Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) has released the prices it will be charging for quarantine accommodation once the resort island reopens on Oct. 14.
For those who haven’t caught up with the news, Bali will require fully vaccinated foreign visitors to serve an 8-day mandatory quarantine on arrival.
True to its word of not allowing backpackers (at least not during the first phases of the reopening), the island will charge visitors between USD $700 (IDR 10 million) and USD $1,750 (IDR 25 million) for hotel quarantine sites.
Quarantine hotels offered will rank from 3 to 5 stars. “All depends on their hotel preferences,” said the Deputy Chief of Cultural, Environment, and Public Relation of PHRI.
Thus far, Indonesia has only revealed plans to reopen for visitors from China, Japan, and South Korea as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
However, since the announcement of the mandatory 8-day quarantine, “most potential guests” have canceled their trips to the island, claiming that the quarantine is too long.
“Despite having approximately 300,000 potential visitors from all around the world, most travelers decided to cancel their trips due to the 8-day quarantine policy,” said the PHRI’s head, I Nyoman Nuarta on Wednesday.
The hospitality community, which warmly welcomed the reopening, will also face a number of unwanted consequences when their hotels become quarantine sites.
One of the biggest inconveniences is that their hotels will no longer be permitted to host local guests.
“You can’t mix with domestic guests, and you can’t accept guests outside of quarantine, so don’t mix that up. Because if something happens, it’s difficult to monitor it,” Nuarta warned hoteliers.
Despite this, the deputy confirmed that there are 35 hotels ready to welcome back travelers, and 62 more are being reviewed.
Together with other officials, Nuarta is confident the government will shorten the isolation period to 3 days or a maximum of 5 days since this “affects the interests of foreign tourists visiting Bali.”
Additionally, the island is also competing with nearby countries like Turkey, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where quarantine restrictions have been lifted.