Bali floats travel bubble as way back for Australians

Jakarta/Sydney | Bali hotels and resorts are readying themselves for a government-mandated "new normal" they hope will include Australian tourists in the not-so-distant future.

While New Zealand remains the clear favourite for reciprocal arrangements for Australia when Canberra is ready to modify its do-not-travel order, Bali hotels plan to receive guests as early as July.

"We support a 'travel bubble' plan because we know that when Australians are allowed to travel, they will want to come to Bali," said Rai Suryawijaya, Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel & Restaurant Association (PHRI) in Bali.

Parts of Indonesia where community transmission of COVID-19 is low will enter a "new normal" on Monday as the central government attempts to get the country's economy firing again. In Bali, which is one of the provinces judged to be ready for the road back, local authorities and businesses have floated a proposal to unlock travel restrictions which currently prevent tourists from visiting the island.

As countries begin to lift restrictions, various nations are considering "travel bubbles" or "green lanes" that would allow some movement of foreigners to countries or areas with low or non-existent rates of COVID-19 infections in the community.

Jakarta has not yet had any official discussions with Canberra on re-opening tourist routes. However, many in Bali hope talks will begin soon.

Last year, 1.23 million Australians holidayed in Bali. However, since March, when the Australian government restricted international travel and Indonesia barred most foreigners from entering, the Balinese have had the island to themselves. PHRI's Rai Suryawijaya says 96 per cent of hotels are closed. "The occupancy rate is zero," he said.

"There are no guests and no flights," Mr Rai told The Australian Financial Review. He is one of the deputy chairman of a team looking at ways to kickstart Bali's economic recovery and believes travel bubbles could have a big role to play.

He is hopeful June will be the last month when Bali's 146,000 hotel rooms are empty, saying the industry can't hold on for much longer.

"We have to be careful; we don't want to start too soon but I am confident that after [the Muslim holiday] Eid al-Fitr there will be a decline in COVID-19 cases. My prediction is July."

Domestic tourism is still limited, with restrictions on travel from those living in pandemic "red zones' such as the capital Jakarta. This leaves Bali, a popular destination among Europeans, Asians and Australians, trying to work out how to kick start its international business.

Bali has reported 407 cases of COVID-19. Of these, 295 have recovered while four people died. Overall in Indonesia, 23,165 had tested positive as of Tuesday, with 5877 recovered and 1418 deaths.

The central government, struggling to damp down infection rates in "red zones" is now looking to provinces like Bali, which has set COVID-19 containment lines at village level. With 1493 villages across the province monitoring their local populations, it's proved an effective approach.

Mr Rai, who owns one hotel and manages two others, says it is too early to tell what the "new normal" might look like.

"In the past, as many as 16,000 foreign tourists arrived each day. If we reopen in July, I can't predict how many tourists will come," he said.

He knows it will be many months before all those hotel rooms are full once more.

"Even if we could get 10 flights to land each day, with social distancing restrictions on-board, there may be only 150 people on-board each flight so that's just 1500 arrivals each day. We know occupancy rates will remain low, at least until next year."

The X2 Bali Breakers Resort at the Balangan Beach in South Bali is among the businesses training staff in the new COVID-era standard operating procedures, which include extra cleaning and hygiene measures.

In any other year, the resort's 57 pool villas would be full of international visitors, with the largest number from Australia. In recent months, however, the resort has had to reduce staff pay by 75 per cent and has encouraged employees to grow vegetables on vacant land it owns to help put food on the table.

Resort general manager Komang Artana said the idea of ​​a travel bubble would be welcomed by many tourism operators in Bali.

with Andrew Tillett