Bali’s much-touted plan to reopen to the world on September 11 is most likely to be shelved. Indonesia is reviewing a plan to reopen its tourist areas to foreign visitors, which could stall Bali’s planned to welcome back foreigners next month. Now it is also being reported that Indonesia will keep its doors closed to tourists until a coronavirus vaccine is found and immunity can be provided.
“The reopening of tourist destinations to foreign tourists is something positive, but we need to do it at the right time,” Erick Thohir, chief of Indonesia’s national economic and COVID-19 recovery team, said during a virtual public discussion.
As per a report in Japan Times, “Since Tuesday, Indonesia has been conducting final, phase 3 clinical testing for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung. The clinical trial is taking place with the cooperation of Chinese-based drugmaker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and a team of Indonesian scientists and researchers, as well as Indonesian state-owned drugmaker PT Bio Farma. Once clinical testing for about 6½ months is completed, vaccine production will immediately start and pave the way to offering immunity to the general public.”
According to Thohir, who is also the minister for state-owned enterprises, the government did not want its efforts to mitigate the pandemic undermined by the reopening of its borders to tourists, which might lead to cluster infections.
This effectively means that immunity may only start next year. Thohir said reopening to foreign travelers must go hand in hand with producing immunity to prevent any need to start again from scratch. “Therefore, for the time being, we are still reviewing the plan to reopen (Indonesia) for foreign tourists,” he said.
At another webinar, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, the country’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, confirmed that Indonesia will be barring international visitors through December. Luhut said, “We want domestic tourists to reach 70 percent [of previous levels]. The problem with foreign visitors [is] we will not accept them until the end of the year.”
These comment by senior officials suggest that Jakarta will extend restrictions banning all foreigners—except for diplomats, aid workers, and those with work or residence permits—from entering the country. At the same webinar, Indonesia’s tourism minister Wishnutama said at least eight million Indonesians travel abroad each year, collectively spending about US$9 billion, and the government was trying to find ways to shift that spend to domestic trips.
The government has slowly reopened some tourist destinations for domestic tourists despite the continued high risk of spreading the virus. Recovery of domestic tourism has been the first target before reopening to tourists from abroad. The resort island began to welcome back domestic tourists on July 31, with appropriate health and safety protocols in place, but their return cannot offset the absence of foreigners. About 6.3 million foreign tourists visited Bali last year.
Indonesia is also in negotiations with some countries to set up travel corridors for business travelers. Indonesia has reached agreements with South Korea and the United Arab Emirates for such travel bubbles.
Foreign holidaymakers, who generate billions of dollars in revenue, remain a critical part of Indonesia’s economy, he said. Indonesia’s tourism sector is facing potential losses of $4 billion from the drastic decline in tourism.
These suggestions will dash the hopes of hoteliers and tourism operators in hard-hit Bali and the islands of Batam and Bintan in the Riau Archipelago. More than half of all visitors to Batam and Bintan typically come from nearby Singapore, and the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the permanent closure of the 450-room Bintan Lagoon Resort, a five-star property that operated for the past 26 years.