Quarantine-Free Travel Bubble between Singapore – Bali and Indonesian islands  of Batam and Bintan for fully-vaccinated and insured visitors. Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said in an online briefing. It covers people traveling by sea between Singapore and Nongsapura Ferry Terminal in Batam and Bintan Telani Port, he said.  Batam and Bintan were popular weekend getaways for Singapore residents prior to the pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has taken a toll. Overseas visitors to the two islands slumped 86% back in 2020, cutting the income of food and accommodation businesses by 41%, the government said last March. Bintan Lagoon Resorts closed down in 2020 as the flow of visitors dried up.

Now Singapore and Indonesia are both following a strategy of trying to live with the virus, opening their borders more freely to those who are eligible. Singapore eased testing rules for vaccinated travelers last week, while Indonesia lifted a ban on all arrivals from overseas earlier this month, though they are still required to isolate for seven days. The new travel arrangement with Batam and Bintan will be reviewed every week, said Luhut Panjaitan, who is in charge of Indonesia’s pandemic response. 

Indonesia is also in talks with Japan and India for a similar travel arrangement, according to Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno in a separate briefing. Flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia will start flying direct to India from Bali, Uno said. Direct flights to the island are expected to pick up in the second and third quarter, It was not immediately clear how the arrangement will be implemented in both countries and Singapore’s transport and tourism authorities did not immediately respond. Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the process could take time. Once Asia’s COVID-19 epicentre, Indonesia has seen a rise in infections lately following months of containment, including from the Omicron variant. It reported its first two Omicron-related deaths on Saturday.

Brit murdered in Bali  by his Indonesian girlfriend Emmy Pakpahan in Bali while on a video call with his ex wife, Matt Harper, 48, is suspected to have been stabbed by Emmy Pakpahan in Bali before dying from his injuries.  Matt, who worked for luxury hotel firm Karma, had been in a relationship with Pakpahan since last July 2021, according to pals. Pakpahan, who is in her 40s and is Indonesian-born but has US citizenship from a previous marriage, told police that Matt killed himself. She showed investigators a video of him dying on the floor of his Bali home moments after her suspected attack on Thursday. Pakpahan filmed the footage herself from outside the property, claiming Matt had locked the doors and intentionally harmed himself. She sobs in the clip: “I don’t know what’s happened. I don’t know, I don’t know.

And in a bizarre video on social media, she films herself thanking friends and family for their “support” after news of his death broke. She says to the camera: “Naturally I am sad. And if you guys don’t hear from me, it’s not because I don’t want to answer, I need time to process things. Please don’t believe anything until a statement comes out from the police department. However, Bali police have arrested her on suspicion of murder. Matt’s ex-girlfriend in Bali, Allin Efashion, told UK news papers : I was with him before he got with Emmy. He was a perfect gentleman, a caring and lovely man. He was the love of my life. I can’t believe he’s gone. He texted me just a few days before he died, saying he hated Emmy because she ruined his life — and he was sorry for leaving me. He was the best father to his two girls and step-daughter and was loved by many friends in the UK and Bali. May he rest in peace. Other friends revealed they feared for Matt’s safety in the weeks leading up to his death. They described Pakpahan as a “psycho” girlfriend who has been accused on Bali Facebook groups of being a serial scammer who has conned foreigners out of tens of thousands of pounds.

Matt is understood to have arrived in Bali from Gloucester in February 2020. He got a job with the hotel group and often shared videos and pics on social media of his “dream” life on the Indonesian island. A keen chef, he regularly cooked treats for friends on Bali and even held a “Come Dine With Me” event at a restaurant there last year. A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesman said last night: “We are in contact with the Indonesian police regarding the death of a British man in Bali, and are supporting the family at this difficult time.

