reopening of bali is yielding joyful results - says minister of maritime affairs and investment

Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment is strongly urging and encouraging other regional governments to take initiative and put the right efforts by following destinations like Bali to restart the tourism activities as the reopening of domestic tourism in Bali has yielded joyful results.

The domestic tourism was welcomed by Bali last month amid the pandemic of covid-19. This move was deemed necessary by the officials for the economic recovery of the province as it was severely devastated by the decline in the tourism.

Luhut in a webinar yesterday noted that the cases in Bali are on a decline and the number of recoveries are increasing. “This is something we need to take example of, I was previously worried that by opening for tourists Bali will see an increase [in positive cases]. But that didn’t happen,” Luhut said.

According to Putu Astawa, Head of Bali tourism Agency, 2000 people have visited the Island daily by air since the reopening on from 31st July. The daily count since then have hovered between 30-59 cases. However while some might find this reassuring it’s only been two weeks since Bali’s reopening to domestic tourism, and it must be noted Indonesia has one of the lowest testing rates in the world. 

“It’s obvious in Banyuwangi that the tourists have been very disciplined, same with Bali, and their economies are now restarting,” Luhut said, adding that the ongoing global travel halt offers a potential of more than US$15 billion for domestic tourism. 

“All of our initiatives and activities [related to tourism] must be restarted again while prioritizing public health. Don’t stop reminding obedient use of masks, hand-washing and social distancing, especially in heavily populated areas,” he continued.