Forbes Indonesia Magazine - July 2021

In this issue

Reminiscent of the popular children’s game, the progress of most countries around the world in their efforts to achieve a smooth exit from social distancing measures and to re-open their borders seems to remain a matter of four steps forward, three steps back. Locally, the vaccination roll-out gains traction but a surge in COVID-19 cases has placed extreme pressure on the capacity of hospitals to manage an increase in serious cases, resulting in the implementation of new lockdown measures for the first weeks of July. This has dealt a blow to efforts to try and boost the recovery among the travel and hospitality sector as domestic travel is curtailed and plans for an opening of international travel to Bali and other destinations are put on hold. Those countries with high vaccination rates are now debating pathways for increased international travel, including the differentiation of quarantine restrictions for vaccinated and non-vaccinated travelers, and the sector will be watching closely as it seeks to recover from the impacts of a 77.6% decline in international arrivals year to date May 2021, which follows a 75% decline across 2020 as a whole.