DENPASAR, Bali, 11 October 2021: The Bali Tour Guide Association claims international tourists remain reluctant to travel to Bali as long as Indonesia enforces a mandatory eight-day quarantine.
In a report posted by the Bali Sun at the weekend, the guide association confirmed that the “majority of potential visitors from selected countries such as Japan, China and South Korea decided to cancel their trip to the island due to the long quarantine on arrival.”
Bali Sun quoted the Bali Tour Guide Association head I Nyoman Nuarta saying: “Despite having approximately 300,000 potential visitors from all around the world, most travellers decided to cancel their trip due to the eight-day quarantine policy.”
Calling on the government to reduce to two days or eliminate the need for quarantine for vaccinated travellers, Nuarta added: ” I’m sure that a lot of tourists who have been waiting for the border to reopen would be happy to start travelling to Bali again.”
Most Asian visitors spent less than a week on the island pre-Covid-19 times, especially visitors from China, Japan and South Korea. They will not add eight days in quarantine when they only intend to stay for a week.
He told the Bali Sun he proposed that the government reconsider the quarantine rule and instead insist on a PCR testing on arrival. At the same time, every visitor must be fully vaccinated and have a recognised certificate.
Bali authorities say the island’s tourism industry is ready to welcome international travellers as 90% of the staff in travel and hospitality are fully vaccinated.