Bali Airport domestic passengers increased with 56 % during the 2021/ 2022  Christmas-New Year Holiday period compared with last years new years holiday period. General Manager of Bali Airport Airport, Herry AY Sikado, appreciated the success of organizing the 2021 and 2022 Christmas-New Year Transportation Commands. All relevant stakeholders have carried out their respective functions and roles in the smooth, safe, and secure flight operations at Bali Airport, properly and according to procedures”, said Herry on Wednesday, January 5. The implementation of the 2021 and 2022 Christmas and New Year transportation is carried out at a time when the global world, including Indonesia, is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not yet fully recovered. The issue of the emergence of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus, namely Omicron, has made all parties, both from the transportation sector and the health sector, more alert and careful in implementing health protocols during the Christmas-New Year transportation period . Based on data during the period from December 17, 2021, to January 4, 2022, there has been an increase in the current flow of domestic passengers arriving and departing compared to the same period the previous year . In the Christmas-New Year period this year, the number of passengers was 406.682 passengers, an increase of around 56.05 % compared to the previous year’s Christmas-New Year period, which was 260,476 passengers. The highest number of incoming and outgoing passenger movements or the peak occurred on December 19, 2021, amounting to 28,975 passengers. At the end of the Christmas-New Year period, the peak occurred the return flow was 24,731 passengers, namely on January 2, 2022″, he explained. The flow of domestic aircraft arriving and departing decreased by 6.15 % during the Christmas-New Year period with a total of 3,299 aircraft movements compared to the previous year’s Christmas-New Year period, which was 3,515 aircraft. This achievement is a contribution from the entire airport community. I am optimistic that the level of visits this year will increase and therefore, I ask for cooperation and synergy to be able to continuously improve services to all airport service users. the Head of Region IV Airport Authority, Putu Eka Cahyadhi, assessed that the activities of the 2021 and 2022 Nataru transportation integrated posts were running smoothly, safely, and under control. Various regulations both related to health protocols have been implemented by related elements, including airport operators, airlines, ground handling, government agencies and the Christmas-New Year post team at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport

Quarantine period for foreigners reduced from 10 to 7 days.

The government will reduce the quarantine period for foreigners who have just arrived in Indonesia. This was decided in a limited meeting between President Joko Widodo and ministers at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday (3/1/2022). Earlier, it was decided that the 14-day quarantine will be 10 days and the 10-day quarantine will be 7 days,” said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) as well as Java-Bali PPKM Coordinator Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in an online press conference on Monday.

Famous elephants in Bali facing  desperate situation and depending on a GoFundMe marketing campaign that needs to raise $90,000,  the elephants overjoyed the likes of Kim Kardashian, Steve Irwin and dozens of superstars for many years are ravenous to loss of life on account of the loss of vacationers visiting Bali.Mason Elephant Park and Resort, house to 30 rescued Sumatran elephants, is at the verge of ultimate as a result of there is nearly no income coming in from guests.  It prices nearly $500,000 to feed the herd each and every 12 months – however with lower than 100 legitimate vacationers at the island paradise in 2021 – the zoo is on its knees. As soon as its streets had been flooded with travelers packed shoulder to shoulder, however now bars and retail outlets take a seat empty after the tourism industry dried up throughout Covid commute bans. The world airstrip stays deathly quiet despite the fact that the island considers itself open for trade.

In 2019 Bali had 6.three million in another country guests, together with 1.23 million Australians. Because the park opened in 1997, it were a roaring luck website hosting tens of millions of holiday makers together with Irwin, the Kardashian extended family, Kanye West, Julia Roberts, Jessica Biel, Calvin Klein, David Beckham, Jean Claude van Damme, and Jimmy Barnes.

Irwin as soon as referred to as it ‘the most productive elephant park I’ve ever observed. Bali survives on tourism, elephants live on on vacationers. With out vacationers I have no idea what the longer term is. It is heart-breaking the place that is going,’ Mr Mason says that they are now in a scenario the place we should get tourism again if we are going so to live on this any further.’ The elephant park is now depending on a GoFundMe marketing campaign which has so raised simply $31,000 of a $90,000 objective.

‘We’d like so to lift about $30,000 a month simply to proceed to seem after the herd till Bali in any case reopens once more, which given the state of Indonesia, may well be neatly into 2022 at perfect,’ wrote fundraising organizer Nick Healey, on behalf of Jian Mason. Australian chef one the island, Dean Keddell, additionally informed the Channel 9 program he used to be spending all his time getting ready foods for determined locals. 1000’s of Balinese have slumped into poverty with out the vacationer industry they depend so closely on.