Bali is getting rid of quarantine for overseas travellers on the 14th of March, as part of a trial, an Indonesian minister announced at a press conference on Sunday.
“The government will also conduct a trial without quarantine for overseas travellers who come to Bali and it is planned to take effect on 14th March with several conditions,” coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said.
Bloomberg reports that the intention is to lift all quarantine requirements by April.
Pandjaitan also said: “Passengers who are fully vaccinated will still have to take a PCR test when they arrive and stay inside their pre-booked accommodation while waiting for the result.”
“After testing negative, the tourists will be free to do their activities with the procedures still being applied. Tourists will carry out another PCR test on their third day at their respective hotels. This is for our mutual safety.”
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan
Pandjaitan also said that the trial could be brought forward if the COVID numbers drop next week.
“We could speed up 14th March to a different date if the data will improve during the next week. In Bali, it seems that yesterday we saw the numbers continue to improve in the last few weeks.”
Indonesia Expat reports that Bali was chosen as the trial location because it had a higher second-dose vaccination rate recorded than other provinces.
Peter Hibberd, an Australian expat in Bali who has previously spoken with DMARGE about what it’s like working remotely in Bali during a pandemic, said he reckons “just about every single person in Bali just had Omicron” and that he thinks significantly more people have had COVID in Bali than has been recorded.
That said, he expects a mad run of Bintang singlets come March, and says: “the sentiment is keen to finally be open.”
“Just means my bloody rent will go up. And more Australian bogans at bars.”
Peter Hibberd
As we reported recently, in recent times Australians have lost their title as the worst tourists in Bali, as social media stars from places like Russia and America have acted up in our absence.
As we reported last year, during these pandemic ridden times, Bali has been debating its relationship with tourism, with some calling for the island to “stop edifying tourists.”
What we can all hopefully agree upon, is that tourists need to show more respect – no matter where they are from.
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