News Bali Island – February 2022
Warm-Up Bubble Holidays Planned for Bali
The State News Agency Antara reported that the Ministry of Tourism and the Creative Economy has launched a “Warm Up Vacation” to persuade international tourists to fly to Bali and undergo quarantine in hotels using a “bubble system” of existing health protocols. This program is intended to assist the Balinese economy.
The Ministry’s deputy for marketing, Nia Niscaya, during a weekly press briefing in Jakarta on Monday, 07 February 2022, said the Warm-Up Vacation program would allow people undergoing quarantine to undertake activities in a designated “bubble area” prepared by the hotel. “We hope that this program will build faith in the marketplace that Bali is ready to welcome international tourists. A ‘Warm-Up Vacation’ will create a quarantine that will not feel like quarantine,” said Niscaya.
From Q1 until Q3 of 2021, Bali’s economy experiences a contraction of 3.43 percent.
In conjunction with the reactivation of international flights to Bali starting from Friday, 04 February 2022, the “Warm-Up Vacation” is offered to international travelers, both foreign and domestic, to allow them to undertake quarantine in one of the local hotels providing a “bubble system” facilities.
News Bali Island – While prioritizing caution to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the ‘Warm Up Vacation” will ensure travelers are not confined to a hotel room for the duration of their stay. Instead, guests will be allowed to wander hotel grounds and facilities as a “warm-up” or “pre-holiday” while waiting for the quarantine period to end. “So they can engage in activities outside their room. Not all hotels can prepare this kind of program. At this time, only five hotels with a total of 447 rooms are offering the bubble concept at their properties,” explained Niscaya.
The five hotels able to offer the “Warm Up Vacation” program are:
- Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua, Bali
- Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali
- Griya Santrian in Sanur
- Viceroy in Ubud
- Royal Tulip in Jimbaran
The price for a 5 day – 4-night quarantine stay at one of the listed hotels will cost between Rp. 10 million to Rp. 15 million. The quarantine package typically includes three meals per day and all related activities during the quarantine stay.
Nia Niscaya assured that the Ministry and the participating hotels would jointly supervise the Warm-Up Holiday Programs. Each hotel listed above will prepare a “bubble area” to permit activities that might include beach activities, ping pong, or swimming.
Plans are to add more hotels to the Warm-up Holiday Program from the 61 hotels with 3,400 rooms designated as quarantine hotels in Bali. Nineteen hotels have already put themselves forward to be included as Warm-Up Holiday hotels using the bubble concept.
“The Warn Up Holiday Program is a trust-building program, and this is where the government takes a role. We must begin; we must plan; we must do trial runs. If we don’t do this, we will not be able to evaluate what improvements must be made,” said Niscaya.
News Bali Islands – Garuda Preparing to Fly Bali-Sydney
As reported by Balipost.com, Governor Wayan Koster told the press on Saturday, 12 February 2022, that the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will soon operate flights between Denpasar, Bali, and Sydney, Australia.
Bali’s Governor announced that he had received confirmation of the resumption of flights between Bali and Sydney via a telephone call from Irfan Setiaputra, the CEO of Garuda Indonesia.
The Governor depicted the reopening of the Bali – Sydney air route as the first step in the recovery of Bali’s economy, badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Koster said the exact date for resuming flights between Sydney and Bali remained unknown and was “awaiting developments.”
Koster also revealed that the Australian airline Jetstar plans to operate flights to Bali soon. News Bali Island
“On 16 February there will be a flight from Singapore Airlines (SQ) with a good number of passengers (to Bali). Hopefully, there will be no obstacles, and that flight will continue as planned,” commented the Governor.
Koster views the reopening of several international air routes as supplying the momentum for the recovery of Bali tourism. “I hope that the Omicron variant can continue to be controlled through the cooperation of all parties that include the District Military Commander, the Chief of Police, the Regents, and Mayor of Denpasar. All these parties must work together to bring the Omicron variant of COVID-19 under control,” said Koster.
