Bali to welcome international tourists in September

Tourists visit Melasti Beach in Badung regency, Bali, on June 24. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf) via The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA — The Bali provincial administration is preparing to welcome foreign visitors in September following months of international travel restrictions because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Bali Governor I Wayan Koster has announced a three-step plan to reopen activity in compliance with “new normal” policies. The approach entails reopening the region’s popular tourist destinations to international visitors on Sept. 11.

Local tourists will be able to visit the island’s famous vacation spots starting on Jul. 9, Koster said.

“To that end, we must surrender ourselves and pray so that we will be graced [with good fortune],” he said after participating in a local religious ceremony on Sunday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Koster said on Thursday that he had closed tourist destinations in Bali until further notice through a regulation.

However, the regulation did not stop several regions from reopening access to popular beaches, including Canggu Beach and Labuan Sait Beach in Badung regency, to foreign surfers.

Tourism in Bali has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of foreign tourist arrivals fell to nearly zero in the weeks following the first reported coronavirus cases in the country.

As of Sunday, Bali had confirmed 1,849 COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths linked to the illness.