Indonesia to postpone reopening of Bali

[reader]

From Antaran News

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has hinted that the government will likely delay opening Bali to foreign tourists following the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

"When it comes to Bali, I think you can answer it yourself. It is impossible to reopen it (in the near future), given the (presence of the) Delta (variant of COVID-19 in the country)," he said at an online press conference on the implementation of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Indonesian government is currently focusing on handling the COVID-19 pandemic, he said adding, it will implement emergency PPKM in Java and Bali from July 3 - July 20, 2021.

"So we are not thinking of it (reopening Bali) anymore. At this moment, we are thinking of how to lower (COVID-19 cases) by inoculating as many people as possible and (ensure people are) following the health protocols. That is what we are doing now," the minister informed.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/178058/indonesia-likely-to-postpone-reopening-of-bali-to-foreign-tourists

 

[10tazione]

So the question is, which south-east-asian country will be the first one to open for and attract a significant number of turists?

Here is the candidate list:

 Brunei
 Cambodia
 East Timor
 Indonesia
 Laos
 Malaysia
 Myanmar
 Philippines
 Singapore
 Thailand
 Vietnam

[spoon]

Phuket already open so thailand wins?

[fedssocr]

Singapore is doing quite well with vaccination. So I think they will be first to really open

[TMax]

Sad news for those in Bali mut in my view the Indonesian govt hasn't been very good in fighting covid and also the vaccination roll out. Their daily virus count now above 20k and according to some over there is actually greatly under reported, I can't see Bali opening this year and even into next year. The previous attempt for reopening Bali came unstuck with domestic tourism, too much virus floating around Indonesia and as to be expected some brought it back into Bali which had to be closed down again.

I agree with Singapore being fully opened first, yes Phuket sandbox is under way but will need a little time to see if it's going to be successful or not, if yes then that model could be used elswhere. My worry with Thailand is that they haven't got sufficient control over the current outbreak to give much confidence of fully opening up this year.

An interesting link on Singapores vaccine tracker Singapore interactive vaccination tracker

I also think Vietnam could be opened up sooner than most of the other countries in that list.

[spoon]

I think i read cambodia is also gunning for opening their country to vaccinated tourists soon. 

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, TMax said:

I also think Vietnam could be opened up sooner than most of the other countries in that list.

With a larger population than Thailand, Vietnam is still doing much better with a 7 day average of 438 cases. It has still recorded just 17,052 cases in total but the spike is slightly upwards. Last month the government announced plans to test everyone in Ho Chi Minh where most of the recent cases seem to have been located. 

The country remains closed and quarantine is required for arrivals. Vietnam Airlines has opened up a few international routes for certain groups of travellers. I agree with TMax that there is a better chance of the country opening up sooner than most others.

Taiwan's daily number peaked at around 550 on May 19 and has quickly dropped to around 50. If only the island can get access to more vaccine it could open up before the end of the year. But obtaining enough vaccines seems its largest problem.

[10tazione]

7 hours ago, spoon said:

Phuket already open so thailand wins?

That's why I added "and attracts a significant number of turists", which is not yet clear.