Governor Koster insists that Bali will begin to recover if the management and mitigation of COVID-19 succeed.
On 03 February 2022, international flights restarted in Bali with the Garuda #881 from Narita, Tokyo to Bali.
News Bali Island – Preparing Today for Tomorrow’s Disaster
The Agency for Meteorology, Climate, and Geophysics (BMKG), in cooperation with Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, is reviewing warning and response scenarios should a significant earthquake and tsunami engulf the Island’s sole air gateway.
The State News Agency Antara and Bali Post, relaying a joint press statement issued by the chief of BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati, and the general manager of Bali’s airport, confirmed that BMKG had been actively reviewing the airport’s readiness in the event of a combined earthquake and tsunami disaster.
News Bali Island – Dwikorita told the press, “The distance between the edge of the seashore and the runway is zero meters and has a high potential of a tsunami if a large earthquake ever strikes Bali.”
Dwikorita outlined three precautionary steps undertaken by BMKG to anticipate such a disaster. First, her agency creates accurate disaster models to estimate the danger and threat of a tsunami resulting from a megathrust in any area south of Bali. Second, BMKG has installed an early warning tsunami system (New Generation Warning Receiver System – WRS) integrated into the Bali Airport Command Center. The WRS system provides at least a 2-5 minute warning of any approaching tsunami. Third, BMKG is taking steps to educate the stakeholders and officials working at the airport on mitigating emergency procedures in the event of a tsunami. Exercises, emergency simulations, and safety drills are also organized.
News Bali Island – Diwkorita commented further: “Mitigating steps by the provincial administration and the regional/municipal governments are in place to minimize materials losses and the loss of human life. Bear in mind that the areas surrounding the airport are business and residential areas.” The BMKG Chief said these facts must be borne in mind by the government and all parties when they are building infrastructure because the entire Indonesian region sits on the “ring of fire” and are therefore at substantial risk to earthquakes and tsunamis.
During the inspection visit to Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport, Dwikorita confirmed that all the equipment used for monitoring the weather and safety equipment were in good repair.
The BMKG leader said the systems and equipment in operation at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport provide detailed aviation-weather forecasts, measure wind direction and velocity, rainfall measurements, air pressure, visibility, and cloud base height. Dwikorita also inspected the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) located at the end of the runway. The AWOS system provides information on temperature and humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, wind direction and speed, and solar radiation detection.
Looking ahead, the BMKG chief closed by commenting: “The G20 Summit will be in Bali in October 2022. Accordingly, BMKG has taken many preparatory steps because the airport during the international summit will be very busy. All equipment is being checked to ensure they are in prime condition and capable of providing fast and accurate data.”
News Bali Island – Bali Toll Road Rates to Increase
PT Jasamarga Bali Tol (PT JBT) – the company that manages the toll road in Bali connecting Nusa Dua – Bali Airport – Sanur will soon increase the tariffs in each category by Rp. 500.
As reported by NusaBali.com, the date for the increase in tariff has not been fixed other than comments from officials saying the price hike will happen sometime in February 2022. Notices advising of the impending price change have been placed on approaches to the toll road.
I Putu Gandi Ginantra, the manager for operations and maintenance of PT JBT, when contacted by NusaBali.com, did not deny plans were afoot to adjust the toll rates. Ginantra said the increased toll rate follows a decision issued by the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (No. 75/KPTS/M/2022).
New Tariff Rates
Golongan I (Sedans, Jeeps, Pick-up, small trucks, busses)
Increasing from Rp. 12,500 to Rp. 13,000
Golongan II and II (Large trucks with two or three axels
Increasing from Rp. 19,000 to Rp. 19,500
Golongan IV and V (Large trucks with four or five axels)
Increasing from Rp. 25,000 to Rp. 25,500
Golongan VI (Two-wheeled motorcycles)
Unchanged at Rp. 5,000
News Bali Island – Looking for a beautiful Villa to rent in North Bali?
