Visitors enjoy the beach during the government-relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia on September 15. Photo: VCG
Balinese tourism entrepreneur I Ketut Ardana is all fired up by the reopening of tourism in Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali, which had been closed particularly for international tourists for about more than one and half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting from October 14, flights from 19 countries, including China, South Korea, France, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, have been allowed to travel to Bali which is famous for its emerald rice terraces, Hindu temples and white-sand beaches.
Indonesia has reopened tourism on the “Island of Gods” as 99 percent of the Balinese have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccines and more than 80 percent have been fully vaccinated.
The Southeast Asian archipelago country has been easing its four-tiered COVID-19 restrictions on public activities, locally known as PPKM, following a drop in the number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations.
“We feel excited and happy about the reopening of Bali,” Ardana, who is also the head of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies in Bali, told Xinhua on October 15.
“But we are aware that once it’s reopened, tourists won’t come immediately,” he added.
![Bali’s tourism entrepreneurs patiently await return of foreign visitors 2 - Travel Pass This picture taken on September 14 shows a retired Boeing aircraft placed on a seaside cliff to lure tourists and be turned into a villa near Nyang-Nyang beach in Uluwatu Badung Regency, on Indonesia resort island of Bali. Photo: VCG](https://go.traveltrade.today/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3f80ba72-a962-4c40-a2c1-00fb5ea6c9ce.jpeg)
This picture taken on September 14 shows a retired Boeing aircraft placed on a seaside cliff to lure tourists and be turned into a villa near Nyang-Nyang beach in Uluwatu Badung Regency, on Indonesia resort island of Bali. Photo: VCG
Until the second day of the reopening, no international flights from those countries have arrived at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, according to the Bali provincial administration.
In an interview with Xinhua on October 15, the Bali tourism agency’s head I Putu Astawa explained that the requirements for international visitors allowed to visit Bali, such as visas, were just newly arranged.
“This is why no international flights…