The island of Bali is the most visited place in Indonesia by foreign tourists. About 60 percent of the economy depends on tourism. It was not known last week whether the holiday island of Bali, which initially would reopen to foreign tourists from 11 September, would really open. Last week it became clear that Indonesia, with the exception of Bali, would probably remain closed to foreign tourists until the end of December. Since the end of July, local people from Indonesia were allowed back into Bali. The tourist area reopened beaches, temples and other attractions to locals. The holiday island of Bali, like many other countries, is suffering greatly from this corona crisis, normally it is bursting with tourists. It has been terribly quiet for months now on the beaches and attractions of this island. Bali has therefore been hit hard during the corona crisis.

Today it became clear that Bali will not open on September 11 and will remain closed to foreign tourists for the time being. This is hard for the residents who work in the tourism sector. Bali, like the rest of Indonesia, will probably remain closed until the end of December. This decision was taken by Balinese governor Wayan Koster. This is because the number of corona infections is increasing again. Worldwide, approximately 23 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and the coronavirus has claimed the lives of approximately 800.000 people. Indonesia has about 270 million inhabitants, of which more than 133.000 corona infections have been registered in Indonesia and about 6.000 deaths from the effects of COVID-19. In Bali, approximately 49 people have died from the corona virus and more than 4.000 people have been infected with the corona virus.

"The situation in Indonesia, including Bali, is not yet conducive to the admission of foreign tourists," he said Wayan Coster in Denpasar City, Bali.

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