Indonesia's holiday island of Bali on Thursday is welcoming its first direct flight carrying foreign tourists for nearly two years.
A Garuda Indonesia flight from Tokyo is scheduled to arrive in Bali on Thursday afternoon, with six foreigners and six Indonesians on board, the Bali Government Tourism Office said. The six foreign tourists arriving from Tokyo were traveling using business visas since the new rules for tourists were not ready when they applied to come, tourism office official Ida Ayu Indah Yustikarini said.
Indonesia has said restarting international flights is intended to boost Bali's battered tourism sector, which usually accounts for 54 percent of its economy.
Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar officially opened to visitors from several countries, including China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, in mid-October, but it has not received any international arrivals since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020.
The island on Friday will open to flights from all countries, the Indonesian government announced in late January, but whether tourists will choose to vacation in Bali remains to be seen.
A Garuda Indonesia flight from Tokyo is scheduled to arrive in Bali on Thursday afternoon, with six foreigners and six Indonesians on board, the Bali Government Tourism Office said. The six foreign tourists arriving from Tokyo were traveling using business visas since the new rules for tourists were not ready when they applied to come, tourism office official Ida Ayu Indah Yustikarini said.
Indonesia has said restarting international flights is intended to boost Bali's battered tourism sector, which usually accounts for 54 percent of its economy.
Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar officially opened to visitors from several countries, including China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, in mid-October, but it has not received any international arrivals since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020.
The island on Friday will open to flights from all countries, the Indonesian government announced in late January, but whether tourists will choose to vacation in Bali remains to be seen.
