Indonesia's Bali is reopening to tourists — but visitors from Australia and Singapore need to wait
Indonesia — burned by a lackadaisical approach to quarantines which led to a spike in Covid-19 cases in July — is taking a more cautious approach. They have reason, too. The country is gearing up to host the G-20 summit on Bali in 2022.
"It will be purely scientific, making sure that this process will be smooth in terms of the next 18 months as we host G20 events here," said Uno.Sonny Tumbelaka | AFP | Getty Images In addition to quarantines, which Uno said would be revised in time, the islands are implementing new safety measures, such as hotel certifications and vaccine boosters.
"We are making sure Bali is prioritizing the whole island to be 100% vaccinated with boosters... in the Q1 of next year," he said. Authorities are hoping the new measures will help revive Indonesia's tourism industry, which accounts for around 4% of the country's gross domestic product. But Uno acknowledged that reaching pre-pandemic numbers may take time, with visitors likely to opt for less frequent but longer stays in the near term.