Bali reopens to tourists from 19 countries but with riders. Here’s what you need to know

From today, fully vaccinated travellers from 19 countries including China, India, and France can enter Bali. But visitors must first serve a five-day quarantine in a hotel. The 19 countries are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Norway.

The UK is not on the list. Australia, where most of Bali’s tourists came from before the pandemic, is also absent from the list. Tourism and economy minister Sandiaga Uno said Bali’s reopening is focusing on travellers and returning expatriates who used to live in Bali.

Officials had closed the international airport in April last year to stop the coronavirus from spreading. In July, Indonesia became the epicentre of Covid in Asia, but daily cases have since reduced significantly.

Now the tourism sector is hoping that some of the 6 million foreigners who visited the island in 2019, before the pandemic hit, will return. The island has one of the highest vaccination rates in Indonesia, with more than 82% fully vaccinated, according to health ministry data.

(With inputs from BBC, 9News)