Foreign Tour Groups Return to Bali

The State News Agency Antara reports the leading Indonesian Tour Operator – Panorama Tours (PT Panorama Sentrawisata), has welcomed one of Bali’s first foreign tours groups since the reopening of Bali to foreign travelers by the ending of quarantine requirements and provision of visas-on-arrival to the nationals of 42 countries.

Panorama Tour Group at Prambanan Temple

Panorama welcomed 50 Polish tourists at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on Thursday evening, 31 March. Ricky Setiawanto, the Director of Panorama Destination, on Friday, 01 April 2022, said: “With the arrival of the first group from Poland, we hope that inbound tourism to Bali will now quickly recover and we can regain the corporate momentum to return to pre-pandemic levels of business.”

Setiawanto confirmed that Panorama is in continuous communication with foreign tour operators, promoting that Bali has reopened to international travelers. “The South African market is enthusiastic about the travel to Bali. Every day we receive bookings from our agents there,” he said.

Separately, the Secretary of Panorama Sentrawisata, AB Sadewa, recommended that the government extend eligibility beyond Bali for visa-on-arrival to every air gateway in Indonesia served by international flights. Such a step, according to Sadewa, would increase tourist visits to Indonesia in a more geographically just manner. Adding: “This will help the tourism ecosystem recover in a wider manner. It will be unfortunate if airlines operate international routes without the capability of accessing VOA.”

One of the Polish tourists arriving in the group of 50 handled by Panorama, Szymon Chojnacki, said the arrival process for the group was very smooth, although it required some time. “We landed at 8:00 pm and left the airport at 11:00 pm. That was quite long for the review of documents, especially health-related documents such as vaccine certification, proof of hotel booking, and proof of insurance. In addition, it was difficult to download the health application (i.e., PeduliLindungi) because of our foreign SIM cards,” said Szymon.

Related Links

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Visa-on-Arrival Now Available to 42 Countries

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Bali on 07 March: No Quarantine & VOA Back

Koster: End Quarantine & Resume VOA Now!

Making the Shift from Epidemic to Endemic

Bali to End Quarantine by Latest 14 March

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