Governor Plans to Open Bali Indonesia To International Tourist

Bali Indonesia may be open to international tourists before the year ends. This is the news announced by the Bali Governor Wayan Koster after he stated that the central government in Indonesia is currently studying the possibility to open-up their borders to foreign travelers.

Bali province's economy is known to be heavily dependent to tourism since 1980s, in which at present day the province's economy is made up of 80% tourism-related economy.

Photo: travelpulse.com

However, the governor revealed that the talks between higher officials are still in early stage, but the possibility has been considered.

“It is being discussed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Transportation,” - Koster said.

The governor made the statement on the media amidst the rumor that has been circulating online, particularly on messaging app WhatsApp. The rumors prompted the response from the Bali's own local officials.

As much as the local business owners' anticipations, regional secretary to the Bali administration, Dewa Made Indra, had already prevously clariffed that the easing of borders on international visitors has yet to be final.

“This is not about whether we are willing or not. If we are willing and permitted to open, we would have done it from way before because this is crucial for our economy. But the central government is still evaluating our readiness, so that we don’t open up and it results in [COVID-19] cases escalating. If that’s the case we wouldn’t be benefiting, but incurring losses,” the administrator said.

Bali has been in full operation after it accepts domestc tourists since July but remained closed to foreign visitors amid the global restriction due to the pandemic.

"But the central government is still evaluating our readiness so that we don’t open up and it results in COVID cases escalating." - Koster said.

"If that’s the case we wouldn’t be benefiting, but incurring losses." - the government added.