The Indonesian island of Bali, known as a popular backpacking destination, is planning to ban those very same tourists in an effort to stop over tourism. Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s minister in charge of the pandemic, said the island would ban backpackers and be restricted to only “quality” tourists after reopening, which is set to occur in OCT for visitors from countries with low COVID-19 infection rates. “We will filter the tourists who visit,” Pandjaitan said during a visit to Bali. “We do not want backpackers, so that Bali remains clean, and the tourists who come here are of quality.” A separate spokesperson later amended that all visitors who met entry rules, which have yet to be announced, would be allowed in Bali. Pre-pandemic, hundreds of thousands of British tourists, as well as one million Australians visited Bali per year. Indonesia, as well as some other countries, are focusing on maintaining tourist income while reducing visitor numbers, thereby focusing on the top end of the travel market. Reyes Maroto, the Spanish tourism minister, summarized the efforts succinctly, saying “we are moving from a model of ‘the more tourists, the better’ to one of higher expenditures, more nights and premium tourists”.
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