April 9, 2021
Tourism Board predicts 1.5 million foreign tourists for 2021 if island reopens in June + Quarantine hotels being prepared for international arrivals + Bali's vaccine schedule could be delayed + more!
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NEW SECTION: On Fridays, at the bottom of the newsletter you’ll now find the section Weekend Reads. Here we’ll link to longform reporting about the region that will hopefully make for great weekend reading. If you know of any longform pieces you think we should include, please let us know!
Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
Weather forecast from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Surf outlook via Windy.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*Note: Yesterday was the third consecutive day Bali's new Covid-19 cases were above 200, with yesterday’s total (205) bringing the 7-day average up to 200. The number of deaths jumped back up again yesterday (10) after Wednesday’s 2.
Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"If Tourism Opens in June, BTB Predicts 1.5 Million Foreign Tourists Will Come to Bali" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian): The head of Bali Tourism Board (BTB), Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana, said that once it opens in June or July, tourists would not automatically visit Bali. "For 2021 we predict that approximately 1.5 million (foreign) tourists will come to Bali. 6.5 million foreign tourists visited in 2019. But it's okay, just open it, because we know it will not be normal again, it will take a long time to be normal. Actually, the important thing is that guests from Australia and China can go to Bali.”
"Provincial Government Prepares Hotels to Become Tourist Quarantine Places" from Bali Express (Indonesian): Deputy Governor of Bali, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, also known as Cok Ace, has coordinated with Immigration, the Health Office and other related parties to prepare hotels for quarantine for tourists who come to Bali. Before the results of the PCR swab come out, tourists wait at the designated hotel. This is done in anticipation of the results of the swab being positive for Covid-19. "In terms of Bali's readiness to receive tourists, Immigration is ready, everything is ready. For quarantine hotels we don't mention quarantine, but a place to adjust for positive or negative swab results."
"The Covid-19 Vaccination in Bali Could Be Delayed Due to Blockade of Vaccine Producing Countries" from iNews Bali(Indonesian): Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan estimated that there will be a two-month delay in completing the Covid-19 vaccination target for Balinese citizens due to blockades from several vaccine producing countries. "So I just got news from Jakarta, we will talk to the governor regarding the AstraZeneca vaccines will be more for Bali. So we hope Bali can get 1.5 million vaccines. Hopefully this month or next month," he said.
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Business is tough in the best of times, but these days - Wow. Thankfully, there’s a supportive spirit among the people who remain in Bali; this newsletter is proof. If you’ve got a product or service that needs local support to succeed, let this community know about it here.
Other Headlines
"GeNose Tariff at Ngurah Rai Airport Rp. 40,000, Available From April 9" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): "We are trying to make it easier to obtain relatively inexpensive medical test services with GeNose services," said General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) Ngurah Rai Herry AY Sikado. The GeNose C-19 test simulation was held at the departure terminal yesterday. 150 pockets were used in the simulation. The GeNose C-19 test service at the airport is open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time in the departure terminal area.
Vaccination Update
"Embargo Raises Uncertainty Over Arrival of 100 Million Vaccine Doses" from Antara: Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Indonesia expects to receive vaccines through two mechanisms, with the first being for the provision of 54 million doses for free through the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, and the second being to import 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Indonesia received merely one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as opposed to the scheduled 11 million doses during the March-April period, while the rest have been postponed until May. "Only 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered in 2021, and the delivery of 30 million doses of the vaccines is postponed until 2022," he said.
Context: In anticipation of an embargo in several vaccine-producing nations, Indonesia is seeking to order another 90 to 100 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
More...
Island: "Deputy Governor: Bali Has Received More Than One Million Doses of the Covid-19 Vaccine" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Badung: "4,000 Kuta Residents Get Covid-19 Vaccination at Beachwalk" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian)
Buleleng: "Buleleng Received Additional Vaccines for 30,000 People" Antara
Denpasar: "Tens of Thousands of Denpasar Residents Have Complete Dose Vaccination" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "152,000 More Denpasar People Have Been Vaccinated" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Karangasem: "Hundreds of Elderly in Karangasem Start Covid-19 Vaccination" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "Tabanan Accelerate Vaccinations in These Three Destinations" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Tabanan: "Kodim 1619/Tabanan Holds Veteran Vaccination" from Bali Post (Indonesian)
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Patrols
Badung: "Badung Regency Government Sent 56 Vaccination Teams in Kuta and South Kuta" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
Denpasar: "The Yustisi Denpasar Team Disciplined 28 Health Protocol Violators" from Antara Bali (Indonesian)
"Bali Agricultural Business Scale Unattractive for Investors" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian): Udayana University Agribusiness Study Program academic Made Sarjana said that road infrastructure and machinery in agricultural areas are not widely available, so the procurement value is high for investors. The downstream industry also has not attracted much interest from farmers. "Often the downstream agricultural industry is not managed in a sustainable manner because the number of human resources of farmers who have the appropriate skills is minimal." Balinese agriculture with a small economic scale also tends not to be attractive for downstream industrial investment, such as the downstream coffee industry.
"Mudik is Banned Unless You Meet These Conditions" from Indonesia Expat: The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has officially banned the Eid Al-Fitr’ 2021 homecoming, known locally as mudik, [in an effort to] control the spread of COVID-19 during the holy month of Ramadan 1442 Hijrah. However, travel during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr is exempted for two types of travellers. One is logistic distribution service vehicles. The second is travellers with urgent needs such as work or business trips, visit sick family members, visits to bereaved family members, pregnant women who are accompanied by one family member, and the interests of childbirth accompanied by a maximum of two people.
Of Interest
"These are the Requirements for the Development of Health Tourism in Bali from Investors" from Bisnis Bali (Indonesian)
"The Meaning of Galungan Day to Be Celebrated in Bali in the Next Few Days" from Tribun Bali (Indonesian)
"NTT Governor Fires ‘Unresponsive’ Local Disaster Agency Head Following Fatal Flash Floods" from Coconuts Bali
"Monash University Signs Deal With Indonesian Government as Universities Diversify From China" from The Guardian
"Twitter Spotlights Asia Democracy Movements With #MilkTeaAlliance Emoji" from Agence France-Presse
Weekend Reads
"In Tourist-free Bali, Artists Persevere Through ‘Darkest Moment’" from Aljazeera
"Collective Strives to Shine the Light of Truth on Indonesia's 1965 Tragedy" from The Jakarta Post
"Technology is Reuniting Chinese-Indonesians With Their Ancestral Names" from Rest of World
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis, dozens of individuals and organizations have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to the innumerable families who have suddenly found themselves without any source of income. We've been making an effort to document and raise awareness of these efforts. We will add information on projects in this space as we are able to confirm them. If you'd like to see a list of the efforts that we've featured so far and contribute to them with either time or money, visit our complete list here. You can also see a list of projects that have registered themselves at BaliSolidarity.org. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
Our standards
We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa Indonesia. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at TheBaliBeat@outlanders.global.