Bali Vice Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (Cok Ace) has filed complaints regarding the current travel requirements to Bali senators.
During a visit conducted by the Senators from Commission IX of the Bali House of Representatives at the Governor’s office on Thursday (27/1), Cok Ace filed several complaints concerning the current travel policies.
Cok Ace admitted to the Senators that the majority of Bali businesses have been struggling since the pandemic started and that the travel policies had no positive impact on the Bali tourism sector.
Most Balinese residents and businesses rely on international visitors for income. However, only a few international tourists visited the island during the pandemic, though the government has reopened the border for select countries within the travel arrangement policy.
“We only received a total of 41 international visitors in 2021, while we had around 6.3 million visitors prior to the pandemic,” Cok Ace said.
He asked the Senators to revise several policies, such as the direct flight policy, the visa requirements, and the pricey quarantine facility requirement for international tourists.
“Many businesses took on debt to repair their properties from damages incurred during the closure, prior to the reopening on October 14th 2021. Yet everything has become dusty again as there are still no visitors due to the current policies,” Cok Ace concluded.
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Wayan Bo
Friday 4th of February 2022
See You later alligator 🎵
Carol
Wednesday 2nd of February 2022
Agreed! It is wonderful that Bali is re opening to Australia and other countries,Bali needs tourists again and we need Bali. However the idea of quarantining double/triple vaccinated tourists with negative tests pre and post arrival makes no sense and is cost prohibitive.If the Government is really encouraging tourism back to the island then quarantine for the fully vaccinated/ negative tested needs to be removed and VOA re instated and only then will Bali flourish again.
Sanjeev
Wednesday 2nd of February 2022
Mr. Cok Ace is right. Get rid of the quarantine requirements if the traveler is fully vaccinated and has a negative test before their flight.
Alforno Reeson
Tuesday 1st of February 2022
And rightly so ! Playing around with how many days of quarantine makes no sense if PCR before and on arrival are required. If somebody lands positive, they should be prepared for quarantine at a hotel of their choice and expense. And if they need medical attention, the choice of hospital. Nobody is intentionally wishing to arrive with covid. locals or foreigners.
The visa on arrival should be re-instated if they really want to kickstart tourism. Pre-departure checks by airlines for document verification has been in place for decades, so there really isnt any reason to use the B211 visa procedure to verify vaccination etc. I really dont see what the visa has to do with covid. Besides, the process and costs you have to pay an agent (up to 7 times the official cost) is such a deterrent. Maybe that was the point ? In which case, if they are serious to open tourism, they should re-open the VOA scheme. Or at the very least allow tourists to apply online directly.
At least they scrapped the direct flight requirement and allowed Bali as an entry point to Indonesia for any flight. Something that had been requested months ago.
Now the central govt says they will review, open slowly and gradually. With what guidelines/steps/milestones ? Surely the industry and Bali should have a say in all this.
Steven
Tuesday 1st of February 2022
I hope the central goverment listens to this as there is desperation here in Bali. Maybe they can fully open Bali earlier than the rest of the country in a pilot or sandbox scheme.