UBUD MONKEY FOREST IN BALI WILL REOPEN NOVEMBER 5TH

 The famous Ubud Monkey Forest in Bali will reopen for tourists on November 5th, 2020 with new health protocols in place.

The Monkey Forest in Ubud is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Bali that is located in Padangtegal Village and has been closed since the pandemic began.

The Head Of Padangtegal Village, I Made Gandra has decided to reopen the Ubud Monkey Forest as an effort to recover the economic situation of the local community in Padangtegal especially for the surrounding area of the monkey forest.

“We must do this especially for the monkeys, somebody has to feed these animals and to attract people to come to Ubud” Made Gandra said to Bali Vice Governor, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (Cok Ace) in Governor’s Office on Tuesday Oct 27th 2020.

Cok Ace is in support of reopening plan on November 5th.

Cok Ace agreed to the plan to reopen several tourist attractions in Ubud as long as they are following all COVID-19 prevention protocols to avoid transmission of the virus in Ubud.

“Please stay safe and follow the rules to prevent creating a new cluster of COVID-19 inside the Monkey Forest” Cok Ace said.

Cok Ace said that the Ubud area seems like a ghost town and has been hit harder than anywhere else on the island without any tourist activity in sight.

He asked to the local community in Ubud to keep their shop doors open, which  will help create an ambience that feels normal in hopes that it will bring more people back to the area.

“Most of the accomodations in Ubud are closed so it has caused domestic tourists to stay elsewhere on the island. It obviously makes things worse in Ubud that it still appears mostly closed” Cok Ace concluded.

Source :https://thebalisun.com/

Bali tourism industry concerned with Australia’s plan to restrict overseas travel until late 2021

 

The increasing likelihood that Australia’s borders will remain closed for international travel until late next year appears to have added another layer of concerns among tourism players in Bali, many of whom had been counting on the return of foreign travelers to revive their businesses. 

Last week, an Australian official confirmed that Aussies should not expect to be able to travel overseas until late 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The country’s treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said that while domestic travel might resume by the end of 2020, international travel would not be possible until there’s a vaccine.  

Indonesia, with 349,160 confirmed coronavirus cases as of yesterday, now has the highest tally of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. Though the country has yet to open its borders or announce plans of doing so in the near future, tourism has been high on the list of priorities among officials. 

“Of course [this latest update] is a great concern, this potentially poses a threat to tourism in Bali,” I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, who is deputy chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) in Bali, said, citing the fact that Australians made up the highest number of tourists visiting the province in 2019. 

“We’re really hoping that [borders] will open for foreign tourists. But at this time a number of countries are still closed.”

While the focus on domestic tourism at this time seems to have helped Bali a little, officials have noted that they are not significant enough. An occupancy rate above 40 percent is said to be the minimum threshold for hotels to turn a profit, but the rate has only hovered between 5 and 9 percent since Bali opened to domestic travelers in late July. 

Bali’s tourism-dominated economy has been severely impacted by the pandemic, with more than 76,000 workers furloughed and 532 companies shutting down operations in Badung regency alone, as of early October. 

In addition, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama has expressed concerns that there’s a negative image of Indonesian tourism at the moment in Australia. 

“Our tourism image is not in a good condition. The perspectives abroad, especially in Australia … I see that there’s been negative reports coming out of Australian media,” Wishnutama said. 

The minister emphasized the importance of implementing strict health protocols to improve those negative perceptions, which would help support the discussions the ministry is having with its counterparts abroad. 

Earlier this month, Indonesia’s airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura I said they are in talks with South Korean officials to establish a special route for travelers from the East Asian country to visit Bali during the pandemic.

Source :https://coconuts.co/bali/news/

BALI WILL REOPEN BORDERS WITH SINGAPORE IN NEW BUSINESS TRAVEL CORRIDOR

 Indonesia and Singapore will reopen their borders to each other in a new reciprocal travel corridor which will allow for Singaporean business travelers to arrive in Bali. 

The governments of Indonesia and Singapore have announced a reciprocal green lane between the two countries will officially launch on October 26th, 2020. 

The reciprocal green lane is the first step Indonesia has taken on relaxing their strict border lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic. 

The reciprocal green lane allows for the free flow of business travelers between the two nations to help stimulate the economies of both nations. 

The Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister announced the reciprocal green lane during a press conference on Monday Oct 12th 2020. He also stated  that the application process will launch on October 26th, 2020, for travel between the two countries. 

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister, Retno Marsudi  announced that only citizens from Singapore will be able to apply for the green lane and they must be sponsored by an Indonesian company. 

“Singaporeans need to apply for the visa through the Indonesia Directorate General of Immigration’s official website,” Retno said.

Indonesian citizens who want to travel to Singapore on business won’t require a visa and instead will apply for a Safe Travel Pass from the Singaporean Government.

The applicants must also provide a negative PCR swab test result from a medical institution that is recognized by both countries that is completed within 72 hours of departure from the country of origin.

Applicants will also have to commit to a minimum of 14 days when visiting either Indonesia or Singapore. 

A Professor from National University of Singapore, Teo Yik Ying said that the economic relationship between the two countries is the main reason of why the Singaporean Government has decided to open its borders to Indonesia.

