The tourism minister suggested this week that Bali may
soon reopen to foreign visitors by adopting Thailand's "Phuket
Sandbox" concept, in what appears to be Indonesia's latest strategic plan
to relaunch international tourism following a number of failed attempts.
According to Tempo, Tourism and Creative Economy
Minister Sandiaga Uno stated, “We are learning from the Phuket Sandbox, which
has one objective of dramatically lowering local transmissions in Phuket, and
this can be implemented in Bali later on.”
The Phuket Sandbox refers to Thailand's international
tourism restart program, under which fully vaccinated foreign visitors are
effectively allowed to visit the country but must quarantine for 14 days within
Phuket before travelling to other parts of Thailand.
Phuket's appeal as a tourist destination parallels
that of Bali, as both regions desperately seek ways to restore their decimated
economies in the aftermath of the pandemic.
To be clear, there is currently no set date for when
this will occur. For the time being, officials appear to be only contemplating
the prospect.
According to data from the Tourism Authority of
Thailand (TAT), over 26,000 foreign visitors have arrived in Phuket since the
scheme's inception on July 1. Within the sandbox, 83 people, or roughly 0.3
percent, tested positive for the coronavirus.