News: Indonesia Prepares for Bali Reopening in Mid-2021

Indonesian officials are working on a travel corridor program that could see foreign tourists visiting Bali by the middle of this year. During a visit to the province a few days ago, President Joko Widodo said that Bali might restart tourism sometime in June or July, as long as the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. Sandiaga and other officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and Bali Governor Wayan Koster, followed that up with a meeting that aims to set up a \"strict reopening\" to foreign tourists in a few months.

This latest timeline is a lot sooner than what Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said last week, who set Bali's reopening to April 2022. Officials have been spouting different terms in the last few weeks, from \"green zones,\" to \"COVID-19 safe travel\" and \"Free COVID Corridor,\" all of which appear to be part of the same grand strategy to revive Bali's tourism-dependent economy.

(Mar 19, 2021)