Indonesia started its phased resumption of economic activities on July 9. The country’s most beloved tourist destination, Bali, will open for local travellers on July 31 and will reopen its borders for international tourists on September 11.
Bali will reopen its borders in September.
‘The pandemic has hit [the] tourism sector so badly while there is no certainty when it will end,’ Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said according to Afar. ‘We have to revive economic activity to prevent Bali from new social problems due to increasing economic pressures.’
Locals on the island held a mass prayer meeting at Besakih Hindu temple in the town of Karangasem on Sunday [July 12] in preparation for the reopening of its tourism industry, according to Jakarta Post.
The island is a Hindu-majority area, while the rest of the country’s majority religion is Islam.
According to Afar, the island welcomes over 5 million visitors each year. The country reopened several national parks on July 1, reports Mongabay.
Indonesia has confirmed more than 68,000 cases and 3,359 fatalities, the most in Southeast Asia, according to TIME Magazine.
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