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KUTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Monday welcomed its first overseas vacationers below relaxed coronavirus guidelines that not require arrivals to quarantine, a part of a broader easing of curbs within the Southeast Asian nation after infections declined.
Identified for its browsing, temples, waterfalls and nightlife, Bali drew 6.2 million overseas guests in 2019, the 12 months earlier than COVID-19 struck. However solely a trickle of tourists have returned since Bali began opening as much as overseas vacationers final October, discouraged by the necessity to quarantine and different guidelines.
Underneath a pilot program, absolutely vaccinated vacationers now can skip a compulsory three-day quarantine, although they should stay on the island for 4 days.
“I believe it’s good for the island,” mentioned Jesse Rayman, 22, a Dutch vacationer arriving at Bali’s airport on Monday. “I hope everybody is ready to journey safely sooner or later, and coronavirus wouldn’t be a lot a difficulty anymore.”
With tourism usually making up over 50% of Bali’s economic system, many on the island have been determined to see a quicker return of vacationers, notably as some neighboring international locations moved quicker.
Thailand and the Philippines have already got comparable quarantine-free packages in place for overseas vacationers.
Luhut Pandjaitan, a minister overseeing the COVID-19 response in Java and Bali, informed a information convention on Monday that if the Bali pilot program went effectively, all overseas guests getting into Indonesia would not be required to quarantine from April 1 or earlier.
—Reporting by Sultan Anshori in Bali and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Enhancing by Ed Davies and John Stonestreet
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