1 of S’poreans’ Favourite Tourist Spots, Bali, is Officially Closed for Foreign Tourists For the Whole of 2020

There’s a good chance that you’ve been to Bali before.

While you’d feel like you’re ripped off every time you’re there, it’s still considered one of the most affordable places to head to for a short holiday. Back in the days when COVID-19 didn’t exist, you can fly to and fro the Indonesian island for less than $250 through budget airlines, and that means you can spend less than $500 for a few days of vacation.

And if you’ve been there, you’d know that the place depends a lot on tourists—just think of it as Sentosa of Indonesia.

Last year, the island is the vacation spot for over six million foreign tourists, and that’s more than a third of Indonesia’s total.

Which is why the place was actually open for local tourist since the end of July—if anyone dares to visit, that is.

The COVID-19 graph of Indonesia isn’t exactly one that’ll encourage tourists: since March, the number of daily cases has increased, with the country now registering four-digit new cases daily.

Not to mention that back in the early days of the outbreak, it’s the country with zero case initially when all other countries were registering new cases every day.

As of now, it has over 155K confirmed cases and 6,759 deaths.

In Bali, however, the island has 4,513 cases against a population of about 4.22 million people.

When it opened for local tourists late last month, about 2,500 Indonesia residents headed to the island daily, and there hasn’t been a spike in infections. Visitors have to take an antibody test, which technically isn’t a good idea as a PCR test is better at detecting active infections.

You can watch the difference between the two tests here (and please also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):

Back then, they had an ambitious plan: to open up for foreign tourists by 11 September 2020.

Unfortunately, while local tourists can still visit the beautiful beaches, you who live in Singapore can’t head there. Not even after 11 September 2020, and it’s not because MOH says so.

Bali: Closed to Foreigners for the Whole of 2020

11 September 2020 is coming, and here’s the bad news: it’s still a no-go.

Now, despite the island having COVID-19 under control, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said, “The Indonesian government couldn’t reopen its doors to foreign travellers until the end of 2020 as we remain a red zone…The situation is not conducive to allowing foreign tourists to come to Indonesia, including to Bali.”

However, the island will continue to focus on getting more local tourists in.

Guess we can only head to Sentosa for good beaches now.

But here’s the thing: even if Bali decided to open its borders, we Singaporeans might still be stuck here.

We are still discouraged from travelling for pleasure; according to the current travel advisory, “All Singaporeans and residents of Singapore are still advised to defer all travel abroad. However, essential business and official travel will be permitted under Green / Fast Lane arrangements.”

So if the advisory doesn’t change and Bali reopens instead, you’d still have to serve a 14-day SHN when you come back and pay for the stay. Also, you’d have to bear the full cost of any COVID-19 if you’re infected overseas.

Countries Buay Tahan & Are Opening

Indonesia isn’t the only country that’s trying hard to save livelihoods and lives; other countries are doing that, too.

Here in Singapore, we are allowing visitors from two countries come 1 September: New Zealand and Brunei. And visitors from these two countries won’t even need to go through a 14-day quarantine—they just need to take a COVID-19 test.

According to Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, it’s a step to resuscitate Changi Airport, and tell the world that Singapore is open for business. He said, “The aviation sector, Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines do not just concern the sector itself, but are linked to the whole economy…So we need to really start to take steps to open up in a safe manner that can revive Changi Airport and resuscitate the aviation sector.”

Currently, there are two flights weekly that can fly a maximum total of 500 passengers from Brunei to Singapore, and four flights weekly that can fly a total of about 1,200 passengers from New Zealand to Singapore.

He added, “I believe we can strike a good balance between keeping Singapore and travellers here safe, as well as reviving the air traffic sector.”

Thailand is reportedly looking to allow tourists in from October 2020, starting with Phuket. However, it’s only for tourists from countries with limited infections, and they might have to wear wristbands with GPS tracking system—kind of like those issued to people who are on SHN in Singapore after they’ve arrived from other countries. Also, the tourists have to be isolated for 14 days in a hotel before they can go about with their activities.

If that’s not clear enough, then let’s call out the elephant in the room: don’t dream of travelling leisurely in the next six months, no matter what you’ve read online.