“Despite the surging Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, we believe that we can reduce the possibility of virus transmission through pre-departure and post-arrival testing” Yik Ying concluded.

Up until the announcement, the government has kept Indonesia’s borders including Bali closed to almost all foreign visitors. 

The new travel corridor between Indonesia and Singapore will allow for business travelers to travel to Bali.

While it may not be the announcement tourists wishing to visit Bali had hoped for, it is the first step in a public announcement that shows the Indonesian government is willing to work with other countries to loosen its restrictions. 

While some travelers have reported on social media they have been permitted into Bali using loopholes through visa companies, others have been denied entry. Until official announcements are made, it is not recommended that travelers use visa companies to try and skirt the border restrictions. 

A couple from the UK told The Bali Sun that they lost over $2300 USD to a company that had promised them entry visa’s into Indonesia. 

Another man from France said that he had received a valid Indonesian visa through a Bali visa company but was still denied entry into the country.

Bali originally opened for domestic tourism on July 31st, 2020 and had originally planned to reopen for international travelers on September 11th. The central Indonesia government overrules the reopening saying they would keep the borders closed until at least the end of 2020. 

Bali has seen a large spike in COVID-19 cases since reopening for domestic tourism. 

According to official statistics, 9759 people have been infected with COVID-19 in Bali resulting in 313 deaths. 1129 are currently in care and another and 8317 have recovered. 

https://thebalisun.com/

BALI TARGETS 1 MILLION VISITORS IN NEW TOURISM PROMOTION ‘BALI, I MISS YOU’

 Uncertain of when when the pandemic will end, the central government of Indonesia has initiated a tourism promotion called “Bali, I Miss You”

Director of Information and Maritime Public Relations, Septriana Tangkary said during a webinar that she’s optimistic that if this campaign is success, it could solve the financial problem in the areas where tourism is the main source of income such as Bali.

Bali is the number one tourism priority of the Indonesian president because Bali had been contributing 40% of the foreign exchange to the country.

“The President has said that the reopening should be done with several stages to minimize a new cluster of Covid-19 with a strict health and safety protocols” Tangkary said.

Head of the Advanced Indonesia Woman Organization, Lara T Koentjoro said that she’s targeting 1 million visitors to come to Bali during the pandemic.

“I know that there are some areas that are considered red zone, but we can just focus on the green zone areas that’s a lot safer to visit,” Lara said.

She hopes that all the stakeholders could participate in this program. “We need to start spreading the positive news among the people, so they don’t have to be worried.

There’s still so many places with zero case of Covid-19,” Lara added.

Meanwhile, The Directorate General of Information and Public Relations, Widodo Muktiyo said that the amount of arrivals from tourists at the Bali Ngurah Rai airport had decreased 100% until June.

“Nowadays, the government is focusing on the recovery of the domestic tourism industry by implementing strict protocols, subsidize airplane tickets, and tax incentives for hotel and restaurants” Muktiyo said.

Executive Director of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association, Ida Bagus Purwa Sidemen has been ensuring every hotel and restaurant is verified with the new normal certificate.

“I suggest to all the travelers to ask the hotel management about their health protocols without hesitation before staying to give a safety feeling during their vacation” Bagus Purwa concluded.

There have been no dates released regarding the phased reopening that the President mentioned.

Source : https://thebalisun.com/

DESERTED KUTA HOTELS IN BALI WILL BECOME QUARANTINE FACILITIES

 

Hotels in Kuta that have been left almost empty due to the pandemic are being used to house quarantine patients from Bangli.

The Bangli District Government has reserved 100 hotel rooms in Kuta to isolate  asymptomatic and mild symptom patients of Covid-19.

Head of Bangli Disaster Management Agency, Ketut Gede Wiradana has said during a press conference on Wednesday Oct 7th 2020 that he has surveyed several hotels that he will use as quarantine facilities. “We have chosen a hotel outside Bangli, because hotels in Bangli did not meet our quality standards for Covid-19 patient isolation rooms” Wiradana said. 

Bangli Disaster Management Agency has planned to relocate those patients from their homes to the hotels in Kuta on Friday Oct 9th 2020.

According to the standard of Disaster Management Agency, the hotel must meet certain specifications. Each room can fit maximum 2 people, the hotel has to provide meals 3 times a day along with two snacks. Additional requirements include laundry service, internet service and regular sanitation.

“We chose the hotel based on those specifications” Wiradana added. There are 24 patientsso far in Bangli that will be relocated to their new quarantines in Kuta.

Meanwhile in Ubud, the Regional Secretary of Gianyar, Made Gede Wisnu Wijaya, has said that he believes the hotel being used for quarantine is haunted. 

The Secretary has sent a priest to rid the ghosts from the hotel because he was worried that the haunting would have a negative impact on the patients staying at the hotel.

The Civil Service Security Officer who works to secure the hotel has confirmed that they  felt the presence of the black spirit.

“We have sent a priest to pray for the hotel and asked him to remove all the negative energy so the people who have been undergoing quarantine could recover as soon as possible,” Wisnu Wijaya said.

Source : https://thebalisun.com/