Famed for its luxury beach resorts, pristine paddy fields and untamed jungles, Bali is finally welcoming international visitors again.
Or is it?
After 18 months of being closed to tourists, the ever-popular Indonesian island is among three destinations to have reopened to overseas visitors on Thursday.
Tourism officials announced this week that three islands – Bali, Batam and Bintan – would begin welcoming holidaymakers again.
On the eve of the scheduled reopening, Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, released a list of 19 countries from where travellers will be able to visit Bali.
Among the destinations are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Officials said the destinations were selected based on places that the World Health Organisation deems to be low risk and those with few positive Covid-19 cases.
Australia, where a large majority of Bali's tourists came from before the Covid-19 pandemic, is notably not on the list, but neighbouring New Zealand is.
Bali reopening to travellers from these 19 countries
The countries from where travellers can visit the uber-popular holiday island from are:
· Saudi Arabia
· UAE
· New Zealand
· Kuwait
· Bahrain
· Qatar
· China
· India
· Japan
· South Korea
· Liechtenstein
· Italy
· France
· Portugal
· Spain
· Sweden
· Poland
· Hungary
· Norway
Bali's international airport is open, but with no flights
Airports in Bali and the Riau Islands, where Batam and Bintan are located, have reopened but seem to be missing one vital ingredient: international flights.
"So far there is no schedule," Taufan Yudhistira, a spokesman for the airport told Reuters.
According to the Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association, this is not wholly unexpected.
“When the announcement was made to allow international travellers to arrive in Bali from the 14th of October it was based on the fact that it was a good day on the Balinese calendar that was put forward by the officials in Bali and as long as all the requirements and readiness of the task force were in place," said the association in a statement.
“This included type of visas, quarantine, tests and airport transport. Bali was not expecting flights to land from that day,” it clarifies.
A search on Skyscanner revealed no direct flights from the UAE to Bali for all of October.
Emirates also has no flights available in October, but does have flights from Dubai to the Indonesian island for sale from November 1. However, this is not a new development and the airline had no comment to share on the situation when asked by The National.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, continues to fly to Jakarta, but does not fly to Bali.
Officials have said only direct flights will be allowed to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport as part of the island's reopening.
Questions over Covid-19 tests, vaccines and quarantine rules
This is not the first reopening plan that Bali has had since the global pandemic. The island previously announced a series of dates for reopening, and then pushed them back. It is, however, the first time the airport has announced it's welcoming international tourists again.
But there remains a lack of clear information on what international travellers need to do if they want to take a holiday in Bali.
“We can also confirm that there are no official details as yet in regard to visas, actual flights or which hotels will be designated as quarantine hotels and the relevant booking procedure,” said the Bali hotels association.
This information was echoed by representatives from Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort, a popular holiday resort on the south-western tip of the island's Bukit Peninsula.
“We still have no detailed news regarding the flow of the quarantine, airport pick-ups, visas and others. So far there are also no international flights," said a spokeswoman for the resort.
At a media briefing about the reopening on Monday, Indonesia's Co-ordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that international visitors to Bali will only need to quarantine for five days on arrival. This is a reduction from the previous eight-day isolation required for international tourists flying to Indonesia.
Details on what PCR tests, vaccination proof and other procedures travellers will need to follow remain scarce.
On the website welcomebacktobali, a resource operated by the Bali Hotel Association to "provide travellers with the most recent, factual and verified information about the current situation in Bali", the most recent update has no information on travel rules for international visitors.
"Bali will open to international arrivals with quarantine from October 14 on a trial basis and will continue to be reviewed if all conditions comply ... We will be providing more details when they become available," the website states.
Why Bali's reopening doesn't mean it's time to go
For now, the information listed for international visitors relates only to those travelling to Jakarta. Holidaymakers headed to the Indonesian capital must be fully vaccinated, have a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure and have a valid e-visa for travel.
There is also no new information on which vaccines will be accepted for travellers flying to Bali. However, Indonesia currently approves nine vaccines, including Sinopharm.
In keeping with Indonesia's current travel rules, it is expected that all foreign visitors flying to Bali, Bintang or Batam will need a confirmed quarantine hotel booking and insurance covering Covid-19 quarantine and treatment to a minimum value of $100,000. But again, none of this is confirmed.
After so many false starts, hotels and tourism businesses on the paradisiac island will be hopeful that this time things will be different.
“We are very enthusiastic for the reopening, however we still have to wait and see how things will work out," said a spokeswoman for the Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort.
Tight immigration measures during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia have devastated the holiday island, where 54 per cent of the economy relies on the tourism sector, according to the latest information from Bali Governor I Wayan Koster.
For now, while the official word is that the Indonesian Island of Gods has reopened for international tourists, it seems that actually travelling there remains off the cards, at least for the moment.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
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- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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