting in Bali, that's okay,” said Nia at the virtual weekly press briefing on Monday, September 20.

However, Nia underlined foreign nationals are required to meet several requirements, including having a negative PCR test result, being fully vaccinated, and undergoing quarantine for 8 days.

“The quarantine is no longer in a room, but in an area, so they can still go out of the room and do activities,” she explained, adding that they also could not accept guests or other people from outside the quarantine site.

Foreigners must also have a person in charge either from their hotel or travel agency and have the government’s COVID-19 app PeduliLindungi. “In order to monitor their movement,” said Nia.

Regarding the arrival of foreigners from Australia boarding Qantas Airlines, Nia clarified the plane did not bring tourists but picked up foreign nationals who were still in Bali. (tempo.co)