Emergency Covid-19 Measures Put Bali's Tourism Revival on Hold

KOMPAS.com - A set of a tourism initiatives to revive the economy in Bali which has been hit hard by the Covid-19 has been postponed due to the ongoing emergency measures taken by Indonesia to curb coronavirus spike, driven by new variants. 

Bali's economy which relies heavily on the tourism industry will have to delay the government-led programs comprising 'Work From Bali' which will send a number of Jakarta-based civil servants to Bali, a pilot project for vaccine-based tourism, travel corridor with other countries, and a plan to receive foreign tourists.

The emergency restrictions on community activities or locally known as emergency PPKM, which starts from July 3-20, came after the announcement was made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Thursday as the daily Covid-19 caseload continues to increase. 

Also read: Emergency Measures Will Start July 3 amid Covid-19 Surge: Jokowi

Following the President’s announcement, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno has decided to temporarily close all tourist destinations and creative economy centers during the Emergency PPKM.

“The handling of Covid-19 must be fully supported. So, we are under one command. As the ministry in charge of 13 tourism sub-sectors and 17 creative economy sub-sectors, we instruct all stakeholders to comply with Emergency PPKM from 3 to 20 July 2021," said Sandiaga in a statement on Thursday, July 1.

Sandi hoped that the tourism and creative economy sectors will resume operating after the number of Covid-19 cases decreases.

"We will follow this and we have urged the tourism operators and creative economy players to implement it without exception because the safety and well-being of the people is the priority," he said.

In the first to fourth quarters of 2020, Bali's economy contracted 12 percent, the lowest among the 34 provinces in the country. In the second quarter of 2021, Bali's economic growth is predicted to contract between six percent and eight percent.

Also read: Indonesia to Start Enforcing Emergency PPKM in Java and Bali