What is up, Bali?
The long holiday at the end of October made many people from all over the country visit Bali for vacation. This had raised concerns in several circles, particularly tourism entrepreneurs and the government. The dilemma situation arose, where many people have to go back to work to meet their needs.
However, on the other hand, they could have risked their lives because they made contact with the tourists who could be the carriers of the Covid-19 virus without symptoms. What’s more, Indonesia has experienced a spike in Covid-19 after a long holiday last July. But the good news is that after a few days since the holidays ended, Bali and Indonesia have not reported a significant increase in the number of new infections. The cure rate has now exceeded the number of daily infections (new cases). All parties still have to work hard to reduce the death rate.
While Bali has shown good progress in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season at the end of last October, nevertheless; all levels of society need to be aware of the possibility of the emergence of new Covid-19 clusters at tourist attractions. It was stated that almost all accommodation, restaurants and tourist attractions in Bali have successfully implemented the safe-travel protocol. This can be seen from the stable rate of daily new infections, deaths and cures in Bali. No need to worry too much, but of course we still have to comply with existing health protocols.
The implementation of strict health protocols plays a very important role in saving the tourism industry in Bali and Indonesia. The impeccable performance of health protocols at The Nusa Dua has been able to increase the confidence of tourists to visit during this pandemic; This can be seen from the significant development of room occupancy rates at ITDC. Several popular tourist spots in Bali also reported similar good news. Ulun Danu Bratan Temple in Bedugul, Tanah Lot Temple and Pandawa Beach recorded the highest number of visits in the past eight months. The Balinese government continues to encourage everyone to adhere to health protocols; Therefore, many officers were dispatched to guard the many checkpoints in various places. Those who are caught not wearing masks will be fined IDR 100,000 and perform push-ups or other sanctions.
And now, the Christmas and New Year holiday are now getting closer. For most Indonesians, the year end holiday of 2020 is felt to be longer than usual due to the Eid al-Fitr collective leave policy that has been moved to December due to the Covid-19 outbreak. In total there will be 11 national holidays, starting from December 24, 2020 to January 3, 2021. However, this is not certain due to the rumor that President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, advised his cabinet to study several possibilities for shortening the year-end holidays.
Meanwhile, one of the most popular Online Travel Agencies (OTA) in Indonesia Pegi-Pegi has conducted an online survey involving more than 1400 people to find out whether the public has planned a year-end vacation or not. The result is that more than 75% of respondents have plans to travel during the upcoming holidays.
Currently, the Provincial Government of Bali continues to encourage all tourism businesses to seriously implement the #safetravel campaign and register their hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions to get the new normal protocol certification. Governor Regulation Number 46 of 2020 is also still in effect, those who are caught not wearing masks in public will be subject to a fine of IDR 100,000 and business actors who violate the new normal provisions will be subject to a fine of IDR 1,000,000.
The latest data regarding Covid-19 As of Tuesday (25/11), there were 111 new infections in Bali, bringing the total cases to 13,442. The number of new recovered patients was 105, with a total of 12,260 and one death reported, bringing the total to 415. Meanwhile in Indonesia there were 4,192 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 506,302. The number of daily cures was 2,927, for a total of 425,313. The new deaths numbered 109, for a total of 16,111.
Recently, the rumors about Indonesia opening its borders to international tourists on December 1 have also circulated in various media in recent weeks. However, no official statement has yet been made by the authorities to clarify this.
Indonesia, including Bali, is still closed to foreign tourists, but foreigners with business purposes have started to return to the Island of the Gods. But still and all, during this period of ‘hiatus’, it is better to introspect and then preparing. In a program called We Love Bali, by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Bali’s revitalization is implementing a tourism with CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment) concept, where the visitors no need to worry about anything, in order to experience convenience while traveling.
So, we need you all guys, to support us and the world, whatever it is, to make this happen, not only in Bali, but everywhere around the world. Keep the positive vibe!
