Bali May Reopen to Tourists in October, But Will Aussies Be Able to Travel There?

Don't start planning your next Bali trip just yet.

The travel and tourism industry has been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, foreign tourist arrivals into Indonesia plunged more than 60 per cent in March, with Chinese arrivals sliding more than 97 per cent.

For places like Bali, whose economy largely depends on visitors, COVID-19 has been devastating. 

i wanna be eating fruits in the pool in bali rn

— 평온 (@A1KAME) May 17, 2020

But it looks like the tropical holiday spot could be welcoming tourists sooner than we initially thought, considering its success in controlling the coronavirus outbreak.

As of Friday 15 May, Bali had reported 343 COVID-19 cases and four deaths, which is far less than the fatality rate compared with 16,496 cases and 1076 deaths in the whole archipelago.

If the curve continues to improve, that means parts of Bali could start reopening to visitors in October this year. 

As reported by the ABC, the tourism ministry is looking to revitalise destinations and do some promotional work for some parts of Indonesia, including Bali. 

However, the real question is: Will Australians be able to travel to Bali in October?

There have been reports that international travel won't recover to the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic until 2023. 

"We have published today a new forecast about the potential recovery of the air traffic, and what we see is that things should come back to normal in 2023, which is later than our previous forecast," International Air Transport Association chief executive Alexandre de Juniac told ABC News Breakfast.

In saying that, Australia has been discussing a 'travel bubble' with New Zealand, which would allow people to travel between both nations. Although, there's been no mention of allowing travel to Bali.

At this stage, it hasn't been confirmed when international travel will be back to normal. 

Basically, don't get too excited about the prospect of lazing on the beach all day or exploring Bali's rice fields in October.

Although, Prime Minister Scott Morrison did reveal in a recent press conference that domestic tourism in Australia should hopefully return to normal in July.

So, perhaps it's time to think about which Aussie state or territory you'd like to visit next. 

Header Image: VW Pics / Contributor / Universal Images Group via Getty Images